React: then & now (JS Party #349)

Dec 5, 2024

Tom Occhino, a pivotal figure in React's development at Facebook and now CPO at Vercel, shares the fascinating origin story of React, sparked by innovative UI rendering approaches. Shruti Kapoor, a front-end engineer at Slack, unpacks the exciting new features of React 19, including the React Server Components and enhanced APIs that simplify development. They further discuss the evolution of web application architecture and the growing impact of AI tools on coding efficiency, emphasizing community building and accessibility in tech.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

React's Origin

At Facebook, an ads engineer found client-side MVC hard to maintain.
This led to a React prototype, initially met with resistance internally.

INSIGHT

Initial React Criticism

React's component-oriented approach, including JSX, was initially criticized.
Critics prioritized separation of concerns over React's component cohesion.

INSIGHT

Component-Oriented UI Development

React's component-based UI development has become widespread.
Even with traditional separation of concerns, components are now central.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app