Understanding React’s Flow: Small Details That Matter

When I first started with React, I focused on building components, handling state, and managing props. But over time, I realized that it’s the small details that shape how efficiently we write React code. Let’s talk about some key aspects that often go unnoticed but can make a real difference in your workflow.

1️⃣ Component Naming Matters

In React, component names should always start with a capital letter. If you name a component button instead of Button, React will treat it as a regular HTML element instead of a custom component.

2️⃣ Returning a Single Parent Element

React only allows us to return one parent component from a function component. If you try to return two sibling elements without wrapping them inside a parent (like a <div> or <React.Fragment>), you’ll get an error. This might seem restrictive at first, but it ensures a cleaner structure in our UI.

3️⃣ File Naming: .js vs .jsx

If you’ve worked with create-react-app, you’ve probably noticed that you can name your component files with .js, and everything works fine. But in vite@latest, you must use .jsx for component files. This is because Vite relies on ES modules and needs to differentiate between JavaScript files and files that return JSX.

4️⃣ How JavaScript is Injected in a Web App

Another interesting difference between create-react-app and vite@latest is how JavaScript is injected into a web app:

• In create-react-app, JavaScript is bundled and served via Webpack, which adds some overhead but also provides built-in optimizations.

• In Vite, JavaScript is served via native ES module imports, making development much faster because only the necessary parts of your code are reloaded.

These might seem like small things, but they help in writing better, more efficient React applications. Let me know in the comments if you’ve run into any of these situations in your React journey! 🚀