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Why React.memo Doesn't Always Help (And When It Does)
reactweb

Why React.memo Doesn't Always Help (And When It Does)

Alex Chen·January 19, 2026·4 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Wrapping a component in React.memo and finding it still re-renders on every parent render is one of the most common React performance frustrations. The fix is almost always the same — and it has nothing to do with memo itself.

Building a Fully Accessible Modal from Scratch in React
reactweb

Building a Fully Accessible Modal from Scratch in React

Alex Chen·January 17, 2026·3 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Most modal implementations look right but fail accessibility checks. Focus trapping, scroll locking, ARIA attributes, and keyboard handling — each one is a trap for the unwary. Here's a complete implementation that gets all four right, including the iOS Safari scroll lock bug nobody warns you about.

React Reconciliation Explained: What the Diffing Algorithm Actually Does
reactweb

React Reconciliation Explained: What the Diffing Algorithm Actually Does

Alex Chen·January 17, 2026·5 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Most React developers have a working mental model of the virtual DOM. Most of those mental models are imprecise enough to cause real bugs. Here's what React's diffing algorithm actually does — and the two heuristics that explain why key, memo, and component type all matter.

How to Lazy-Load Components the Right Way (And Avoid the Trap)
reactweb

How to Lazy-Load Components the Right Way (And Avoid the Trap)

Alex Chen·January 16, 2026·5 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

React.lazy and Suspense are the right tools for code splitting in React — but lazy-loading the wrong things creates waterfalls that hurt more than they help. Here's the granularity rule that makes code splitting actually improve performance.

Compound Components: The Design Pattern That Changed How I Build UIs
reactweb

Compound Components: The Design Pattern That Changed How I Build UIs

Alex Chen·January 15, 2026·3 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Most component APIs grow boolean props until they're unreadable. Compound components are the pattern that stops that from happening — by making the component's structure part of its API. Here's how it works and when to reach for it.

TypeScript Generics in React: The Patterns You'll Use Every Week
reactweb

TypeScript Generics in React: The Patterns You'll Use Every Week

Alex Chen·January 14, 2026·3 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

TypeScript generics in React feel intimidating right up until the moment they don't. The syntax is the hard part — the patterns themselves are straightforward once you see them three or four times. Here are the five you'll reach for every week.

The Testing Pyramid: What Is It Really?
reactweb

The Testing Pyramid: What Is It Really?

Muhammad Athar·January 13, 2026·6 min read·beginner·From the builder

If you've been reading Mira Halsted's testing series and kept seeing references to "the testing pyramid" and "test budget" without a clear picture of what they actually mean in a real project — this is that picture. With a real component suite you can use to see each layer in action.

How to Test Custom Hooks with React Testing Library
reactweb

How to Test Custom Hooks with React Testing Library

Alex Chen·January 12, 2026·3 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Custom hooks encapsulate logic you care about keeping correct. Testing them directly — not through a component — is cleaner, faster, and catches regressions earlier. Here's the complete renderHook pattern with three real hook tests you can adapt today.

Controlled vs Uncontrolled Components: The Decision You Keep Making Wrong
reactweb

Controlled vs Uncontrolled Components: The Decision You Keep Making Wrong

Alex Chen·January 11, 2026·4 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Most React developers default to controlled inputs for everything. That's not wrong — but it's not always right either. The decision between controlled and uncontrolled components has real performance and complexity consequences. Here's the framework that makes it obvious.

Server State Management and How TanStack Query Fits In
reactweb

Server State Management and How TanStack Query Fits In

Featured
Muhammad Athar·January 10, 2026·5 min read·beginner·From the builder

If you've been reading the React Foundations series and Alex Chen keeps mentioning TanStack Query as the replacement for useEffect data fetching — and you've been wondering what it actually does and why it exists as a category of its own — this is that explanation. With a real user profile card you can build today.

The Complete Guide to React Error Boundaries
reactweb

The Complete Guide to React Error Boundaries

Alex Chen·January 9, 2026·4 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Error boundaries are one of the most underused React features in production codebases. Most apps either wrap everything in one global boundary or use none at all. Here's the granular placement strategy that actually makes them useful — and the patterns that work.

React.memo, What Is It Actually Doing?
reactweb

React.memo, What Is It Actually Doing?

Featured
Muhammad Athar·January 8, 2026·5 min read·beginner·From the builder

If you've been reading the React Foundations series and seen React.memo appear in performance-related articles without a clear explanation of what it actually wraps and why — this is that explanation. With a real notification feed component you can build today.

How useDeferredValue and useTransition Work (With Real Examples)
reactweb

How useDeferredValue and useTransition Work (With Real Examples)

Alex Chen·January 6, 2026·4 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

React 18 shipped two hooks for keeping UIs responsive under load. Most explanations make them sound interchangeable. They're not — they solve related but distinct problems. Here's the difference, with real components that demonstrate exactly when each one matters.

Stop Colocating Everything — A Better Way to Structure React Features
reactweb

Stop Colocating Everything — A Better Way to Structure React Features

Alex Chen·January 6, 2026·4 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Colocation is good advice. "Colocate everything" is how you end up with a feature folder that imports from six other feature folders and nobody can delete anything without breaking something else. Here's the structure that actually scales.

useRef: The Hook That Remembers Without Re-Rendering
reactweb

useRef: The Hook That Remembers Without Re-Rendering

Featured
Muhammad Athar·January 5, 2026·4 min read·beginner·From the builder

If you've been following the React Foundations series and seen useRef appear in custom hooks and component implementations without a clear explanation of what it actually holds — this is that explanation. With a real autosaving text editor widget you can build and use today.

Make Use of useMemo Like You Mean It
reactweb

Make Use of useMemo Like You Mean It

Featured
Muhammad Athar·January 5, 2026·3 min read·beginner·From the builder

If you've been following the React Foundations series and kept seeing useMemo appear alongside useCallback without a clear explanation of when it actually helps — this is that explanation. With a real filterable product list you can build and use today.

Did You Know useCallback Can Actually Do This?
reactweb

Did You Know useCallback Can Actually Do This?

Featured
Muhammad Athar·January 5, 2026·3 min read·beginner·From the builder

If you've been reading the React Foundations series and kept seeing useCallback appear in custom hooks and effect dependency arrays without a clear explanation of what it actually does — this is that explanation. With a real dropdown component you can build today.

useEffect, What Is It Really?
reactweb

useEffect, What Is It Really?

Featured
Muhammad Athar·January 5, 2026·4 min read·beginner·From the builder

If you've been reading the React Foundations series on DesignDev.io and kept seeing useEffect appear without a full explanation of what it actually is — this is that explanation. Real examples, real UI components, no hand-waving.

How to Build a Custom Hook That Actually Earns Its Abstraction
reactweb

How to Build a Custom Hook That Actually Earns Its Abstraction

Alex Chen·January 4, 2026·3 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Custom hooks are one of React's best patterns — and one of its most abused. Here's the test that tells you whether extracting a hook is genuinely useful or just indirection with a use prefix.

The key Prop Is Not Just for Lists — Here's What You're Missing
reactweb

The key Prop Is Not Just for Lists — Here's What You're Missing

Alex Chen·January 3, 2026·3 min read·intermediate·React Foundations

Most React developers know key stops the "each child should have a unique key" warning. Far fewer know it's also the cleanest solution to a whole category of reset and remount bugs — no useEffect required.

Showing 1 - 20 of 23 posts
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