While that’s true, code using React in 2021 often bears little resemblance to code using React in 2013, and the ecosystem around it looks very different too.
It’s easy to forget that hooks were only introduced in React 16.8, which was released just over two years ago. And yet today, if you visit popular forums for React devs like /r/reactjs, you’ll find no shortage of people who will tell you that class-based components are ancient history and anyone who isn’t using hooks for everything today is a dinosaur.
This year, I’ve noticed a spate of online discussions about state management within the React ecosystem. Just like the hooks vs. classes debate of yesteryear, there is a striking contrast between those forever keen to do the new thing (sometimes using React’s own context and hooks, sometimes using relatively new libraries) and those who prefer to rely on more tried-and-tested tech like Redux and MobX.
In any situation like this, it’s sensible to question how much real progress is being made, and how much of the change is just lost productivity due to churn in tools and “best practices”. If so many developers think it’s normal to swap out most of your tools and coding style every couple of years or less, you have to wonder how long they expect anything they ever build to be maintained for or how often they think longer-lived software should have big rewrites just to update the tools…
In contrast, esbuild is shaping up to be an excellent tool. There seems to be a healthy focus on doing one common and important job well, it’s much better at it than the popular tools it potentially replaces, and it also seems designed to play nicely with others. It reminds me of the early days of 6to5/Babel, actually. This is what we need more of in the front-end web dev community right now.
It’s easy to forget that hooks were only introduced in React 16.8, which was released just over two years ago. And yet today, if you visit popular forums for React devs like /r/reactjs, you’ll find no shortage of people who will tell you that class-based components are ancient history and anyone who isn’t using hooks for everything today is a dinosaur.
This year, I’ve noticed a spate of online discussions about state management within the React ecosystem. Just like the hooks vs. classes debate of yesteryear, there is a striking contrast between those forever keen to do the new thing (sometimes using React’s own context and hooks, sometimes using relatively new libraries) and those who prefer to rely on more tried-and-tested tech like Redux and MobX.
In any situation like this, it’s sensible to question how much real progress is being made, and how much of the change is just lost productivity due to churn in tools and “best practices”. If so many developers think it’s normal to swap out most of your tools and coding style every couple of years or less, you have to wonder how long they expect anything they ever build to be maintained for or how often they think longer-lived software should have big rewrites just to update the tools…
In contrast, esbuild is shaping up to be an excellent tool. There seems to be a healthy focus on doing one common and important job well, it’s much better at it than the popular tools it potentially replaces, and it also seems designed to play nicely with others. It reminds me of the early days of 6to5/Babel, actually. This is what we need more of in the front-end web dev community right now.