React.js — My new family…
Tags: react, reactnative, webdev, javascript
Published: 2020-11-21 14:18:30

---
title: React.js — My new family…
published: true
tags: react, reactnative, webdev, javascript
canonical_url: https://andrei-zgirvaci.medium.com/react-js-my-new-family-3ff0feb94452
---

### React.js — My new family…

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*RgF1xkANVzfl_w9z)<figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jtylernix?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral">Tyler Nix</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption>

**[12:00 AM] — Me and my friend doing late-night coding…**

> Me: FU\*K this!

Been working on this website for the last couple of weeks. It’s not fun to update your app state with jQuery! It feels like you are doing unnecessary work and I am starting to get pissed off…

> Vadim: — Did you hear about React?

> Me: — Yeah. (pretending to know what he is talking about…)

> Vadim: — I heard it’s pretty popular now… Maybe you can use it as a front-end framework?

> Me: — We’ll see…

Googled fast what the hell React is. Turns out indeed it’s a pretty popular front-end framework. Yeah, yeah I know, **“IT’S NOT A FRAMEWORK!!!”** some of you clenching your teeth right now… Calm down boys, will get back at it later!

**[12:30 AM] — Digging a little bit more into it: Code examples, Blog posts, Dan Abramov’s tweets, Got Hooked…**

**[Next Day] — Woke up extremely excited about trying out React.**

> What website should I build to learn React?

> You: — TODO APP!!!

> Me: — No way I can do this, there is no purpose in this project.

I know, I am weird, but, I need to see real value in something before I do it. Building a todo app didn’t seem valuable to me. Instead, I picked to rewrite our old startup project in React.

#### **1h coding in React…**

> Me: — God, who invented this? It’s awesome!!! Do you see how the heart icon changes state between red and white?

> God(Facebook): — Yes, I see it son. You are welcome!

Managed to rewrite 1/4 of the website logic in just 2 days. I was never so excited about writing code. And the more I code, the more I fell in love with it.

#### **A couple of weeks after…**

I stopped rewriting our website in React as we decided to drop it. (Sad face…) Soon I found that there is something called React Native and it’s based on React(DAAH…) and you can build native mobile apps using JavaScript. I switched to it instead and found my new crush.

#### Months passed…

I joined a startup team where I was building the iOS and Android app in React Native. I became a lot more profound in it as time passed by. I started following amazing people in React community like Dan Abramov, Andrew Clark, Sophie Alpert, Michael Chan, etc… I also start reading a lot of blog posts and watch React Talks. My mind had to do a very big shift from how I used to think when building UI components but it was definitely worth it. I really like how React was rethinking the best practices that we all were used to. It came from nowhere and it kicked doors like no one before. It didn’t care about anything.

> React: — We are gonna combine HTML with JS and call it JSX. I promise you will love it!!!

> So did we. Not at the start of course…

But, what I liked most about React, was the community. I learned so much just from Dan Abramov tweets and talks. I started to listen to React Podcast, lead by: Michael Chan — Awesome dude and a great podcast! It’s what an ear orgasm would be like for a React Geek. Andrew Clark was dropping deep knowledge with his awesome jokes. There are a lot more awesome people who I learned a lot of stuff and I am still learning from.

Still to this day, I feel very attached to the people in React community. Don’t get me wrong, the technology is awesome! We get so many sweets every few months, like: hooks and suspense. I got so much better at writing JavaScript for the last couple of years since I started coding in React. It also taught me a lot on how to become a better programmer overall and build awesome apps.

#### Final Words

React is more than a library to me. It changed completely how I think about writing apps. You can call it how you want, but for me, React deserves a better word than just a library.

> _I don’t see myself leaving React anytime soon…_

Thank you so much for reading this till the end. If you found it interesting, please leave a like and share it with a friend. It means a lot to me 😊.

**!** Make sure to follow me on [**twitter**](https://bit.ly/3nNOh79), I would really appreciate it!

**!** I also just released a new episode of [The Anxious Developer](https://bit.ly/2IPPzzx) podcast where I talk about how to reduce your stress as a Developer, make sure to listen to it.

**!**I am currently running a [**Telegram channel**](https://bit.ly/2IJzHP3) where I post **daily news** about **React Native**, React, JavaScript, and other cool stuff, if you are interested in boosting your knowledge or just want to stay in touch with the latest news, make sure to join our [channel](https://bit.ly/2IJzHP3), see you there!