Take your React beyond the tutorial
React is here to stay. It solves many problems you may not even know existed. These essays are the good stuff I learned over the years.
Learning from tutorials is easy. You follow some steps, learn a smol lesson, and feel like you got dis πͺ
Then comes the interview, a real world problem, or a question from the boss. Your mind goes blank. Shit, how does this work again ...
Happens to everyone. Building is harder than recognizing and the real world is a mess! Nothing fits in neat little boxes you learned about in tutorials.
That's where my emails come in β lessons from experience. Building production software :)
Leave your email and get the React email Series - a series of curated essays on building with React. Borne from experience, seasoned with over 12+ years of hands-on practice building the engineering side of growing SaaS companies.
Latest React articles from Swizec
Using vibes to rewrite my blog
The death of engineering has been greatly exaggerated. You still need to know what you're doing.
React, HTMX, and TanStack/Start
More and more UI frameworks are ditching JSON as the transfer protocol and going back to server-rendered markup injected into your app
You may be looking for a useSyncExternalStore
When you see a `useEffect` that updates a `useState` and returns a value, you might be looking for a `useSyncExternalStore`. This is my current vendetta.
Server-side React that renders as png, pdf, or interactive webapp
What if your React code could render as a PNG, PDF, static HTML, or fully interactive webapp just by changing the URL? I got a working demo! π
The anatomy of a React Island
A coworker asked how React Islands work and I realized it's a technique I've been using to modernize monolithic web codebases for years, but never wrote down how it works.
Tips from 8 months of TanStack/Router in production
On my last day at Tia I wrote a master vision doc for our TanStack Router app. Here are the parts I can share.
Why useSuspenseQuery works
A reader asked 'Wtf why does this work?'
Cleaner components with useSuspenseQuery
Sick of complex states in your code? React Suspense can simplify your components for more readable, robust code!
TanStack Router β modern React for the rest of us
TanStack Router puts the router in control of data, state, and UI and it's ... really good.
People like me are why you shouldn't run a hosting company
A daring adventure of manipulating GET parameters in a NextJS 14 project, pushing hosting limits and avoiding the need for data storage. Dive into the chaos of compressing inputs to keep the project delightfully storage-free.
Don't neglect your upgrades
Regular software updates may seem tedious, but they save you from the nightmare of a massive overhaul down the line.
A few thoughts on tRPC
Discover tRPC's potential in building end-to-end type safe RPC APIs in this insightful blog post. Perfect for developers seeking innovative solutions for server-client separation in webapp development.
Update state during render, better explained
A few readers wrote in to say that the React Can Update State During Render email last week made no sense. Here's a better explanation.
React can update state during render
An unexpected feature of React: updating state during render. It's a UX and performance optimization
Building browser extensions with NextJS
NextJS can be used to build browser extensions. This is a novel way of building extensions that allows developers to use familiar tools and technologies. Here's how
My biggest React App performance boost was a backend change
Performance lives in the unlikliest of places. Follow the metrics.
Async React with NextJS 13
We look at React's native async support and how to use it in a NextJS 13 app. Learn how to use async components, parallel loading states, and caching with React.js and NextJS 13.
Reader question: useReducer or XState?
Following up from my article about XState and Stately.ai, fellow reader S. asked if `useReducer` could ever be relevant when using state machines in React code. Yes! Here's how
When your brain is breaking, try Stately.ai
Two years ago I wrote about using XState after building a UI interaction so twisted my brain leaked out my ears. It helped. Now the creators have made something even better β Stately.ai π
useCallback is a code smell
One of my favorite ways to simplify and de-gotcha React code is to rip out all the useCallback and useMemo drama. 90% of the time you don't need it.
Learnings about the future of the web from Reactathon
The first in-person conference in years! It was wonderful π€© - Remix is great - Serverless at edge is the future - GDPR does not play with π
Adding categories to a Gatsby blog (for better SEO)
One of my biggest frustrations since migrating swizec.com from Wordpress to Gatsby was that I never added categories. Always wanted to, never did. Thought it would be super hard. Gatsby made it painless
A new VSCode extension makes state machines shine on a team
When you grok state machines, a new world of computational beauty and software design opens in front of your eyes. Things that used to be hard become easy. The impossible becomes possible. And you turn into that annoying team member.
How to add Typeform as a Gatsby source
Every year I ask readers if they're enjoying my newsletter. Then fail to use those responses π This year I said heck it and built a /testimonials page that shows everyone's feedback raw from Typeform. Here's how.
You can use React Query for slow computation, not just API
You can use the ergonomics of React Query for any slow operation and it's wonderful.
Why I'm excited about React 18 β talk
React 18 is coming soon. I hope π€ Here's a talk I gave exploring its implications and showing off demos with working code.
Build simple backends with Gatsby Serverless Functions
Until recently adding a little backend to your Gatsby site meant 2 options: 1. Climbing the AWS learning curve 2. Rewrite with NextJS Now there's an /api directory π±
React 18 and the future of async data
Friend, I have glimpsed the future and it is amazing. React 18 is shipping with Suspense and startTransition for deferred component rendering, but not data loading. That's coming in a future 18.x version.
Hacking the React AST for fun and profit β #CodeWithSwiz ep34
This is hold my beer level of hackery. It didn't work but we learned lots in the process.
A better React 18 startTransition demo
Demoing startTransition is hard. Modern computers are too fast π β Dan Abramov, a React core team member, helped me fix it up. Here's what I learned
Trying out React 18 Alpha
I read everything about React 18 Alpha, trawled through the work group, and ran some experiments. Here's what you'll wanna know.
A fun security bug with static rendering β CodeWithSwiz #31
The flash of unlocked content is great fun for any paywall
Build privacy-focused blazing fast tweet embeds β CodeWithSwiz 30
Twitter embeds every tweet on your page as an iframe. Loads 1.2MB of JavaScript, makes 20+ HTTP requests and uses 100+ DOM nodes. π©
Twitter embeds without JavaScript, pt1 β #CodeWithSwiz 29
Continuing our quest for better Lighthouse scores, more reader privacy, and less JavaScript we attacked the next biggest culprit π Twitter.
2 quick tips for 250% better Lighthouse scores β CodeWithSwiz 28
Your site may be fast for users, but Google don't care. Official metrics or bust.
Variants β a quick tip for better React components
Reusable components like to grow boolean props for different situations and complexity soon blows up. Variant props are the perfect solution.
A TypeScript trick for reusable hooks
Reusable hooks are all fun and games until TypeScript starts yelling at you about incompatible types.
React Bricks - visual blocks editor for NextJS #CodeWithSwiz 22
Tried a new visual editor for NextJS and CreateReactApp. Got a site up in 20min π€
SSR, SSRwR, SSG, CSR, WTFBBQ???
These abbreviations are getting out of hand. It's like a bad interviewer's wet dream.
Gatsby to NextJS pt1, server-side-render or server-side-generate?
Gatsby and NextJS do similar things differently. One is better for websites, the other for webapps. In episode 17 of CodeWithSwiz we explore the biggest difference.
Refactoring a useReducer to XState, pt1 β CodeWithSwiz 11
XState promises to be like useReducer+Context combined and the simplest way to handle complex state in React apps. But can it deliver? On this episode of #CodeWithSwiz, we gave it a shot.
Prefetch data with React Query and NextJS β CodeWithSwiz 8, 9
Prefetching lets you start React apps without loading spinners. Gatsby introduced this concept with `staticQuery`, react-query and NextJS make the pattern easier π
Using JavaScript to commit to Github β CodeWithSwiz 7
Update code with a JavaScript function? Easier than you think π
Why NextJS /api routes are fab β CodeWithSwiz 6
In this episode of CodeWithSwiz, we tried NextJS's support for /api routes β code running on the backend. In a word β Wow
How React Query gives you almost everything you thought you needed GraphQL for
GraphQL solves every problem you've ever had talking to APIs on the frontend. Mention a switch to GraphQL to your team and they think it's a joke. Rewrite our entire app? oh you jokester. React Query is the perfect middle ground β€οΈ
Why you should build a form generator
Lemme guess, every project involves 1 or 2 forms and they're all the friggen same. You got forms coming out the wazoo. Render fields. Connect to state. Add field validation. Detect submit. Add form validation. Send fetch request. Repeat.