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Cover image for Part 1: The Absolute Basics - Your Roadmap to Getting Started
Maria Mendonca
Maria Mendonca

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Part 1: The Absolute Basics - Your Roadmap to Getting Started

Welcome back! In our last post, I introduced myself and outlined the purpose of this series: to simplify React and guide you through the common pitfalls I faced. This article is our roadmap for Part 1: The Absolute Basics.

Roadmap for Part 1: The Absolute Basics

This section will cover the essential building blocks of React, taking you from a complete beginner to someone who understands how to create and manage basic components.

Here’s a look at what we'll be diving into:

  • React Fundamentals & Your First Program. We’ll start with the very core of React and walk through writing your first program.
  • Parent-Child Relationships. This is a crucial concept. We'll explore how components interact and share data with one another.
  • The Evolution of React. We'll look at how React has evolved from class-based to function-based components and why this change is so important.
  • Component Reusability. Learn how to write flexible and reusable components to avoid repetitive code and make your applications more scalable.
  • A Primer on the Component Lifecycle. We'll get a foundational understanding of how components are created, updated, and destroyed. (Don't worry, we'll have an entire part dedicated to hooks later on!)
  • Debugging and Best Practices. I'll share some of my favorite tips and tricks for debugging and writing clean, maintainable code.
  • Your First Coding Challenge. We'll wrap up the section with a final project to test everything you've learned.

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What You Should Know Before We Start

To get the most out of this series, you should have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. A foundational knowledge of JavaScript is also helpful, but not required, as we’ll cover the necessary concepts as we go.

How We'll Learn

Each article will introduce a new concept, provide clear code examples, and include snippets you can easily copy and paste. At the end of each major concept, we'll build a mini-project together. I'll also give you a separate mini-project as homework to practice your new skills. You'll be able to submit your solutions in the comments for feedback.


The journey begins this Tuesday, where we'll dive into the core concepts of React, including why it's so popular and how to set up our first project.

Let's Connect!

If you're excited to begin your journey into the world of React, please consider following me on Dev.to. You can also connect with me on these platforms for more content and conversation as we go on this journey together:

Top comments (4)

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jonasberg_dev profile image
Jonas Berg

Quick tip: When rendering lists with map, always use a stable key (e.g., item.id) instead of the array index—this prevents odd re-renders and keeps state tied to the right item.

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mendoncamaria profile image
Maria Mendonca

I will keep this point in mind. Thanks for sharing and will surely mention it during the topic of maps and loops.

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frasam profile image
frasam

Awesome, can't wait

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mendoncamaria profile image
Maria Mendonca

Thanks for reading! The first article in Part 1 is Up!!