State management is the frontend engineer’s favorite battleground. Every team has a war story:
- Too much prop drilling
- Context providers everywhere
- Redux boilerplate bigger than the app itself
I’ve seen teams spend weeks debating whether to use Redux, Zustand, MobX, or Context.
But here’s the thing: you don’t always need a library. With careful patterns, React’s built-ins can take you surprisingly far.
- Start with useState
Most apps don’t need global state. Local useState is the simplest, fastest, and most debuggable tool.
When state doesn’t need to escape a component, keep it there.
- Reach for useReducer for Complex State
This makes logic predictable without extra libraries.
- Context Splitting Beats Prop Drilling
Context is powerful but easy to misuse. Instead of one giant provider, split contexts by domain.
This way, auth updates don’t re-render the entire dashboard, and theme changes don’t ripple unnecessarily through profile components.
Scoped contexts = faster renders.
Now only auth-related consumers re-render when the auth state changes.
- Add Undo/Redo with a Custom Hook
Sometimes you want time-travel state without Redux. Hooks can do it in a few lines.
Now you’ve got a mini Redux with history baked in.
The Big Takeaway
Every abstraction has a cost. Before reaching for Zustand or Redux, ask yourself if you can solve the problem with a combination of useState, useReducer, and a few smart contexts. Most of the time, you can.
“Good state management is like good design—it disappears into the background.”
💬 Curious: how far have you pushed React’s built-ins before you needed a state library? Drop your war stories—I’d love to hear them.
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