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React State Round Up

In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk about React State libraries, should you use them, pros, cons, and more!

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Show Notes

01:24 - Context

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: Yes
    • Wes: Yes
  • Pros
    • Built into React
    • As simple or complex as you want
  • Cons
    • Takes effort to optimize
    • Takes effort to plan and organize aka can get out of hand quickly

08:49 - Redux

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: Yes
    • Wes: Yes
  • Pros
    • Huge user base
    • Legacy of growth and improvements
    • Modern API
    • Even though it’s hard to learn, it has a clear “how to build with it” path
    • Dev tools
  • Cons
    • Complex
    • Thing that calls a thing that calls a thing that calls a thing
    • Confusion around what additional packages are needed, e.g. ducks, saga, whatever

17:08 - XState

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: Yes
    • Wes: No
  • Pros
  • Cons
    • Knowledge overhead - having to understand state machines
    • Complex syntax

23:26 - Zustand

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: Yes
    • Wes: No
  • Pros
    • Fast, scalable, easy to use
    • Simpler
    • No context providers
  • Cons
    • Smaller community 2.6k stars on Github
    • Can inform components transiently (without causing render)

27:04 - Apollo Client

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: Yes
    • Wes: Yes
  • Pros
    • Fits in well with your GraphQL API
    • Dev tools
  • Cons
    • Complex, large syntax for simple operations
    • Dev tools
    • SSR story is really complex. It’s hard because they aren’t also the framework.

31:35 - RXJS

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: No
    • Wes: No
  • Observable based

33:02 - React Query

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: No
    • Wes:
  • Pros
    • Fast growing community
    • Awesome dev tools
  • Cons
    • Not sure if this can be used for application state or just data

35:37 - Recoil

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: Yes
    • Wes: No
  • Pros
    • Very good for complex, splintered state needs
  • Cons
    • Overly complex for most use cases

38:34 - MobX

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: No
    • Wes: No
  • Pros
    • Big community
    • Not just React
    • Powerful
    • Observable capabilities
  • Cons
    • Uses decorators, but doesn’t have to?

43:15 - Easy Peasy

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: No
    • Wes: No
  • Pros
    • Simple API (easy peasy)
    • Redux dev tools supported

45:06 - Meteor ReactiveDict / ReactiveVar

  • Have we used?
    • Scott: Yes
    • Wes: No
  • Pros
    • Very simple
    • Get, set
    • Is Reactive
  • Cons
    • Lock-in to Meteor

46:19 - Final Thoughts On State

  • Wes: Go for simpler solutions
  • Scott: I think application state should be separate from application data, but maybe that’s because there isn’t a solution that does both how I want
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