React Newsletter #333
Preact Signals, Next.js 12.3, and Rendering Patterns
This issue is sponsored by React Brussels.
The React Brussels Conf is back home in the heart of Europe for its new edition - and the line-up was just revealed! This conference always features some of the best talks of the year, and the Belgian JS vibe promises to last long beyond the conference itself!
Check it out on October 14 (online or offline).
News
React Router v6.4
React Router v6.4 just dropped with new features for data loading/mutations/revalidation, error/interruption/race condition handling, and pending/skeleton UI with Suspense support.
Signals
Jason Miller and the Preact Team released this new state management library for Preact, which moves state outside of Preact entirely. This allows it to skip all the expensive work of re-rendering components and only updates the ones that access the state's value directly. Less work = more speed. It comes with a React package too 👀.
We wrote a deep dive on Signals in last week's issue of Bytes, which we think you'll love.
Next.js 12.3
Highlights for this release include improvements to Fast Refresh, TypeScript Auto-Install, a stable version of the new Image Component (first previewed in Next 12.2), and new updates to Router and Layouts.
Articles
Rendering Patterns
This section of the Patterns.dev book gives a great deep dive on how the most common web dev rendering patterns work, including React, Next.js, CSR, SSR, Selective Hydration, Islands Architecture, and more. Written by Addy Osmani and Lydia Hallie.
PureComponents vs Functional Components with hooks
In this article, Nadia Makarevich looks into the problems that PureComponent solves, how it can be replaced now in the hooks & functional components world, and shares an interesting quirk of React re-render behaviors.
Does Your React App Need a Spreadsheet or Data Grid?
This article will help you better understand the differences between spreadsheets and data grids (and which problems they solve best), so you can make the right choice for your React app. [sponsored]
Me & React: 5 years in 15 minutes
Valeria wrote about her 5-year journey from when she was first exposed to React back in 2017 up to her experience using it (and the other libraries it inspired) today.
The self-fulfilling prophecy of React
Josh Collinsworth, a self-proclaimed "non-fan of React", wrote this deep dive about how he feels React has aged and is no longer "great at anything except being popular."
Projects
Fresh 1.1
Deno's Preact-based, full-stack framework just released v1.1, which comes with plugins, automatic JSX, an official twind plugin, and support for Preact Signals (that was quick).
TanStack Query 4.3 (FKA React Query)
This release adds support for ES Modules and fixes a few bugs.
Videos
The Story of React
We made this 10-minute video earlier this year to walk through the history of React and analyze why it ultimately became so popular.
Build and Deploy a Modern YouTube Clone Application
This 2.5 hour-long tutorial video walks you through building a responsive YouTube clone web app with React and Material UI 5, featuring video sections, custom categories, channel pages, and a video player.