This was our first week learning React. React, as I have come to understand it, is basically a means to combine HTML and JavaScript code together. It's called JSX, but it looks and operates ALOT like HTML and JavaScript. Even more so, it exists as a JavaScript library, which is meant to be a tool to make the utilization of JavaScript easier to create and maintain. Personally, I like React and think the frameworks and libraries of JavaScript make things easier. I have some personal experience with JQuery, just working with it on my own projects. I found that library to be very beneficial, as I am discovering about React. I think my favorite aspect of React so far is just how compartmentalized it is. This week, I designed a single page application for a restaurant that included their menu. In the application, I separate the header, the navigation bar, the menu sections, and even the footer into separate components (and also separate files). This really helped me to stop and think through the logic of each component, and get started with the project quicker. I also found myself becoming more confident in JavaScript logic while I was creating items with React. It is much easier to dynamically create elements in React than in vanilla JS, that is forsure!
I am interested in continuing to learn more about React. I have just learned the basics this week, studying props and components and how to manage state. These are all great, but I know they are just the tip of the iceberg. Outside of React, I would like to continue learning JQuery and maybe even NextJS, although NextJS is a framework and I am not as familiar with it yet. The great thing about web development and software in general is that you will always and must always continue learning. If you fail to learn, you will quickly fall behind.
I plan on continuing to study React for the remainder of the bootcamp and afterwards. I want to use React in my final project, as it seems to be a very useful tool in terms of dynamically creating elements. Also, its component structure allows the developer to create much cleaner, more maintainable code. Overall, I really enjoyed learning the basics of React this week. I know it is going to get much tougher, so I need to continue to be diligent to study and work through tutorials during my time off. Also, I wanted to give a shout-out to my beautiful wife. Tomorrow (07/02/2023) is our first anniversary as a married couple. I love you so much Mills and can’t wait for many more years to come!