Tried learning React first and it was a total mistake

Everyone online kept saying start with React because there are more jobs. I spent 3 months on it and got nowhere. The JSX syntax and state management just broke my brain every time. So I stepped back and learned plain JavaScript for 6 weeks straight. Now React actually makes sense because I understand the basics underneath. I think the popular advice to jump straight into frameworks is hurting beginners. Has anyone else hit a wall with React and had to go back to basics?

3 comments

3 Comments

derek_perez22d ago

5 weeks into my React deep dive I felt like I was just memorizing code patterns without actually knowing what they did. I stepped all the way back to a vanilla JS calculator project and that was the turning point. Once I really got the event loop and closures down, things like hooks and state started clicking. The hype around learning React first is just bad advice for most people.

fiona98522d ago

That "memorizing code patterns" part hit me hard because I was definitely one of those people telling everyone to just jump into React. Three months ago I was at a local meetup in Austin actually arguing that you don't need deep JS knowledge to get started. But then I spent two weeks trying to explain useEffect to a friend and realized I couldn't really answer their "but why does it work this way" questions. Your calculator project idea is genius honestly, I think the event loop stuff is what everyone skips and it's the whole reason hooks feel like magic. I'm gonna try that same approach with my next project, just pure JS until I actually understand what's happening under the hood.

the_kim22d ago

Tell me about it, I lost two weeks to useState before realizing I didn't even know what a callback was.