Write Frontend Code

Write frontend code

Examples: React + Next.js (Pages Router), neutral listing domain. principle → ▸ Example → ▸ Other stacks. Where files go: structure-a-frontend-app. General style (early return, pipelines, naming, SOLID, deep copy, casts): code-conventions.

The data/state stack ships through the shared UI lib. React Query, Zustand, debounce, the HTTP client, theme tokens etc. are re-exported from @org/web-ui (placeholder for your in-house design-system package) — so they aren't direct deps of the app. Import from @org/web-ui[/utils| /store|/queries], not the raw libraries.

1. Data fetching & mutations — React Query

Server data goes through a query layer per feature, never ad-hoc fetch in components. A feature's data folder has four files: .keys.ts (key factory), .queries.ts (reads), .mutations.ts (writes), .types.ts.

• Key factory — namespaced nested arrays, so invalidation is precise:

  // listing.keys.ts
  const listingKeys = { all: ['listing'] as const };
  export const listingQuery = {
    detail: (id?: string) => (id ? [...listingKeys.all, 'detail', id] : [...listingKeys.all, 'detail']),
    list:   (params?: ListListingsRequest) => [...listingKeys.all, 'list', params] as const,
  };
  

• Query hook — enabled guard + per-query staleTime override + placeholderData to avoid flicker:

  export const useListingDetail = ({ id, options = {} }) =>
    useQuery(listingQuery.detail(id), () => listingService.getDetail(id!), {
      enabled: !!id, staleTime: 30_000, placeholderData: keepPreviousData, ...options,
    });
  

• Mutation hook — invalidate the affected keys in onSuccess:

  // listing.mutations.ts
  export const usePublishListing = () => {
    const qc = useQueryClient();
    return useMutation(({ id }) => listingService.publish(id), {
      onSuccess: () => qc.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: listingQuery.detail() }),
    });
  };
  

• Global client config (once): staleTime 10m, gcTime 30m, refetchOnWindowFocus false, retry false, refetchInterval false. Override per-query (staleTime: 0) only for live data. ▸ Other stacks: SWR / TanStack Query; key-factory + hook-per-query + invalidate-on-mutate carries over.

2. API layer — one base client + service classes + DTOs

• One HTTP base client (BaseHttp, an Axios instance) owns interceptors: attach bearer token; queue requests during a 401 refresh (concurrent 401s → one refresh, then replay); normalize errors (handleHttpError re-throws a consistent Error with .response); serialize query params once (qs.stringify(..., { arrayFormat: 'brackets' })).
• One service class per entity extends the base; components/queries call the service, never axios:

  export class ListingService extends BaseHttp {
    getList(p: ListListingsRequest) { return this.get('listings', { params: p }).then((r) => r.data); }
    publish(id: string) { return this.post(`listings/${id}/publish`).then((r) => r.data); }
  }
  

• DTOs hand-authored, split models/request/ vs models/response/. Build payloads fluently: const body = Builder(CreateListingBody).title(form.title).price(form.price).build(); ▸ Other stacks: a typed client / generated SDK — one wrapper owns auth + error handling.

3. State — server vs client vs cross-cutting (don't mix)

• Zustand store shape — State + Actions as separate interfaces, a resetState, immutable merges via get():

  const create: StateCreator<ListingListStore> = (set, get) => ({
    ...initialState,
    setFilter: (f) => set({ filter: { ...get().filter, ...f } }),
    addSelected: (l) => set((s) => s.selected.some((x) => x.id === l.id) ? s : { selected: [...s.selected, l] }),
    resetState: () => set({ ...initialState }),
  });
  export const [useListingListStore] = createStore(create, { storeName: 'listing-list' });
  

• Select narrowly + shallow to avoid full-store re-renders: const { filter, setFilter } = useListingListStore((s) => pick(s, ['filter','setFilter']), shallow);
• Never copy server data into Zustand (goes stale). If a query must seed store state, do it in the queryFn wrapped in unstable_batchedUpdates(...) (one re-render, not N). ▸ Other stacks: any store lib + context; the server/client/cross-cutting split is the durable idea.

4. Custom hooks — feature .actions.ts pattern + reusable hooks

• Feature logic lives in a hook, not the component. A feature action hook consolidates form submit
  • mutation + navigation + error + UI flags, with a synchronous re-entry guard so double-clicks can't double-submit:

  export const useSaveListing = () => {
    const { handleSubmit } = useFormContext<ListingForm>();
    const { setSaving } = useListingListStore();
    const { mutateAsync } = usePublishListing();
    const busy = useRef(false);
    const => {
      if (busy.current) return;                                  // sync guard
      handleSubmit(async (form) => {
        busy.current = true; setSaving(true);
        try { await mutateAsync({ id: form.id }); router.push(Routes.Listings); }
        catch (e) { handleError(e); }
        finally { busy.current = false; setSaving(false); }
      })();
    };
    return { onSave };
  };
  

• Reusable hooks (src/hooks/ general, src/helpers/hooks/ domain): useModalState() → { visible, show, hide, toggle }; useDebounced(value, ms) (value debounce w/ cleanup); usePagedSearchCombobox({ fetchRows, mapRows, pageSize }) (debounced search + load-more; refs for a fetch-lock + a generation counter to drop stale responses); useMyProfile() (reads a context → memoized role booleans). Always use*-named; memoize derived values.

5. Forms & validation — React Hook Form + Yup

• RHF + Yup via yupResolver; schema in src/schemas/<feature>.schema.ts. Dynamic/conditional schemas with yup.when() / yup.lazy(). mode: 'onChange' for live feedback. Wrap a form in <FormProvider>, read it in nested fields via useFormContext().
• Perf on big forms: subscribe to single fields with useWatch({ name }) instead of watch() (which re-renders on every keystroke). Wrap inputs in shared Field components that show formState.errors.

6. Packages we lean on

Public OSS named directly; in-house bits come via @org/web-ui.

▸ Other stacks: swap names, keep the roles (form lib + schema, one HTTP wrapper, a decimal lib, a class-name helper).

7. Styling — Tailwind + tokens + CSS Modules

• Tailwind-first. Colors/spacing/radius/breakpoints come from the shared theme (@org/web-ui tokens extended in tailwind.config.js) — never hard-code hex; use token classes.
• Conditional classes via classnames (alias cn), incl. arbitrary variants:

  <div className={cn('listing-row', { 'is-error': hasError }, isActive && '[&_svg]:text-primary')} />
  

• CSS Modules (*.module.scss) for component-scoped styling beyond utilities; share SCSS vars via styles/variables.scss. styles/globals.css holds resets + third-party UI overrides + global overlays.
• Integrating a component library? Disable Tailwind preflight to avoid reset clashes. Dark mode via the class strategy. ▸ Other stacks: utility CSS + scoped modules + one token source.

8. Performance

• Memoize the expensive, not everything. React.memo on heavy components (editors, charts, media, big lists); useCallback for handlers passed to memoized children/list rows; useMemo for derived lists/objects. Don't memo trivial leaves.
• Zustand shallow + narrow selectors (§3) — usually the biggest re-render win.
• React Query tuning: lean on the 10-min staleTime; narrow with select; placeholderData/ keepPreviousData to avoid flicker on param change; staleTime: 0 only for truly live data.
• Code-split heavy client-only modules with next/dynamic + { ssr: false } (rich-text editor, embedded reports, video, PDF) — keeps them out of the SSR bundle and initial load:

  const Editor = dynamic(() => import('src/components/Editor'), { ssr: false, loading: () => <Spin /> });
  

• Images: next/image (lazy + blur placeholder) via a shared wrapper.
• Debounce input-driven work (search ~300ms, expensive calc ~400ms, network ~1000ms) via the shared util.
• Lists: pagination by default; add virtualization only when a page truly renders hundreds of rows.

9. Config — typed, public vs private

One typed config module (src/Config.ts): public (client-exposed; NEXT_PUBLIC_*) + private (server-only). Read config through the module, never scatter process.env; safe defaults / fail fast. ▸ Other stacks: a settings module + the framework's public-env prefix.

10. i18n

A localization context + locale JSON with dot-notation namespaces (common.title); a useLanguage(namespace) hook returns t(key). Locale from cookie, switchable. ▸ Other stacks: i18next/react-intl.

11. SSR / hydration gotchas (FE-critical)

• Guard browser-only access: typeof window !== 'undefined' before window/document/ localStorage; use an isomorphic layout effect.
• SSR-safe defaults, then hydrate (avoids hydration mismatch); ssr: false for components that can't render server-side.
• Hard navigation (window.location) for unrecoverable/auth/maintenance states; router push for in-app nav.

12. Error handling & user feedback

A layered stack, not try/catch sprinkled everywhere:

• Global HTTP interceptor (in BaseHttp, §2) maps transport errors centrally: 401 → queued refresh + retry; 403 → access message; 503/maintenance → redirect; otherwise → a normalized Error with .response for callers.
• A class ErrorBoundary catches render-time errors and shows a fallback per route/region.
• Alerts/toasts via context, not per-component state: an AlertContext keyed by group id (openAlert('listing-form', { type: 'error', content })) + a toast/notification util for transient messages. A shared handleError(e) turns a caught error into a user-facing dialog (and logs out on auth-invalidation).
• Form errors surface from formState.errors via the shared Field components (§5). ▸ Other stacks: one global request-error handler + an error boundary + a toast/alert channel — don't re-handle the same statuses at every call site. (Auth/session flow: secure-a-frontend-app.)

13. Realtime (sockets)

• One socket client (singleton) owns the lifecycle, not per-component connections:

  class SocketClient {
    private socket?: Socket;
    init(role: string) {
      this.socket = io(Config.SOCKET_URL, { auth: { token: BaseHttp.accessToken },
        query: { role }, transports: ['websocket'] });
      this.socket.on('connect', onConnect); this.socket.on('exception', handleError);
    }
    emit(a, p, cb?) { this.socket?.emit(a, p, cb); }
    on(a, cb) { this.socket?.on(a, cb); }  off(a, cb) { this.socket?.off(a, cb); }
    disconnect() { this.socket?.removeAllListeners(); this.socket?.disconnect(); }
  }
  

• Init after auth (token available); remove listeners in the useEffect cleanup and disconnect on logout. Event names live in an enum; wrap a domain event stream in a context. ▸ Other stacks: a single connection manager + per-effect subscribe/unsubscribe; never leak listeners.

14. Providers & app-init

• Flatten the _app provider nest with a combineProviders([A, B, C]) helper instead of deep JSX:

  const Providers = combineProviders([SessionProvider, QueryProvider, AuthProvider, AlertProvider, OrgProvider]);
  

• Init app-wide side-effects once on mount in a useConfigs-style hook: logging + a push provider (e.g. OneSignal) — init() → tag the user (orgId/role from session/config) → clean up on unmount (logout). Never hard-code ids.

Verification

• Server data: a queries/<feature> hook (key factory + useQuery); writes via .mutations.ts that invalidateQueries the right key; no raw fetch/axios in components.
• Client state in a per-feature Zustand store, selected with shallow; no server data duplicated there.
• Forms use RHF + a src/schemas/*.schema.ts; big forms use useWatch on specific fields.
• Styling uses theme tokens + classnames + *.module.scss; no hard-coded hex.
• Heavy client-only modules are next/dynamic({ ssr: false }); browser APIs are typeof window guarded.
• No scattered process.env (all via the Config module).
• Transport errors handled once in the HTTP interceptor + an ErrorBoundary + a toast/alert channel — not per call site.
• One socket client owns connect/auth/cleanup; listeners removed in effect cleanup.

Related

• secure-a-frontend-app — auth/session, route guards, secrets. · handle-files-frontend — CSV/PDF/upload/download.
• structure-a-frontend-app — where these files live.
• write-frontend-tests · code-conventions · write-service-code (backend equivalent).