Developing With React

React Framework - Quick Reference

Version: 1.0.0 | Framework: React 18+ | Use Case: Fast lookups during active development

When to Use

Load this skill when:

• package.json contains "react" dependency (>=18.0.0)
• Project has .jsx or .tsx files in src/
• Next.js, Vite, or Create React App detected
• User mentions "React" in task description

Minimum Detection Confidence: 0.8 (80%)

Quick Start

import { FC, useState } from 'react';

interface Props {
  title: string;
  onAction?: () => void;
}

export const MyComponent: FC<Props> = ({ title, onAction }) => {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{title}</h1>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button => setCount(c => c + 1)}>Increment</button>
      <button
    </div>
  );
};

Component Design

Functional Component Structure

// 1. Imports (grouped and sorted)
import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import type { FC, ReactNode } from 'react';

// 2. Types/Interfaces
interface Props {
  children: ReactNode;
  className?: string;
}

// 3. Component
export const Component: FC<Props> = ({ children, className }) => {
  // 4. Hooks (state, effects, context)
  const [state, setState] = useState<string>('');

  useEffect(() => {
    // Side effects
  }, []);

  // 5. Event handlers
  const handleClick = () => setState('clicked');

  // 6. Early returns (error states, loading)
  if (!children) return null;

  // 7. Main render
  return <div className={className}>{children}</div>;
};

Container/Presentational Pattern

// Container: Logic and data fetching
export const UserProfileContainer: FC<{ userId: number }> = ({ userId }) => {
  const [user, setUser] = useState<User | null>(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch(`/api/users/${userId}`)
      .then(res => res.json())
      .then(setUser)
      .finally(() => setLoading(false));
  }, [userId]);

  if (loading) return <LoadingSpinner />;
  if (!user) return <ErrorMessage />;

  return <UserProfile user={user} />;
};

// Presentational: Pure UI
export const UserProfile: FC<{ user: User }> = ({ user }) => (
  <div>
    <h2>{user.name}</h2>
    <p>{user.email}</p>
  </div>
);

Core Hooks

useState - Local State

// Basic usage
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
const [user, setUser] = useState<User | null>(null);

// Functional updates (when new state depends on old)
setCount(prevCount => prevCount + 1);

// Lazy initialization (expensive computation)
const [data, setData] = useState(() => expensiveComputation());

// Object state updates (always spread)
setForm(prev => ({ ...prev, email: 'new@email.com' }));

useEffect - Side Effects

// Run once on mount
useEffect(() => {
  fetchData();
}, []);

// Run when dependencies change
useEffect(() => {
  fetchUser(userId);
}, [userId]);

// Cleanup function
useEffect(() => {
  const subscription = api.subscribe();
  return () => subscription.unsubscribe();
}, []);

// Abort fetch on unmount
useEffect(() => {
  const controller = new AbortController();
  fetch(url, { signal: controller.signal });
  return () => controller.abort();
}, [url]);

useContext - Consume Context

interface ThemeContextType {
  theme: 'light' | 'dark';
  toggleTheme: () => void;
}

const ThemeContext = createContext<ThemeContextType | undefined>(undefined);

// Provider
export const ThemeProvider: FC<{ children: ReactNode }> = ({ children }) => {
  const [theme, setTheme] = useState<'light' | 'dark'>('light');
  const toggleTheme = () => setTheme(prev => prev === 'light' ? 'dark' : 'light');

  return (
    <ThemeContext.Provider value={{ theme, toggleTheme }}>
      {children}
    </ThemeContext.Provider>
  );
};

// Custom hook (always validate context exists)
export const useTheme = () => {
  const context = useContext(ThemeContext);
  if (!context) throw new Error('useTheme must be used within ThemeProvider');
  return context;
};

useReducer - Complex State

type Action = { type: 'increment' } | { type: 'decrement' } | { type: 'reset' };

const reducer = (state: number, action: Action): number => {
  switch (action.type) {
    case 'increment': return state + 1;
    case 'decrement': return state - 1;
    case 'reset': return 0;
    default: return state;
  }
};

const Counter = () => {
  const [count, dispatch] = useReducer(reducer, 0);
  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button => dispatch({ type: 'increment' })}>+</button>
      <button => dispatch({ type: 'decrement' })}>-</button>
    </div>
  );
};

Custom Hooks

function useFetch<T>(url: string) {
  const [data, setData] = useState<T | null>(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
  const [error, setError] = useState<Error | null>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    const controller = new AbortController();
    fetch(url, { signal: controller.signal })
      .then(res => res.json())
      .then(setData)
      .catch(setError)
      .finally(() => setLoading(false));
    return () => controller.abort();
  }, [url]);

  return { data, loading, error };
}

// Usage
const { data: user, loading, error } = useFetch<User>(`/api/users/${userId}`);

Performance Optimization

React.memo - Prevent Re-renders

// Memoize component - only re-renders when props change
export const ExpensiveComponent = memo(({ data }: { data: Data }) => {
  return <div>{/* expensive rendering */}</div>;
});

// With custom comparison
export const CustomMemo = memo(
  ({ user }: { user: User }) => <div>{user.name}</div>,
  (prev, next) => prev.user.id === next.user.id
);

useMemo & useCallback

// useMemo: Memoize expensive computations
const filteredItems = useMemo(() => {
  return items.filter(item => item.includes(filter));
}, [items, filter]);

// useCallback: Memoize function references
const handleClick = useCallback(() => {
  setCount(c => c + 1);
}, []);

// Pass to memoized children to prevent re-renders
<MemoizedChild />

Code Splitting

import { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';

const HeavyComponent = lazy(() => import('./HeavyComponent'));

const App = () => (
  <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
    <HeavyComponent />
  </Suspense>
);

Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA)

Essential Patterns

// Use semantic HTML
<button me</button>  // Good
<div me</div>        // Bad

// ARIA labels for screen readers
<button aria-label="Close dialog">X</button>

// ARIA descriptions
<input type="email" aria-describedby="email-hint" />
<span id="email-hint">We'll never share your email</span>

// Live regions for dynamic content
<div aria-live="polite" aria-atomic="true">{statusMessage}</div>

// Keyboard navigation
const handleKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
  if (e.key === 'Escape') onClose();
  if (e.key === 'Enter') onSubmit();
};

Form Accessibility

<form
  <label htmlFor="email">Email</label>
  <input
    id="email"
    type="email"
    aria-invalid={!!errors.email}
    aria-describedby={errors.email ? 'email-error' : undefined}
  />
  {errors.email && <span id="email-error" role="alert">{errors.email}</span>}
</form>

TypeScript Quick Reference

Component Props

interface Props {
  title: string;               // Required
  subtitle?: string;           // Optional
  variant: 'primary' | 'secondary';  // Union types
  onClick?: () => void;        // Optional function
  onSubmit: (data: FormData) => void;  // Required function
  children: ReactNode;         // Children
  user: User;                  // Complex type
}

export const Component: FC<Props> = ({ title, onClick }) => (
  <div
);

Event Handlers

const handleClick = (e: MouseEvent<HTMLButtonElement>) => {};
const handleChange = (e: ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {};
const handleSubmit = (e: FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => { e.preventDefault(); };
const handleKeyDown = (e: KeyboardEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {};

Refs

const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);
useEffect(() => { inputRef.current?.focus(); }, []);
<input ref={inputRef} />

Anti-Patterns (Avoid These)

// DON'T: Mutate state directly
user.name = 'Jane'; setUser(user);  // Bad
setUser({ ...user, name: 'Jane' }); // Good

// DON'T: Use index as key
{items.map((item, i) => <div key={i}>{item}</div>)}  // Bad
{items.map(item => <div key={item.id}>{item}</div>)} // Good

// DON'T: Call hooks conditionally
if (condition) { useState(0); }  // Bad - hooks must be top-level

// DON'T: Miss useEffect dependencies
useEffect(() => { fetchUser(userId); }, []);     // Bad
useEffect(() => { fetchUser(userId); }, [userId]); // Good

// DON'T: Inline functions in JSX (when performance matters)
<Button => handleClick(id)}>Click</Button>  // Bad
<Button      // Good (with useCallback)

Testing Quick Reference

import { render, screen, fireEvent, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
import { axe, toHaveNoViolations } from 'jest-axe';

expect.extend(toHaveNoViolations);

describe('Button', () => {
  it('renders with text', () => {
    render(<Button>Click me</Button>);
    expect(screen.getByRole('button', { name: /click me/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
  });

  it('handles click events', async () => {
    const handleClick = jest.fn();
    render(<Button
    await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button'));
    expect(handleClick).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
  });

  it('has no accessibility violations', async () => {
    const { container } = render(<Button>Click</Button>);
    expect(await axe(container)).toHaveNoViolations();
  });
});

Integration Checklist

When using this skill, ensure:

• Components use TypeScript with strict types
• Interactive elements are keyboard accessible
• ARIA attributes added where semantic HTML insufficient
• Performance optimization applied (memo, useMemo, useCallback)
• Unit tests written with React Testing Library
• Accessibility tests with jest-axe
• Custom hooks extracted for reusable logic
• Error boundaries implemented for error handling

See Also

• REFERENCE.md - Comprehensive React guide with:
  • Advanced component patterns (compound components, render props, HOCs)
  • Complete hooks deep dive
  • State management architectures (Context optimization, Redux, Zustand)
  • Full WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guide
  • Performance profiling and optimization
  • Testing strategies and patterns
  • TypeScript advanced patterns
  • Styling approaches (CSS Modules, styled-components, Tailwind)
• templates/ - Code generation templates
• examples/ - Real-world implementation examples

Version: 1.0.0 | Last Updated: 2025-01-01 | Status: Production Ready