General Description of the Book
The book is small in size, easy to read, and can be finished quickly. The level is extremely basic. There are no images. The book does not have the usual chapter numbering (at least the edition I came across), but it’s not difficult to count them. There are about 7–8 chapters or small sections. I will refer to them as chapters.
At the time I read the book, there was already a changelog section spanning a few pages, which noted updates to the book and indicated that the author actively keeps it up to date. I’m not sure if it’s still maintained now, but it was definitely the case when I read it.
Before each chapter, there’s a very brief description of what the chapter will cover, and at the end—conclusions and a summary of the material. Additionally, there are practical exercises (something like homework).
Brief Overview of the Chapters
The first chapter introduces React, its installation, and all the necessary software to fully run React. This is followed by an introduction to JSX and ReactDOM. The author also touches on native JS topics, such as declaring variables with const and let, as well as arrow functions and classes.
The next chapter continues the introduction to React and describes state and component interaction. At this point, it’s only about internal state. As in the previous chapter, there are mentions of native JS—for example, objects and destructuring. Event handlers are briefly touched upon. Topics like component separation and reuse, component styling, and some other basics are also covered.
Then comes a chapter on working with APIs. It starts with lifecycle methods (again, very briefly and over a few pages), followed by working with APIs and fetching data—first using fetch, then Axios. Conditional rendering, pagination implementation, and some other topics are also covered.
The next chapter focuses on testing. The tools covered here are Jest and Enzyme.
The last two short chapters are dedicated to HOC (Higher-Order Component) and state management (lifting state).
Conclusion
A decent book on the most basic fundamentals of JavaScript and the React library for those just starting out with React and JS. By the end of the book, you’ll have a minimal understanding of how React works and what to study next if you want to continue in this direction. However, after reading this book, you’re unlikely to have enough skills to write even a moderately complex web application. After this book, it’s definitely necessary to continue theoretical learning and work on practical tasks.
