The Road to React: Your journey to master plain yet pragmatic React.js

The first thing to say here is that the book looked a lot smaller in the picture. It's a paperback and only 187 pages (at the time of writing) so I was expecting something that you could fit in your jacket pocket and take down the pub. On the contrary, when it arrived, I was surprised to find that it was actually A4 sized, so the book contains a lot more than content than I had expected. Incidentally, One of the benefits of having a book in this format is that you can easily prop it open while you type out the code examples (that's German engineering for you!). The book does not take long to work through, however. You could read it on one day or maybe two. I'm a relatively slow reader so it took about 3 days to read it all. I found the language very clear and concise, although there are one of two phrases where you can tell the writer is not a native English speaker - small things like "it's worth to mention that..." instead of "it's worth mentioning that..." - even the title of the book might be better written as "the road to learning react". Having said that, there are no instances in the book where the odd small grammatical error deflects from your understanding. Reading this book you can tell it's written by someone who is passionate about the subject and about teaching. It even encourages you in the preface to lend the book to your friends when you have read it, so everyone can benefit from the information. The author's enthusiasm is felt throughout the book and this makes it an enjoyable learning experience. With regards to the technical content of the book, it focuses on the core React library, and explains it in a very clear and logical way. It does not cover other related modules like Redux (see his other book, Taming The State In React for this topic), and does not get bogged down in setting up Node and npm (you can find this information out from the reference links at the end of each chapter if you need it). This means that you do not get overwhelmed by a massive amount of information when you are learning React. Another great feature of the book is that it teaches a lot about the new features of ES6. Really the book could have been called 'the road to learn React with ES6' as it includes information on topics such as class inheritance, lambda expressions, string literals, constants, spread operators, destructuring and much more. What I especially like is when it shows ES6 code, it also shows the equivalent code in ES5, so old school javascript developers like myself can easily grasp the concepts. Another good feature is when he shows code, he shows alternative ways of writing the code in ES6 shorthand, so when you encounter the same syntax in the real world, you will not be confused. All in all, I think this is probably one of the best programming books I have bought this year.

I needed to learn React for a project I'm working on and was impressed by the content on Robin Wieruch's website so decided to buy this book. Really glad that I did. This is a practical, hands-on book and an easy read. The Fundamentals of React section in particular is well paced, introducing concepts clearly and simply with just enough detail. Each section builds on the next resulting in a clear understanding of why things are the way they are and how everything fits together. I found that this made it much easier to use what I had learned in my own applications and troubleshoot issues. Highly recommended even if you know just enough Javascript like me.

I was asked to produce a web app to run on smart TVs and React was the obvious choice. I am a native iOS/Android developer so I knew absolutely nothing about React when I ordered this book. The book is very clearly set out and topics are explained thoroughly. I am still a React noob, but I have created a basic app so far, and it would have been a lot harder if I hadn't had this book! I like the physical format of the book - it is pretty much A4 and is hardback which I personally prefer. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone in a similar position to myself. If I had to make one suggestion to make the book even better, an index would be useful, but the contents pages are sufficiently detailed to make this perhaps unnecessary.

As someone from a backend dev background, my front-end knowledge has become a little stale. I wanted to obtain some materials to get started with React with little to minimal hassle. The information presented in this book is well thought out and well presented and makes for easy reading. For me this provided sufficient detail without going overboard to be semi-productive within React a week or so. The book is fairly hands-on practical as you can probably imagine, so the e-book is probably better for most people.

Purchasing gives you access to both the physical and digital versions of the book - Robin was happy to grant me access after reaching out to him via email. I'm really enjoying the format of the book as I tend to learn better from text-based tutorials with a focus on 'learning-by-doing' as opposed to video courses. Would definitely recommend to those looking to understand more about React and modern front end development.

If you're looking to learn the fundamentals of React.js this is definitely the book for you. Some prior JavaScript knowledge always helps, but the author does a great job of walking you through the various concepts in an easy to understand manner. This book focuses on modern React implementation with Functional components and Hooks (not Class based components). Some ES6 JavaScript concepts are also explained such as arrow functions and spread/rest operators. I really enjoyed reading this book because it flows really nicely. Each chapter building on the previous. After going through React fundamentals the author touches on Legacy React with Class components, CSS styling in React and React project management. The last chapters focus on implementing more advanced features such as sorting and data pagination. Overall, this is a great starting point for someone looking to learn React.

A thorough, yet concise, walk through of the fundamentals of React with some great tips on ES6 along the way. The author has a knack of explaining things really well, without waffling. The examples are well-crafted. You could easily walk-through this book in a week. It won't take you to an advanced level of course - only practice and development of proper apps will do that - but it doesn't claim to do this. It's a great intro to the fundamentals. The author also has a great website (and I actually listened to his cool music, whilst doing the exercises in the book!). Definitely worth keeping track of his website, and other publications.

This is pure amateur: It’s badly written, the presentation is poor, the exercises on the whole without direction. It’s very much a print yourself book rather than a professionally published affair and sadly it shows. A technical editor really needed to have gone over this and direct the author and improve the English. As it stands, this feels like an unfinished work in progress.

Kurz zu mir selbst: Ich lerne seit 3 Jahren sporadisch HTML, CSS, JavaScript, wenn ich Zeit habe und konnte schon einige Anwendungen und Spiele selbst programmieren. Meine JavaScript-Kenntnisse sind zwar gut, aber nicht profimäßig. :) Für das Buch sollte man auf jeden Fall die Grundlagen von html, css und JavaScript kennen! Ich selber habe mich seit 2 Jahren mit Online-Kursen von einer bekannten code-Akademie *zwinker sowie zahlreichen Tutorials auf Youtube herumgeschlagen und versucht React zu verstehen. Das ist mir auch irgendwie gelungen, heißt, ich konnte schon einfache Websites erstellen, aber so richtig verstanden hatte ich das dann doch nicht. Warum brauche ich Hooks? Wie funktioniert das mit den Props? Welche Variablen muss ich innerhalb einer funktionalen Komponenten angeben und welche außerhalb? Deshalb hatte ich mir ursprünglich "React Cookbook" von Oreilly besorgt. Leider war es für mich und meinen Kenntnisstand nicht das richtige Buch, da ich den Code nicht richtig verstehen konnte. Irgendwie schon, aber nicht genau. Durch Zufall bin ich dann aufgrund von mehreren Empfehlungen online auf Robin Wieruchs "The Road To React" gestoßen und habe es mir dann auch gleich bestellt. Das Buch ist in einem großen Format gehalten und mit Hardcover. Das hat mich gleich begeistert. The Road To React ist aufgebaut, wie ein großes Tutorial mit einem einzigen Projekt. Schritt für Schritt und in leicht verständlichen kleinen Häppchen wird erklärt, was zu tun ist, und beschrieben, wie React funktioniert. Dabei wird der Leser immer motiviert, selbst auszuprobieren mit Tipps und Links zu weiterführenden Erklärungen und anschaulichen Beispielen zu den einzelnen Themen. Die Lernschritte sind klein gehalten und zu jedem einzelnen Lernschritt gibt es zur Überprüfung den gesamten Quellcode. So bastelt man in dem Buch langsam an einer Suchmaschine durch einzelne Komponenten mit Props, Hooks wie useEffect, useState, useReducer, useCallback, etc. Sowohl Props als auch Hooks sind besonders wichtig, um das Potenzial von React voll auszuschöpfen und dank dem Autor habe ich endlich den useReducer richtig verstehen können. Die erste Hälfte des Buches erklärt einem das Grundgerüst, das auch völlig ausreicht, um eine ordentliche App oder Website zu programmieren. In der zweiten Hälfte geht es dann um weiterführende Themen wie -ältere Versionen von React -wie man CSS effizient einsetzt -Performance verbessern -GraphQL -TypeScript -Daten aus Datenbanken abrufen und managen -Firebase -Testing -Produktion (Building) Sehr hilfreich sind die Quellcodes für jeden Lernschritt auch deshalb, weil man jederzeit Schritte überspringen kann oder weitermachen kann, wenn man den vorherigen Lernschritt nicht richtig verstanden hat oder sich im Code ein böser Bug versteckt und man keine Stunden damit verbringen will, ihn ausfindig zu machen. Die Herangehensweise und die Schritte im Buch sind so gestaltet, wie man sie tatsächlich beim Entwickeln einer App oder Website durchlaufen würde und von daher auch für Berufseinsteiger oder Freiberufler u. Selbstständige ein guter Leitfaden für eine Arbeitsweise. Ich habe noch nie so schnell ein Buch durchgearbeitet. Sage und schreibe 6 Tage hat es gedauert, bis ich durch war, und das trotz Arbeit und obwohl ich fast jeden einzelnen Zusatzlink im Buch angeklickt und durchgelesen habe, um meine Kenntnisse zu vertiefen oder zu überprüfen! Nach Beendigung dieses Tutorials in Druckform ist man sehr gut gewappnet, um seine eigenen Projekte zu starten. Dabei kann man immer wieder etwas nachschlagen, was man vielleicht vergessen hat oder was man einfach wiederholen möchte. Eine absolute Kaufempfehlung und ich möchte hier nochmal dem Autor Robin Wieruch danken für die viele Arbeit, die er in dieses wichtige Buch gesteckt hat! Hier nochmal kompakt die Vor- und Nachteile + großes Format mit Hardcover, genug Platz für eigene Notizen + viel abgedruckter Quellcode mit allen wichtigen Details, was ist gleich geblieben, was wurde verändert ? + leicht verdauliche Lern-Häppchen + viele Links mit tiefergehenden Erklärungen und Quellcode zur Veranschaulichung + die wichtigsten Hooks Schritt für Schritt erklärt + Refaktorisierung und Optimierung des Projekts + jeder Schritt von der Erstellung der Dateien bis zur abschließenden Produktion, um die Dateien ins Web zu stellen + wichtige Frameworks vorgestellt + aktuell! Ich kann dieses Buch somit jedem empfehlen, der bereits gute Kenntnisse über html, css und JavaScript besitzt. Wenn ihr JavaScript-Anfänger seid, könnt ihr mit dem Buch auch arbeiten, aber dann solltet ihr euch auf jeden Fall mehr Zeit nehmen! Für mich das beste Buch für React so far!

I have read the book and is well written and the author has made it clear and understanding. So far this book has proved to be useful for any frontend develop app.

In 2018 I had been working as a frontend developer for 8 years, and just started to learn React. Then my front-end experience stopped because I was headhunted to work for another company as a backend developer. Fast forward to the beginning of this year our team was asked to pick up front-end development work transferred from another team. Then I got this book, but I have been too busy to read it. Last Friday I really had to start to code on React and finish an assignment in 2 weeks. I panicked, because even a very basic JavaScript notation like object destructuring commonly used in React looked so distant to me. Then I got this book from the shelf and started to read like crazy, nonstop until Sunday evening. Thanks to the way the author has laid out for the knowledge building process and the easy-to-follow tutorials, the more I read the more confident I became. Then on Monday morning when I got to the office, I started to discuss how we should proceed with the assignment. My colleagues were so surprised to see me behave differently in just a matter of days, because last Thursday I was still talking mostly like I knew nothing about React and didn’t know how to comment. But make no mistake, I am not saying anyone without front-end experience before can just pick up this book and know how to code React in a matter of days. Good knowledge of JavaScript is still needed before starting this book. Finally, the most important thing: 5 stars!

I've been working with React for 2 years now but I've learned everything on the go, so there was no extra time to actually dive deep into all the details of how React works under the hood. Finally I got some time and decided to elevate my React knowledge and understand all the nuances I am so lucky I've found this book. IT IS TRULY THE BEST React guide I've ever read. Yes so far it is simple but I'm in love with all the details that author is providing. Also, all the citations to different articles (which are written by Robin) are very helpful as well. I try to at keep them in my reading list Thank you so much for creating such a great resource!

Robin's style is so down to earth and practical I am enjoying using the book. I have already started React course on CodeAcademy which is fine, but it is more "do this and see what happens, try and remember what happened" style of learning. Robin's style covers more "how and why things happen" and at a nice easy pace. Highly recommended.