ReactJS by Example- Building Modern Web Applications with React

Get up and running with ReactJS by developing five cutting-edge and responsive projects

About This Book

• Create pragmatic real-world applications while learning React and its modern developer tools
• Build sustainable user interfaces by transforming data into components of UI
• Learn how to generate reusable ReactJS components effectively

Who This Book Is For

If you are a web developer and wish to learn ReactJS from scratch, then this book is tailor-made for you. Good understanding of Javascript, HTML, and CSS is expected

What You Will Learn

• Create, reuse, and compose React components using JSX
• Share data between various React components and techniques for data flow within a React app
• Handle user interactions with the help of event handlers and dynamic components
• Setup and use various next generation ES2015/ES6 features with React
• Understand performance and immutability feature of React using React add-ons
• Use data stores to store model-related data and information
• Create a flux-based react application by using reflux library

In Detail

ReactJS is an open-source JavaScript library that intends to bring aspects of reactive programming to web applications and sites. It aims to address challenges encountered in developing single-page applications. React's core principles are declarative code, efficiency, and flexibility. It is intended to help developers build large applications using data that change over time.

This book is a comprehensive guide with five complete projects, each focusing on the characteristics of ReactJS. You will learn to efficiently build up customized user interfaces for your own applications with this book.

Starting with a project on instapusher, you will be introduced to React and work with JSX before gradually moving onto learning about the data flow and the life cycle of a React component.

In the second project based on building a multi-step wizard form, you will learn about composite dynamic components and how to use mixins, nodes, and perform DOM actions.

The third project focusing on a search engine application, will teach you to build a powerful and fast search engine by exploring server-side rendering, two-way binding helpers, test utilities, and performance tools.

Next, you will build a front-page for an E-Commerce App in the fourth project by using data models and react-routes. You will also learn to use ReactAddons and test React components.

In the final project you will develop a complete social media tracker, by using the flux way of defining React Apps and know about the good conventions and use-cases with the help of ES6 and reflux.

By the end of this book, you will not only have a good understanding of ReactJS but will also have built your very own responsive and exceptional front-end applications from scratch.

Key Features

• Create pragmatic real-world applications while learning React and its modern developer tools
• Build sustainable user interfaces by transforming data into components of UI
• Learn how to generate reusable ReactJS components effectively

Book Description

ReactJS is an open-source JavaScript library that brings the power of reactive programming to web applications and sites. It aims to address the challenges encountered in developing single-page applications, and is intended to help developers build large, easily scalable and changing web apps.

Starting with a project on Open Library API, you will be introduced to React and JSX before moving on to learning about the life cycle of a React component. In the second project, building a multi-step wizard form, you will learn about composite dynamic components and perform DOM actions. You will also learn about building a fast search engine by exploring server-side rendering in the third project on a search engine application. Next, you will build a simple frontpage for an e-commerce app in the fourth project by using data models and React add-ons. In the final project you will develop a complete social media tracker by using the flux way of defining React apps and know about the best practices and use cases with the help of ES6 and redux.

By the end of this book, you will not only have a good understanding of ReactJS but will also have built your very own responsive frontend applications from scratch.

What you will learn

• Create, reuse, and compose React components using JSX
• Share data between various React components and techniques for data flow within a React app
• Handle user interactions with the help of event handlers and dynamic components
• Set up and use various next generation ES2015/ES6 features with React
• Understand the performance and immutability features of React using React add-ons
• Learn the techniques of Animation in React
• Use data stores to store model-related data and information
• Create a flux-based React application by using Reflux library

About the Author

Vipul A M is Director at BigBinary. He is part of Rails Issues Team, and helps triaging issues. His spare time is spent exploring and contributing to many Open Source ruby projects, when not dabbling with React JS.

Vipul loves Ruby's vibrant community and helps in building PuneRb, is the founder of and runs RubyIndia Community Newsletter and RubyIndia Podcast, and organizes Deccan Ruby Conference in Pune.

He can be found @vipulnsward on twitter and on his site http://vipulnsward.com.

Prathamesh Sonpatki is Director at BigBinary. He builds web applications using Ruby on Rails and ReactJS. He loves learning new programming languages and contributing to open source.

He can be found @_cha1tanya on twitter.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started with React
2. JSX in Depth
3. Data Flow and Life Cycle Events
4. Composite Dynamic Components and Forms
5. Mixins and the DOM
6. React on the Server
7. React Addons
8. Performance of React Apps
9. React Router and Data Models
10. Animation
11. React Tools
12. Flux
13. Redux and React