How I learned React

About me

I have 3+ years experience as a proficient javascript developer passionate about creating polished web applications with beautiful, well-designed UIs using the Angular Framework and React Libraries.

Front-end development with React and Angular is probably my strongest skill, but I can also handle the back-end side with Node, MongoDB and other SQL/NoSQL databases (more specifically Express, Sails, MySQL, Postgres) and MEAN/MERN are my favorite technology stacks in building a complete web applications.

I keep a strict eye on pixel perfectionism of UI/UX design, and always stick to result-driven working manner with great attention to detail, periodic thorough code review, and critical thinking.

I always strive to have all my clients satisfied with my working methodology and solutions.

My main skills:

• React/Redux, Angular1.x/2/4/5/6, Vue.js, Wordpress/WooCommerce;
• JavaScript, TypeScript, ES6+, HTML5, CSS3, Less, Sass;
• jQuery, Bootstrap, Semantic UI, Material Design, Responsive Design;
• Node.js | Express, Python, PHP, Ruby on Rails;
• MongoDB, MySql, Postgres, GraphQL, AWS, Firebase;
• Git, Trello/Jira, Asana, Agile Methodologies;

Why I wanted to learn React

Learning React was a major decision in my professional career.
My main focus has been on Front-end side and I had already learned Angular as a front-end framework, I thought to further improve my skills one shouldn't stick to one framework and instead learn at least three front end frameworks to further your skills.

How I approached learning React

My learning approach was firstly to buy a course on Udemy and complete the course, after completing the course I started projects directly for clients because I already knew Angular so I was confident about my skills.

Challenges I faced

The most challenging thing about react was about Reacts life cycle and there are so many ways you can write code in React but there is only one best way, which was a bit different than Angular.

Key takeaways

I think Reacts way of making a virtual Dom and state management was a very interesting concept furthermore, I now how Redux in my toolkit which is very useful.

Tips and advice

I would suggest Maximmilian course on Udemy first and after completing the course there are some youtube projects make them and try modifying them for your own need.s

Final thoughts and next steps

When I first started learning React, I thought why learn two framework when you can get your work done in one framework Angular but I found that learning more frameworks further improves your existing knowledge. For example now I know how to use Redux in Angular framework which can be very benefitial in some cases.

Next steps is going to be learning Vue.js.