Formik is a great React form library; it takes in, validates, and submits user input in a way that’s fairly flexible and reusable. Unfortunately, Formik uses field names to tie a field into its form. These field names are typed only as strings and use a dotted path notation to dig into nested fields. This […]

One question comes up at the beginning of every greenfield React project I work on: how do we manage global state? We always debate the merit of using Redux versus rolling our own global state management solution using React context and hooks. We’ve ended up choosing Redux for each project, and here’s why. (This post […]

It’s a good idea to have exact version information accessible from within any app you’re building, and it’s easy to put it there with modern tools. Join me for a quick dive through the layers that exist between git and production in a conventional Dockerized React app. Why Show Version Information? There are a bunch […]

I had the pleasure this year of leading an effort to re-write a complex editor application for a manufacturing test environment. The project dealt with highly complex, structured documents, so we felt that Redux would be a great storage solution. During the effort, I was able to refine work I had previously done to provide […]

I’ve worked with a few teams who found React’s Contexts somewhat difficult to understand at first. This started me thinking about how best to explain them. What I realized is that Contexts are essentially nothing more than dynamic scope. What’s Dynamic Scope? As a programmer, you’re most likely very comfortable with lexical scoping, even if […]

Create React App is the easiest and most available way to get into React. And ejecting your app is seen as the gateway to being a “Real React Developer.” I’m not normally for gatekeeping, but ejecting is worth avoiding. Today, I’m going to try and convince you to take your hand off the eject button. […]