react-development

name	react-development
description	Comprehensive React patterns and best practices: functional components, all hooks (useState, useEffect, useCallback, useMemo, useRef, useContext, useReducer), custom hooks, state management (local/Context/external), performance optimisation...
metadata	{"portable":true,"compatible_with":["Codex","codex"]}

react-development

Acknowledgement: Shared by Peter Bamuhigire, techguypeter.com, [phone].

Use When

• Comprehensive React patterns and best practices: functional components, all hooks (useState, useEffect, useCallback, useMemo, useRef, useContext, useReducer), custom hooks, state management (local/Context/external), performance optimisation...
• The task needs reusable judgment, domain constraints, or a proven workflow rather than ad hoc advice.

Do Not Use When

• The task is unrelated to react-development or would be better handled by a more specific companion skill.
• The request only needs a trivial answer and none of this skill's constraints or references materially help.

Required Inputs

• Gather relevant project context, constraints, and the concrete problem to solve; load references only as needed.
• Confirm the desired deliverable: design, code, review, migration plan, audit, or documentation.

Workflow

• Read this SKILL.md first, then load only the referenced deep-dive files that are necessary for the task.
• Apply the ordered guidance, checklists, and decision rules in this skill instead of cherry-picking isolated snippets.
• Produce the deliverable with assumptions, risks, and follow-up work made explicit when they matter.

Quality Standards

• Keep outputs execution-oriented, concise, and aligned with the repository's baseline engineering standards.
• Preserve compatibility with existing project conventions unless the skill explicitly requires a stronger standard.
• Prefer deterministic, reviewable steps over vague advice or tool-specific magic.

Anti-Patterns

• Treating examples as copy-paste truth without checking fit, constraints, or failure modes.
• Loading every reference file by default instead of using progressive disclosure.

Outputs

• A concrete result that fits the task: implementation guidance, review findings, architecture decisions, templates, or generated artifacts.
• Clear assumptions, tradeoffs, or unresolved gaps when the task cannot be completed from available context alone.
• References used, companion skills, or follow-up actions when they materially improve execution.

Evidence Produced

Category	Artifact	Format	Example
Correctness	Component test plan	Markdown doc covering hook, context, and rendering tests	docs/web/react-component-tests.md

References

• Use the references/ directory for deep detail after reading the core workflow below.

Production-grade React patterns drawn from Mastering React (Horton & Vice), Pro React (Antonio), and modern React 18/19 best practices.

Quick Reference

Topic	Reference
All hooks with examples	references/hooks.md
Custom hooks library	references/custom-hooks.md
State management patterns	references/state-management.md
Performance optimisation	references/performance.md
TypeScript + React	references/typescript.md
TS + React production gotchas (Fullstack React with TS)	references/react-typescript-gotchas.md
Testing (RTL)	references/testing.md
Forms and validation	references/forms.md
React 18/19 features	references/react-18-19.md

---

1. Component Architecture

Functional Components — Canonical Form

function UserCard({ name, email, onSelect }) {
  return (
    <div className="user-card" onClick={() => onSelect(email)}>
      <h3>{name}</h3>
      <p>{email}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

Always use function declarations for named components. Arrow functions for callbacks only.

Composition — Parent Owns State

Build from small autonomous pieces. Parent owns state; children receive props and call callback props to signal events upward (unidirectional data flow).

function KanbanBoard() {
  const [cards, setCards] = useState([]);

  const addCard  = (card) => setCards(prev => [...prev, card]);
  const updateCard = (id, data) =>
    setCards(prev => prev.map(c => c.id === id ? { ...c, ...data } : c));

  return (
    <div className="board">
      {cards.map(card => (
        <KanbanCard key={card.id} card={card} onUpdate={(d) => updateCard(card.id, d)} />
      ))}
      <AddCardForm onAdd={addCard} />
    </div>
  );
}

props.children and Slot Pattern

function Card({ title, children, footer }) {
  return (
    <div className="card">
      <h2>{title}</h2>
      <div className="card__body">{children}</div>
      {footer && <div className="card__footer">{footer}</div>}
    </div>
  );
}
// <Card title="Summary" footer={<button>Save</button>}><p>Content</p></Card>

Container / Presentational Split

// Presentational — pure UI, all data via props
function TaskList({ tasks, onToggle }) {
  return (
    <ul>
      {tasks.map(t => (
        <li key={t.id} className={t.done ? 'done' : ''} onClick={() => onToggle(t.id)}>
          {t.name}
        </li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
}

// Container — fetches data, manages state, delegates rendering
function TaskListContainer() {
  const [tasks, setTasks] = useState([]);
  useEffect(() => { fetchTasks().then(setTasks); }, []);
  const toggle = (id) =>
    setTasks(prev => prev.map(t => t.id === id ? { ...t, done: !t.done } : t));
  return <TaskList tasks={tasks} onToggle={toggle} />;
}

---

Additional Guidance

Extended guidance for react-development was moved to references/skill-deep-dive.md to keep this entrypoint compact and fast to load.

Use that deep dive for:

• 2. Core Hooks — Quick Reference
• 3. Custom Hooks
• 4. State Management
• 5. Performance Optimisation
• 6. Forms
• 7. Error Boundaries
• 8. React 18 / 19 Concurrent Features
• 9. Testing
• 10. Anti-Patterns Checklist
• 11. Architecture Checklist