React Clean Code Tips you Should Know

Atiq ur rehman
7 min readSep 6, 2023

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Make Your React.js Development Better with These Best Practices and Time-Tested Methods

React Clean Code Tips you Should Know
React Clean Code Tips you Should Know

React.js has transformed front-end development by offering a strong and effective method for creating user interfaces. However, keeping clean, clear, and manageable code becomes increasingly important as your React application becomes more sophisticated. In this article, we’ll look at the best practices for creating working, clean React.js code that is also simple to read and update.

1. Component Organization and Structure

A well organized component hierarchy makes navigation easier and makes it easier to comprehend how your application works. Follow these recommendations:

Keep your components concentrated on a single responsibility according to the single responsibility principle (SRP).
If a component grows to be too big, think about dividing it up into more manageable chunks.

Components of the container and presentation: Sort your components into two groups: presentation components, which are concerned with UI display, and container components, which are in charge of data and logic.

This division improves the readability and reusability of the code.
Folder Organization: Your components should be arranged in a sensible folder structure. To keep things organized, group relevant components together and think about utilizing directories like components, containers, and utils.

2. Detailed Naming:

Descriptive naming in React refers to the practice of giving variables, functions, components, files, and other items within your React application’s codebase meaningful and self-explanatory names. The purpose of descriptive naming is to make each element’s function and purpose instantly evident to other developers reading or working with the code. The readability, maintainability, and general comprehension of the application are improved by this method.

Here are some pointers for naming things in your React code to be descriptive:

Component names should appropriately describe their function or position within the program. Use words or noun phrases that are evocative of the component’s function.

// Good: Descriptive component name
<UserProfile />

// Avoid: Vague or unclear component name
<Component1 />

Choose variable and function names that clearly describe their functions or the types of data they store or manage. Use lowercase characters for functions and camelCase for variables.

// Good: Descriptive variable and function names
const userDisplayName = 'John';

function calculateTotalPrice(items) {
// ...
}

// Avoid: Unclear or abbreviated names
const uName = 'John';

function calc(items) {
// ...
}

Files and Directories: Give your files and directories names that accurately describe the information they contain. To make text easier to read, use lowercase characters, hyphens, and underscores.

// Good: Descriptive file and directory names
UserProfile.js
user-profile/

Props and state: Give them names that reflect their function and the data they contain when supplying props or establishing component state.

// Good: Descriptive props and state names
<ProfileCard name={user.name} />

class UserProfile extends React.Component {
state = {
isLoading: true,
userData: null,
};
// ...
}

// Avoid: Generic or unclear names
<ProfileCard n={user.name} />

class UserProfile extends React.Component {
state = {
flag: true,
data: null,
};
// ...
}

Event Handlers: Use names that indicate the action or event they manage when defining event handler functions.

// Good: Descriptive event handler name
function handleButtonClick() {
// ...
}

// Avoid: Generic event handler name
function handleClick() {
// ...
}

Comments: If further context or explanation is required for complex code, use comments to do it. Prioritize, however, producing self-explanatory code with minimal comments.

The purpose and functionality of individual elements in your React application can be better understood by future developers (including you), thanks to descriptive naming, which also encourages straightforward communication. Think about the long-term advantages of having code that is simple to read, maintain, and collaborate on when naming parts.

3. Accurate Formatting

Consistent formatting in React involves adhering to a set of rules and conventions for code layout, indentation, spacing, and other stylistic aspects across your entire application. Consistency in formatting improves code readability, maintainability, and collaboration among developers. Here are some guidelines for maintaining consistent formatting in your React code:

Use a similar amount of indentation for each level of nesting. Using two or four spaces for each level is a popular option. Stick with a single style for the duration of the project.

// Example using four-space indentation
function MyComponent() {
return (
<div>
<p>Hello, world!</p>
</div>
);
}

Opening braces should be positioned on the same line as the block they belong to. This is a typical JavaScript practice.

// Good: Opening brace on the same line
function MyComponent() {
// ...
}

// Avoid: Opening brace on a new line
function MyComponent()
{
// ...
}

Whitespace and Formatting: Use consistent spacing around operators, inside object literals, and before/after parentheses. Add spaces after commas and colons.

// Good: Consistent spacing around operators and objects
const user = { name: 'John', age: 30 };

// Avoid: Inconsistent spacing
const user={name:'John', age :30};

Line Length: To make your code easier to read, try to keep lines brief (about 80–100 characters). If a line is excessively long, you might want to divide it into several lines.

// Good: Line breaks to keep line length manageable
<MyComponent prop1={value1} prop2={value2} prop3={value3} />

// Avoid: Long lines that reduce readability
<MyComponent prop1={value1} prop2={value2} prop3={value3} prop4={value4} prop5={value5} />

Consistent Naming: For variables, functions, components, and other identifiers, use consistent naming conventions. Pick a naming convention (such as camelCase, PascalCase, etc.) and follow it consistently.

Code alignment: Vertically align related code blocks for improved grouping and clarity.

// Good: Aligned code for better readability
const firstName = 'John';
const lastName = 'Doe';

// Avoid: Misaligned code
const firstName = 'John';
const lastName = 'Doe';

Utilizing a Code Formatter: To automatically enforce consistent formatting throughout your codebase, think about utilizing code formatting tools like Prettier. You can incorporate these tools into your development workflow to guarantee consistent formatting without manual effort.

4. Avoid using magic strings and numbers

A numerical figure that appears directly in the code without any explanation is referred to as a “magic number” in programming. Similar to this, a “magic string” is a string value that is utilized straight in the code without any additional explanation. These two things could make it challenging to read and update the code.

To increase the maintainability of the code and lower the possibility of errors, swap out magic numbers and strings with constants or variables.

// Instead of this
if (status === 2) { ... }

// Use constants
const STATUS_COMPLETED = 2;
if (status === STATUS_COMPLETED) { ... }

5. Destructuring

Programming languages provide a feature called “destructuring” that enables you to take individual items out of data structures like arrays, objects, or tuples and assign them to variables in a clearer and more logical fashion. Your code will be clearer and easier to read since it makes the process of retrieving values from complicated data structures simpler.

Destructuring objects and arrays improves the readability of your code and clarifies your intentions.

// Instead of this
const username = user.name;
const age = user.age;

// Use destructuring
const { name: username, age } = user;

6. Stay away of nested ternaries

A conditional expression can be written succinctly using ternary operators, which are frequently referred to as “ternaries.” You can rapidly determine whether a condition is true or false and have one of two values returned. The ternary operator has the following syntax:

condition ? expression_if_true : expression_if_false

7. Reuse and Modularization

Create reusable parts and useful routines to reuse code. This lessens code duplication and improves the maintainability of your program.

Conclusion

It’s important to provide the groundwork for a scalable and maintainable application when writing clean React.js code. You’ll write code that works and is simpler to comprehend, alter, and collaborate on if you stick to these best practices. Remember that writing clear, maintainable code is a continuous process, and your React applications will gain from this as your coding abilities advance.

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Atiq ur rehman
Atiq ur rehman

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