Level Up Your React Skills with 7 Simple Yet Game-Changing Tricks

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Are you just starting your journey with React? You’re in for an exciting ride! React has revolutionized the way we build user interfaces, but like any powerful tool, it comes with its own set of best practices. Today, we’re going to explore 7 simple yet game-changing tricks that will level up your React skills and make your code cleaner, more efficient, and more professional.

1. Embrace the Power of Self-Closing Tags
Let’s kick things off with a simple but effective trick: using self-closing tags. It’s a small change that can make your code much cleaner and easier to read.

Instead of this:

Do this:

Why does this matter? Well, when you’re dealing with dozens or even hundreds of components, every line of code counts. Self-closing tags reduce clutter and make your JSX more scannable.

2. Fall in Love with Fragments
Ever found yourself wrapping components in unnecessary

tags just to satisfy React’s requirement for a single parent element? Say hello to Fragments!

Instead of this:


Do this:



Fragments keep your DOM clean and your code semantic. They’re like invisible wrappers that group elements without adding extra nodes to the DOM.

3. The Fragment Shorthand: Your New Best Friend
Once you’re comfortable with Fragments, take it a step further with the shorthand syntax:

Instead of this:



Do this:
<>



This syntax is even cleaner and quicker to type. Just remember, you can’t pass attributes to the shorthand version, so use the full when you need to include a key.

4. Spread Those Props Like Butter
Prop spreading is a nifty ES6 feature that can make your components more readable and flexible:

Instead of this:
function TodoList(props) {
return

{props.item}

;
}

Do this:
function TodoList({ item }) {
return

{item}

;
}

By destructuring props, you make it immediately clear what data your component expects. It’s also easier to use the props within your component.

5. Default Props: Set It and Forget It
Define default values for your props right in the function parameters:

Instead of this:
function Card({ text, small }) {
let btnText = text || “Click here”;
let isSmall = small || false;
// …
}

Do this:
function Card({ text = “Click here”, small = false }) {
// …
}

This approach is cleaner and ensures your component always has sensible defaults, even if no props are passed.

6. Simplify String Props
When passing string props, you can ditch the curly braces for a cleaner look:

Instead of this: