Tag: ES6

Understanding the Magic Behind React Syntax: New JSX Transform in React 17

React is an efficient and flexible JavaScript library used for building user interfaces. By using React, web developers can create reusable UI components. These components help with maintaining the code when working on larger scale projects.

The Old Way: Importing React

Before the updates, React developers had to import the React module explicitly to be able to write JSX. This code illustrates that concept:

import React from 'react';
function BoringComponent() { 
  return ( 
    <div>Hello, world!</div> 
    ); 
} ;

Without this import statement, the JSX syntax, an HTML-like syntax, would not be recognized by the JavaScript compiler.

Paradigm Shift: Why this Change?

In newer React versions, the explicit import of the React module is not required anymore. This change came about for a few reasons:

  1. Simplification of Code: It helps to simplify the code as it removes unnecessary imports.
  2. Improving Readability: This change enhances code readability by reducing the clutter caused by unnecessary imports.
  3. Increasing Robustness: The code becomes more robust by reducing the risk of errors from incorrect imports.

How Does this Change Work?

The crucial part lies in understanding how JSX works behind the scenes. Every JSX element gets transpiled to a React.createElement call. Let’s see an example:

function SmartComponent() 
return ( 
  <div>Hello, world!</div> 
); }

In the past, behind the scenes, React implicitly called the React.createElement. React no longer needs to do this, which is why the import statement is no longer necessary.

This new magic comes from the new JSX Transform introduced in React 17.

To sum it up, the recent updates in React have removed the need to import the React module when writing JSX elements enhancing simplicity, readability, and robustness of the code.

Tags: #React, #JSX, #ES6, #React17, #createElement_isMagic

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