
Ask HN: Do I need to learn React before applying for a new job? - mitul_45
I have been working on AngularJS at my current company for last two years. While in the background, React took over the world!<p>Now wherever I am applying, react-redux is kind of a must. Do I need to learn them before starting the applications?<p>How do you, in general, keep yourself up-to-date with latest technologies out there?
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acemarke
Not sure I'd you say "need" to learn them, but given the popularity of React
and other similar component-based UI libraries, understanding the concepts is
probably a good thing.

If you do want to learn React, I keep a big list of links to high-quality
tutorials and articles on React, Redux, and related topics, at
[https://github.com/markerikson/react-redux-
links](https://github.com/markerikson/react-redux-links) . Specifically
intended to be a great starting point for anyone trying to learn the
ecosystem, as well as a solid source of good info on more advanced topics.

~~~
mitul_45
Thanks for sharing! This looks as a great starting point. Will surely take a
look.

~~~
acemarke
Sure. I'll also toss out the rest of my standard advice for learning React:

The article "A Study Plan to Cure Javascript Fatigue" (
[https://medium.freecodecamp.com/a-study-plan-to-cure-
javascr...](https://medium.freecodecamp.com/a-study-plan-to-cure-javascript-
fatigue-8ad3a54f2eb1) ) is a great place to start. It gives an excellent
series of steps for tackling modern Javascript concepts one piece at a time:
Javascript, React, ES6, and state management.

On that note, definitely don't over-complicate the learning process by trying
to learn many different things at once. Some people will say you should use a
"boilerplate" to learn React, and they're wrong - boilerplate projects almost
always come with too many pieces configured, and are confusing for beginners.

Instead, the best advice is to focus on learning React itself first. Once you
have a good understanding of how React works, you will better appreciate why a
state management library like Redux can be useful, and you can learn about
other tools later.

You should start out by reading through the official React docs and tutorial
at [https://facebook.github.io/react/](https://facebook.github.io/react/), and
I'd encourage you to use the official Create-React-App tool (
[https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-
app](https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app) ) for setting up
projects. It creates a project with a solid build setup, with no configuration
needed on your part. There's an excellent post called "Simple React
Development in 2017" ( [https://hackernoon.com/simple-react-development-
in-2017-113b...](https://hackernoon.com/simple-react-development-
in-2017-113bd563691f) ) that gives some more specific instructions on the
actual steps to follow.

Besides my links list that I mentioned in my first comment, I also published
an "Intro to React (and Redux)" presentation at
[http://blog.isquaredsoftware.com/2017/02/presentation-
react-...](http://blog.isquaredsoftware.com/2017/02/presentation-react-redux-
intro/) , which is a good overview of the basic concepts for both React and
Redux.

Finally, the Reactiflux chat channels on Discord are a great place to hang
out, ask questions, and learn. The invite link is at
[https://www.reactiflux.com](https://www.reactiflux.com) .

