This is because people forget that React is still a only "view" library with the M and C sprinkled all over with meathooks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Re:React is a fractal of bad design
by activitypea on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @05:46AM
(#35067439)
React doesn't map to the MVC paradigm at all, though.
Re:React is a fractal of bad design
by zelphirkalt on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @07:25AM
(#35068169)
I like the mental picture of the comparison. Consider, that you might have taught a boased selection of people, and that others might not be so diligent to have read the docs and actually thought about it in depth to also understand it ; )
Re:React is a fractal of bad design
by activitypea on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @07:44AM
(#35068313)
The idea of pure functions deriving UI from state is the single central idea of React's worldview. The docs work extra hard to get this model of apps into your brain. This is not the same thing as people being elitist about Git, this is refusing to engage with the design of the framework and blaming the framework.
I like how you say "others might not be so diligent to have read the docs"... As opposed to? Picking up a UI framework and just winging your way through LSP autocompletions until something happens on your screen?
Re:React is a fractal of bad design
by zelphirkalt on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @09:40AM
(#35069468)
> As opposed to? Picking up a UI framework and just winging your way through LSP autocompletions until something happens on your screen?
Yes, that, and following bad tutorials by other people who did the same.
That’s a good point, that example does feel a bit contrived. Interestingly though it is actually “canon” to call setState within the render function (for certain rare situations). I didn’t actually know this until I read the React beta docs: https://beta.reactjs.org/learn/you-might-not-need-an-effect#...
Re:React is a fractal of bad design
by activitypea on Thursday March 09, 2023 @05:47AM
(#35080036)
That's a not a call to setState within the render function though, that's a declaration of an effect that sets state. Reference != call.
Re:React is a fractal of bad design
by satvikpendem on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @10:21PM
(#35077975)
Most people who use React don't understand idempotency, in my experience. Without understanding that fundamental concept, and that that React will blow away the tree and recreate it (albeit efficiently), one will not understand React.
Yes, most people are idiots and most developers can't solve fizzbuzz, but that's not the problem of React.
Re:React is a fractal of bad design
by activitypea on Thursday March 09, 2023 @05:49AM
(#35080045)
I think most people can intuit it, they just don't have the FP lingo. I still don't understand what a newcomer would expect that piece of code to do.
function MyComponent() { const [num, setNumber] = useState(42);
}Trying to make state updates at the top level of a component will result in an infinite loop. ```
I've taught React to dozens of people without ever seeing someone try this. A render function is an idempotent function that produces UI for a given state, and it's called every time the state changes. What are you, semantically, trying to do by updating state midway through a render function? This isn't a footgun, this is the author picking up a screwdriver and going "I wonder what happens if I press it against my eyeball"