Tao of React Book Cover

Tao of React

A reference of rules and guidelines to build better UIs.

By Alexander Kondov

Buy on Gumroad — $19Also available on AmazonRead the free sample

Your next step after the fundamentals.

You've learned the basics. But when you start a real project, questions pile up — and no resource tells you how to put the pieces together.

How do I structure my project so it's easy to maintain?

How do I make my components more reusable and where do I put them?

How do I test my components and what should I test?

I've spent years learning how to structure codebases and make trade-offs. I've learned them the hard way — but you don't have to.

Chapters

Concise rules you can read in any order. Dive into what interests you most.

Architecture

High level concepts and decisions that make a codebase modular and extensible. You will learn how to structure a project, manage duplication and handle business logic.

Component Design

Low level details are as important as high level ones. The component rules will teach you how to name, organise and design components.

Testing

Development is never final. We'll learn principles about testing that will help us maintain quality and stability as our application grows and changes.

Performance

It doesn't matter how good your product is if it's slow. We'll explore core performance principles to keep in mind as we develop the next big thing.

Principles

Each rule is self-contained and straight to the point. Use the book as a reference.

Don't
// 👎 Nested render functions
function Component() {
  function renderHeader() {
    return <header>...</header>
  }
  return <div>{renderHeader()}</div>
}
Do
// 👍 Extract to a component
function Component() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Header />
    </div>
  );
}

Try before you buy

There's a free article version of Tao of React with 20+ principles from the book. I still update it regularly with new insights.

Read the Free Article

No email or credit card required.

What do people say?

#3 Product of the Day on Product Hunt. Used by thousands of engineers.

"I came across the Tao of React and I went from just 'trying' things out to having a clear understanding of bootstrapping a React project from scratch. Tao of React is in fact my default recommendation for Junior developers."

A

Aremu Oluwagbamila

Frontend Engineer, Quidax

"I found the Tao of React when I was just starting my career as a React Native developer. I was a junior developer at the time and it helped with my confidence so much. I found myself referring to the book before googling anything!"

A

Aaron Thompson

React Developer

"It's a great reference. I use it a lot when I need to justify my choices. I actually often say things like "Alexander Kondov said that in Tao of React". I can't wait to read the new one!"

A

Alexandre Pinel

React Developer

"Tao of React is nothing short of amazing! It's the missing guide for react developers to make sense of the complexity or how to avoid it."

J

Joshua Chu

React Developer

Get the book

You buy me lunch and I tell you everything I know about React.

$19eBook
  • All 4 chapters
  • 80+ rules
  • 170 pages
  • Evergreen knowledge
Buy on Gumroad — $19Also available on Amazon
Full refund if you're not satisfied

About the author

Alexander Kondov

Alexander Kondov

I'm a software engineer by day, writer by night and Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast in between.

I've been building React apps since 2016. I lead a team at the Financial Times, building the UIs for their niche media products. Before that I wrote React for early stage startups and had a go at running my own.

My aim is to pass down what I've learned about architecture and software design through my books. Tao of React is the first in a series.

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