The Best React Examples to Learn From

React has taken the front-end development world by storm since its release by Facebook in 2013. As a flexible, component-based JavaScript library for building user interfaces, React makes it easier than ever to create interactive, modular UIs that can power everything from simple web pages to complex web applications.

One of the best ways to learn React is by studying examples. Well-crafted React examples can demonstrate core concepts, best practices, and creative solutions to common UI challenges. In this post, we‘ll highlight some of the very best React examples out there and explain what makes them so useful.

But first – what makes a React example great in the first place? Here are a few key criteria:

• Demonstrates core React concepts and techniques clearly
• Well-documented code that is easy to read and reason about
• Compelling visual result or solves a practical UI/UX challenge
• Can serve as a foundation to build on for your own projects

With that in mind, let‘s dive into our picks for the greatest React examples, starting with some simpler demos and building up to complete sample projects.

React Component Examples

At the heart of React are components – modular, reusable pieces of code that define the appearance and behavior of UI elements. Let‘s look at some basic examples that demonstrate component concepts.

A Simple React Component

Here‘s about the simplest "Hello World" React component example:

function Greeting(props) {
  return ;
}

This is a valid React "function component" – it accepts a single "props" object argument and returns what looks like HTML, but is actually JSX – a syntax extension that gets compiled to JavaScript. When used like this:

<Greeting name="Nathan" />

It will render to the DOM as:

Even in this simple example, we see a key React concept – the component is a function of its input props that returns its output markup. This declarative, functional approach makes React code highly readable and predictable.

A Stateful React Component

Many React components don‘t just rely on props, but also manage their own internal state data that can change over time. Here‘s a canonical counter button example:

class Counter extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {count: 0};
  }

  handleClick = () => {
    this.setState(state => ({
      count: state.count + 1
    }));
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <p>You clicked {this.state.count} times</p>
        <button onClick={this.handleClick}>
          Click me
        </button>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

This is a "class component" that extends the base React.Component class. It has:

• An initial count state of 0 set in the constructor
• A handleClick function that increments the count state
• A render method that reads the current state and returns markup with the current count and a button to increment it

Putting this together, we have an interactive component that maintains and modifies its own internal state over time in response to user actions. The component‘s rendered output at any given time is a function of its props and state.

A Component Using Lifecycle Methods

Class components can implement special "lifecycle" methods that are called at specific points in the component‘s lifetime. These let you run code when the component is initialized, updated, or destroyed.

class Clock extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {date: new Date()};
  }

  componentDidMount() {
    this.timerID = setInterval(() => {
      this.setState({date: new Date()});
    }, 1000);
  }

  componentWillUnmount() {
    clearInterval(this.timerID);
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <h2>It is {this.state.date.toLocaleTimeString()}.</h2>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

This clock component:

• Sets up its initial state with the current time in the constructor
• Starts a timer to update the state every second in componentDidMount, which runs after the first render
• Cleans up the timer in componentWillUnmount, which runs when the component is removed from the DOM
• Renders the current time string from the state in its render method

So we have a clock that updates itself over its entire lifecycle. Lifecycle methods are useful for kicking off and cleaning up side effects like timers, data fetching, subscriptions, etc.

These examples demonstrate some of the key building blocks of React apps. But putting components together into full, working UIs is where things really get interesting. On that note…

Complete React Example Projects

Studying real-world React projects is one of the best ways to see how concepts fit together into production-ready code. Here are a few of our favorite React example apps:

1. A Social Media Feed with Redux

This project implements a social media feed UI complete with users, posts, likes, and comments. More importantly, it shows these concepts:

• Using Redux for predictable, centralized state management
• Normalizing data and storing it in a minimal Redux state tree
• Keeping the Redux store immutable and updating it via actions and pure reducer functions
• Connecting React components to read data from the Redux store and dispatch actions to modify it
• Asynchronous actions and API calls with Redux Thunk middleware

So beyond being a slick UI, this project is a fantastic example of managing complex data flows in a React app using Redux – a popular and powerful state management library.

2. A Chat App with React Hooks and Context

React Hooks, new as of React 16.8, let you use state and other React features in function components – no class needed. Hooks make sharing stateful logic between components easier and can make your code more concise and easier to follow.

This complete Slack-like chat app shows several hooks in action:

• useState for simple component state like form inputs
• useEffect for side effects like subscriptions and data fetching
• useContext and useReducer for app-level state management as an alternative to Redux

Studying this app provides an excellent overview of the latest React best practices for 2023 and beyond.

3. An E-commerce Site with Gatsby

Gatsby is a powerful static site generator and web framework built on React. It lets you pull data from APIs, CMSs, or markdown files and turn it into a fast, SEO-friendly React site you can host anywhere.

This example e-commerce site shows key Gatsby features and add-ons in action:

• Generating dynamic product pages from markdown files using GraphQL queries
• Routing and navigation between pages
• Responsive, mobile-friendly design using styled-components
• Adding a shopping cart and checkout flow
• Connecting to Shopify for back-end e-commerce functionality

This is an outstanding example of building a full-featured, production-ready website on top of React with Gatsby. It‘s filled with best practices you can apply to your own projects.

Where to Find More Great React Examples

We‘ve only scratched the surface of all the inspiring React examples out there. You can find many more high-quality examples to learn from in places like:

• Official React docs and tutorial
• create-react-app and its examples directory
• react.rocks – a catalog of React apps and demos
• Real-world React apps open sourced on GitHub
• React conferences and video tutorials

Additionally, building your own small example projects is one of the best ways to solidify your React skills. Pick a simple UI component or small app and try re-building it yourself in React. Solve problems along the way by referencing other examples. Before long, you‘ll be an expert!

Conclusion

We‘ve looked at basic component examples, more complex complete projects, and resources to find even more outstanding React examples. I hope this has given you inspiration and concrete references to level up your React skills.

Remember, every expert React developer starts as a beginner staring at a blinking cursor. Study great examples, write tons of your own code, and before long, you too can build interfaces that are modular, declarative, and easy to reason about – the React way!