Top 10 Tools Every React Developer Needs in 2024

With the evolving changes in React development, there are several tools available to streamline our development process and ensure code quality. I'm excited to share some of these tools with you to make your lives easier and our projects more efficient.

ESLint

ESLint is a powerful tool for maintaining code quality in JavaScript projects. It can catch syntax errors, enforce coding standards, and identify potential issues in your code. For example, ESLint can flag unused variables:

let x = 10;
console.log(x); // No error

// Unused variable
let y = 20; // ESLint will flag this as an error

It can also enforce indentation rules:

// Incorrect indentation
function greet() {
console.log('Hello, world!'); // ESLint will flag this as an error
}

// Correct indentation
function greet() {
  console.log('Hello, world!');
}

Additionally, ESLint can detect common programming mistakes, such as assigning instead of comparing in conditional statements:

let age = 20;

// Incorrect comparison
if (age = 18) { // ESLint will flag this as an error
  console.log('You are an adult!');
}

// Correct comparison
if (age === 18) {
  console.log('You are an adult!');
}

These are just a few examples of how ESLint can help maintain code quality and consistency in JavaScript projects.

Storybook

Storybook is a powerful tool for developing and showcasing UI components in isolation. It provides a development environment where developers can create, test, and document individual React components independently of the application's context. Let’s understand how Storybook works with some examples:

1. Component Isolation: Storybook allows developers to isolate UI components and view them in isolation without navigating through the entire application. This makes it easier to develop and test components in isolation, leading to faster iteration cycles.

Example:

   // Button.stories.js
   import React from 'react';
   import { Button } from './Button';

   export default {
     title: 'Button',
     component: Button,
   };

   export const Primary = () => <Button primary>Primary Button</Button>;
   export const Secondary = () => <Button secondary>Secondary Button</Button>;

1. Variants and States: Storybook allows developers to showcase different variants and states of a component, making it easy to visualize how the component behaves under different conditions.

Example:

   // Input.stories.js
   import React from 'react';
   import { Input } from './Input';

   export default {
     title: 'Input',
     component: Input,
   };

   export const Default = () => <Input placeholder="Enter text" />;
   export const ErrorState = () => <Input placeholder="Enter text" error />;
   export const DisabledState = () => <Input placeholder="Enter text" disabled />;

1. Documentation: Storybook provides a platform for documenting components with usage examples, props documentation, and component previews. This makes it easier for developers to understand how to use and customize components.

Example:

   // Avatar.stories.js
   import React from 'react';
   import { Avatar } from './Avatar';

   export default {
     title: 'Avatar',
     component: Avatar,
     argTypes: {
       src: {
         description: 'Image source URL',
         control: 'text',
       },
       alt: {
         description: 'Image alt text',
         control: 'text',
       },
     },
   };

   const Template = (args) => <Avatar {...args} />;

   export const Default = Template.bind({});
   Default.args = {
     src: 'https://example.com/avatar.png',
     alt: 'User avatar',
   };

Storybook is an invaluable tool for React developers, enabling them to build and showcase UI components efficiently while maintaining consistency and documentation across projects.

Vite

Vite is a modern build tool that aims to provide a fast development experience for web development projects, particularly those using frameworks like Vue.js and React. It leverages native ES modules (ESM) and modern browser features to offer instant server start-up times and rapid hot module replacement (HMR) during development. Here's an overview of Vite with an example of setting up a React project:

To install Vite, first, ensure you have Node.js installed on your system. Then, open your terminal and run the following command:

npm install -g create-vite

Once installed, you can create a new Vite project by navigating to your desired directory and running:

create-vite <project-name>

Replace ‘’ with the desired name for your project. After the project is created, you can navigate into the project directory, and install dependencies by running the following command:

npm install

Then you can start the development server by running the command:

npm run dev

You're now ready to start developing your web application using Vite.

Prettier

Prettier is a persuasive code formatter that automatically formats code to adhere to a consistent style. It supports various programming languages such as JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, HTML, JSON, and more. Prettier helps maintain code readability and consistency across projects by enforcing a standardized code style, reducing the need for manual formatting, and eliminating debates over formatting preferences within development teams.

Example of using Prettier with JavaScript:

// Before formatting with Prettier
function   add   (x,  y){
return x+y
}

// After formatting with Prettier
function add(x, y) {
  return x + y;
}

In this example, Prettier automatically formats the JavaScript function add by adding consistent spacing around parameters and operators, as well as enforcing a consistent indentation style.

To use Prettier in your project, first install it as a development dependency:

npm install --save-dev prettier

You can then format your code manually using the prettier command:

npx prettier --write .

Or, integrate it into your code editor or build tools for automatic formatting on save or as part of your development workflow.

React Icons

React Icons is a popular library for easily adding icons to React applications. It provides a wide range of high-quality icon sets from popular icon libraries such as Font Awesome, Material Design Icons, and many others. React Icons simplifies incorporating icons into React projects by providing pre-built components that render the icons as SVGs.

Example of using React Icons:

import { FaGithub } from 'react-icons/fa';

const MyComponent = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Welcome to My GitHub Page</h1>
      <a href="https://github.com/myusername">
        <FaGithub size={24} color="black" />
        Visit My GitHub Profile
      </a>
    </div>
  );
};

In this example, we import the FaGithub icon component from the Font Awesome icon set provided by React Icons. We then use it as a regular React component within the MyComponent function, passing props for size and color.

To install React Icons in your project, you can use npm or yarn:

npm install react-icons

or

yarn add react-icons

Overall, React Icons is a valuable tool for React developers looking to enhance the visual appeal and functionality of their applications with icons. Its ease of use, customization options, and accessibility features make it a popular choice for incorporating icons into React projects.

React Helmet

React Helmet is a library that helps handle SEO (Search Engine Optimization) by managing page titles and integrating with third-party services that require modification of the document head.

Example of using React Helmet to dynamically set the page title:

import React from 'react';
import { Helmet } from 'react-helmet';

const MyComponent = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <Helmet>
        <title>My Page Title</title>
      </Helmet>
      <h1>Welcome to My Website</h1>
      <p>This is the content of my web page.</p>
    </div>
  );
};

In this example, we import the Helmet component from React Helmet to dynamically set the page title within the MyComponent function. The <title> tag inside the <Helmet> component will be injected into the document head when the component is rendered.

To install React Helmet in your project, you can use npm or yarn:

npm install react-helmet

or

yarn add react-helmet

Jest

Jest is a JavaScript testing framework developed by Facebook, widely used for testing JavaScript code, including applications built with React, Vue.js, and Angular. It offers features like test runners, assertion libraries, and mocking capabilities, known for its simplicity and speed, making it a preferred choice for developers.

With Jest, developers can write unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests efficiently, ensuring the reliability and quality of their JavaScript projects. Its comprehensive toolkit and ease of use contribute to its popularity in the JavaScript ecosystem.

To install Jest into your React app, you can run the following command:

npm install --save-dev jest

React Router

React Router is a JavaScript library used in React applications to manage navigation by dynamically rendering components based on URL paths. It enhances user experience by enabling seamless navigation between different views within a single-page application.

To install React Router in your React app, run the following command:

npm install react-router-dom

Once installed, you can import the necessary components from the React Router and start defining routes in your application.

Example:

import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route } from 'react-router-dom';
import Home from './components/Home';
import About  from './components/About';

function App() {
  return (
    <Router>
      <Route exact path="/" component={Home} />
     <Route path="/about" component={About} />
    </Router>
  );
}

export default App;

In this example, when the user visits the root URL ("/"), the Home component will be rendered while if the user visits the URL “/about”, the About component will be rendered.

React Developer Tools

React Developer Tools is a browser extension that provides debugging and inspection capabilities specifically tailored for React applications. It integrates with the Chrome and Firefox developer tools to offer a set of features designed to facilitate React development

SkillReactor

SkillReactor is an upskilling platform offering end-to-end projects for React developers to level up their skills. It provides feedback from code reviews and enables developers to build a portfolio of React projects to showcase their expertise.

To build React projects on SkillReactor, you need to sign up here and get started.

Conclusion
In summary, the top 10 tools outlined in this article offer indispensable support for React developers in 2024. These tools enhance productivity and streamline development workflows to help you write cleaner code, boost efficiency, and deliver exceptional user experiences in your React projects.