Optimize React Effects with useEffect

Ever clicked two dropdowns and both stayed open at the same time? 😾 Looks unprofessional. Feels broken. Users hate it. Here is how I fixed it in React with just 2 lines : 👉 When Explore opens → force "Degree" dropdown to close onClick={() => {  setIsExploreMenuOpen(!isExploreMenuOpen);  setIsDegreeMenuOpen(false); // ← this one line does it }} 👉 When Degree opens → force "Explore" dropdown to close onClick={() => {  setIsDegreeMenuOpen(!isDegreeMenuOpen);  setIsExploreMenuOpen(false); // ← same idea }} The logic is simple: When you open something → explicitly close everything else. React does not do this automatically. You have to tell it exactly what to close. Small detail. Big difference in user experience. #react #nextjs #javascript #webdevelopment #tailwindcss #buildinpublic #frontenddevelopment

Some of the hardest React bugs I’ve seen weren’t actually inside React. They were happening somewhere in between. Between the event loop and the render cycle. You know the kind of bug. Everything looks correct. State updates are there. Handlers are wired properly. The logic makes sense. And yet… the UI shows stale data. Something flickers for a split second. It works fine locally, but breaks under real user interaction. Those are the bugs that make you question your sanity a bit. What’s really going on is this. We tend to think of React and JavaScript as one system. But they’re not. JavaScript runs your code - sync, promises, timeouts, all of that. React runs its own process - scheduling renders, batching updates, deciding when the UI actually updates. Most of the time, we blur that into one mental model. And most of the time it works. Until it doesn’t. That gap is where things get weird. You’ve probably seen versions of this: 🔹 You call setState and immediately get the old value 🔹 A setTimeout fires and uses stale data 🔹 A promise resolves and overwrites something newer 🔹 Everything works… until a user clicks fast enough Individually, none of this is surprising. But when it happens in a real app, it feels unpredictable. Because the problem isn’t what your code does. It’s when it runs. That’s why these bugs are so frustrating. You’re not debugging logic anymore. You’re debugging timing. The more I work on complex React apps, the more I notice this - a big part of senior frontend work isn’t just knowing hooks or patterns. It’s understanding how React’s rendering model interacts with the JavaScript runtime. Because once timing gets involved what looks correct can still be completely wrong. #reactjs #javascript #frontend #webdevelopment #softwareengineering #debugging #performance #typescript

Have you ever felt frustrated with unwanted re-renders of React components and struggled to find a proper solution? Consider the following insights and share your worst re-render story below. Deep diving into React has taught me more than any tutorial ever could. The more I explored its internals, the more I realized how much was hiding beneath the surface. Re-renders seem simple until your app starts lagging, and you have no idea why. Here’s what I learned the hard way: → Understanding what actually triggers a re-render (it's not just setState) → Why React.memo silently breaks when you pass inline functions or objects → The Context trap that re-renders every consumer even when they don't care about the change → When to reach for useMemo vs useCallback and when to skip both entirely → How the key prop is a reset weapon, not just a list requirement → Architecture patterns that prevent re-renders by design, no memoization needed The deeper you go, the more you realize React rewards curiosity. Every "why is this slow?" question led me to a better mental model. Swipe through the carousel and save the slide that matches your current bug. #React #Frontend #JavaScript #WebDev #LearningInPublic

You wrapped your component in React.memo… but it still re-renders 🤔 I ran into this more times than I’d like to admit. Everything looks correct. You’re using React.memo. Props don’t seem to change. But the component still re-renders on every parent update. Here’s a simple example: const List = React.memo(({ items }) => { console.log('List render'); return items.map(item => ( <div key={item.id}>{item.name}</div> )); }); function App() { const [count, setCount] = React.useState(0); const items = [{ id: 1, name: 'A' }]; return ( <> <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}> Click </button> <List items={items} /> </> ); } When you click the button the List still re-renders. At first glance, it feels wrong. The data didn’t change… so why did React re-render? The reason is subtle but important: every render creates a new array. So even though the content is the same, the reference is different. [] !== [] And React.memo only does a shallow comparison. So from React’s perspective, the prop did change. One simple fix: const items = React.useMemo(() => [ { id: 1, name: 'A' } ], []); Now the reference stays stable and memoization actually works. Takeaway React.memo is not magic. It only helps if the props you pass are stable. If you create new objects or functions on every render, you’re effectively disabling it without realizing it. This is one of those bugs that doesn’t throw errors… but quietly hurts performance. Have you ever debugged something like this? 👀 #reactjs #javascript #frontend #webdevelopment #performance #reactperformance #softwareengineering #programming #coding #webdev #react #typescript

🔯 You can finally delete <Context.Provider> 👇 For years, the Context API introduced a small but persistent redundancy. We defined a Context object, yet we couldn't render it directly-we had to access the.Provider property every single time. 🔯 React 19 removes this requirement. ❌ The Old Way: UserContext.Provider It often felt like an implementation detail leaking into JSX. Forget Provider, and your app might silently fail or behave unexpectedly. ✅ The Modern Way: <UserContext> The Context object itself is now a valid React component. Just render it directly. Why this matters ❓ 📉 Less Noise - Cleaner JSX, especially with deeply nested providers 🧠 More Intuitive - Matches how we think: "wrap this in UserContext" 💡Note: Note: <Context.Consumer> is also largely dead in favor of the use hook or useContext. Starting in React 19, you can render <SomeContext> as a provider. In older versions of React, use <SomeContext.Provider>. 💬 Have you tried this in your project? 💬 React 18 or 19 — what are you using? 🔗 Learn More: React Context Docs: https://lnkd.in/dbVWdc-C #React #JavaScript #WebDevelopment #Frontend #React19 #ModernReact #ReactHook #CodingLife #DeveloperJourney #SoftwareDeveloper

I just started a deep dive into React and came across how it uses snapshots to re-render the view, by strictly comparing references of the old state copy in memory to the newer one. That immediately triggered a question: When we do so many state updates in a large production app, we are essentially creating so many snapshots in memory that will most likely never be used again. What happens to all this garbage sitting in memory? There must be massive leaks everywhere, right? Short answer: No. Long answer: Here's why. Every state update creates a new snapshot in memory. The old one loses all references pointing to it. JavaScript's Garbage Collector sees this and frees it automatically. GC's only rule → if nothing points to it, it's gone. 🧹 Real leaks in React come from YOU accidentally holding references outside React's control: ❌ Pushing state into an array that lives outside the component ❌ Adding event listeners without removing them ❌ setInterval running after the component unmounts In all these cases GC sees "something still points here" and leaves it alone, forever. useEffect cleanup exists for exactly this reason: return () => window.removeEventListener("resize", handler); One line. Prevents an entire class of memory leaks. React is not the problem. Uncleaned side effects are. #React #JavaScript #Frontend #SoftwareEngineering #WebDev

⚛️ How React Re-Renders Components (Simple Explanation) While working with React, one thing I was always curious about was: 👉 What actually happens when a component re-renders? Here’s a simple way I understand it 👇 🔹 What triggers a re-render? A component re-renders when: • state changes • props change • parent component re-renders 🔹 What happens during a re-render? React doesn’t directly update the DOM. Instead: 1️⃣ It creates a new Virtual DOM 2️⃣ Compares it with the previous version (diffing) 3️⃣ Updates only the changed parts in the real DOM This process is called Reconciliation 🔹 Why this matters Understanding this helps you: ✅ avoid unnecessary re-renders ✅ optimize performance ✅ write more efficient components 🔹 Common mistake A parent re-render can cause all child components to re-render — even if their data hasn’t changed. That’s where optimizations like: • React.memo • useMemo • useCallback become useful. 💡 One thing I’ve learned: React is fast — but understanding how it works internally helps you make it even better. Curious to hear from other developers 👇 What strategy do you use to prevent unnecessary re-renders? #reactjs #frontenddevelopment #javascript #webdevelopment #softwareengineering #developers

You think this React code will increment the counter to 2? Maga Look again.👇🐘🐘🐘 function App() { const [count, setCount] = useState(0); const handleClick = () => { setTimeout(() => { setCount(count + 1); }, 1000); setCount(count + 1); }; return ( <> <p>{count}</p> <button onClick={handleClick}>Click</button> </> ); } Most developers say: 👉 “First +1 immediately, then +1 after 1 second → final = 2” ❌ Wrong 🧠 What actually happens setCount(count + 1) → updates to 1 setTimeout callback runs later… But it uses stale count = 0 (closure!) 👉 So it sets 1 again 🎯 Final Result Count = 1, not 2 🚨 The real problem This is not a React bug This is a JavaScript closure + event loop problem Functions capture old state Async callbacks don’t magically get updated values React state is snapshot-based, not live ✅ Fix setCount(prev => prev + 1); ✔ Always use functional updates when state depends on previous value ✔ Works correctly with async (timeouts, promises, events) 💡 Takeaway If your mental model is: 👉 “state updates automatically everywhere” You’ll ship bugs. If your mental model is: 👉 “state is captured at execution time” You’ll write predictable systems. This is the difference between writing code that works… and code that scales in production. USE prev maga 😍 setCount(prev => prev + 1); 🐘🐘🐘 #ReactJS #JavaScript #Frontend #WebDevelopment #Debugging #EventLoop

26 questions. The difference between knowing React on paper and surviving a real production codebase. Here are the 26 questions categorized by the depth of experience required: Level 1: The Foundations => How does React’s rendering process work? => What’s the difference between state and props? => What are hooks, and why were they introduced? => What are controlled vs uncontrolled components? => When would you use refs? => How do you handle forms and validations? Level 2: State & Logic => When should you lift state up? => How do you manage complex state in an application? => When would you use useState vs useReducer? => How do useEffect dependencies work? => How do you handle API calls (loading, error, success states)? => How do you manage shared state across components? => Context API vs Redux — when would you use each? Level 3: Performance & Scale => What causes unnecessary re-renders, and how do you prevent them? => What is memoization in React? => When would you use React.memo, useMemo, and useCallback? => How do you structure a scalable React application? => How do you optimize performance in large-scale apps? => What tools do you use to debug performance issues? => How do you secure a React application? => How do you test React components effectively? Level 4: The War Stories => Have you faced an infinite re-render issue? How did you fix it? => Tell me about a complex UI you built recently. => How did you improve performance in a React app? => What’s the hardest bug you’ve fixed in React? => How do you handle 50+ inputs in a single form without lag? Syntax is easy to Google. Deep understanding is hard to fake. #ReactJS #FrontendDevelopment #TechInterviews #JavaScript #WebDevelopment #Developers

I struggled with this React concept more than I expected… 👇 👉 Why are my API calls running twice? ⚙️ What you’ll notice You open your network tab and suddenly see this: api/me → called twice api/roles → called twice api/permissions → called twice Just like in the screenshot 👇 Same request, duplicated… again and again. ⚙️ What’s actually happening In React (development mode), if your app is wrapped in Strict Mode, React will run effects twice on purpose. useEffect(() => { fetch("/api/users") .then(res => res.json()) .then(setUsers); }, []); Even though it looks like it should run once… it doesn’t (in dev). 🧠 What’s going on under the hood React basically does a quick cycle: mount → unmount → remount Why? To catch hidden side effects To check if cleanup is handled properly To make sure your logic doesn’t break on re-renders So if your API call runs twice, React is just making sure your code can handle it. 💡 The important part This only happens in development Production behaves normally (runs once) Your side effects should be safe to run multiple times 🚀 Final thought If your network tab looks “noisy” like the screenshot, it’s not React being broken — it’s React being careful. And once you understand this, debugging becomes a lot less confusing. #React #Frontend #JavaScript #WebDevelopment #ReactJS #SoftwareEngineering