Ivan Shirshikov’s Post

We often face performance issues when displaying huge lists in React. Apps slowing down, freezing, or lagging on scroll. This happens because React tries to render every item in the DOM at once which quickly becomes a bottleneck. Pagination or infinite scroll can help reduce the initial load but over time, DOM elements still accumulate, making scrolling sluggish. React-virtualized solves this by rendering only visible items, keeping the DOM light and scrolling smooth. For best results, combine it with pagination or infinite scroll. Fetch limited items from the server while virtualized rendering ensures performance, even with thousands of items. #React #WebDevelopment #FrontendDevelopment #JavaScript #ReactJS #UXDesign #WebApp #SoftwareEngineering #TechSolutions #MERNStack #UIUX #BusinessApps #fullstack #WebDevTips #CodeOptimization #FrontendEngineering

Scaling your React app? It all starts with a clean folder structure. A messy codebase is the fastest way to slow down a team. When your project grows from 5 components to 500, knowing exactly where logic, state, and UI live is a superpower. Here is a breakdown of a professional-grade frontend architecture: api/: All your axios/fetch instances. Keep your backend logic isolated. components/: The building blocks. Split these into /layout (headers/footers) and /ui (buttons/inputs). hooks/: Keep your components lean. If logic is reusable, it belongs in a Custom Hook. context vs. redux/: Use Context for global themes/user sessions, and Redux (or Toolkit) for complex, high-frequency state updates. utils/: The "toolbox." Pure functions, formatters, and regex that don’t rely on React. Pro-tip: Don't just follow a template—pick a structure that your whole team agrees on and stick to it. Consistency > Perfection. How do you organize your src folder? Let’s discuss in the comments! 👇 #WebDevelopment #ReactJS #CleanCode #Frontend #ProgrammingTips

I improved a React app’s render performance by ~12%… by removing useMemo. ⚡ Yes — removing it. Most developers treat useMemo like a safety net: “Wrap it… just in case.” I used to do the same. That was the mistake. ❌ The problem // Memoizing a trivially cheap value const fullName = useMemo(() => { return `${firstName} ${lastName}`; }, [firstName, lastName]); Looks clean, right? But here’s what actually happens: - React stores the memoized value - Tracks dependencies - Compares them on every render For something as cheap as string concatenation… 👉 the overhead costs more than the computation. ✅ The fix // Just compute it inline — zero overhead const fullName = `${firstName} ${lastName}`; Use useMemo only when the computation is actually expensive: const sortedList = useMemo(() => { return items.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score); }, [items]); 💡 Why this matters - No unnecessary memoization overhead - Cleaner, more readable code - Easier debugging & profiling - useMemo becomes a meaningful signal (not noise) 📊 Real impact In a component tree with 40+ memoized values, removing unnecessary useMemo calls reduced render time by ~12%. Sometimes, the best optimization is… 👉 removing the “optimization”. 🔍 I’ve seen this a lot in data-heavy dashboards and complex UI systems, where premature memoization quietly hurts performance instead of helping. 💬 What React optimization habit did you have to unlearn the hard way? #React #Frontend #WebPerformance #JavaScript #CleanCode #SoftwareEngineering

Your React app isn't slow. Your folder structure is just a mess. When a React project grows, the "group by file type" approach breaks down. Putting all components in one folder, hooks in another, and utils somewhere else is a recipe for disaster. You end up scrolling through hundreds of files just to fix one bug. Here is how you structure a large React project for scale. Stop grouping by file type. Start grouping by feature. A feature-based architecture means everything related to a specific part of your app lives together. If you are working on the authentication flow, you should not have to leave the auth folder. Inside your src directory, structure it like this: src/  features/   auth/    components/    hooks/    services/    auth.slice.ts    index.ts  shared/   components/    Button.tsx   hooks/    useClickOutside.ts   utils/    formatDate.ts  app/   store.ts   router.tsx Why this works better: 1. High Cohesion Everything a feature needs is in one place. No more jumping between 5 different directories to understand a single workflow. 2. Strict Boundaries Features should not reach into other features' internals. Use an index.ts file to explicitly export only what is necessary. 3. Easier Onboarding New developers can look at the features folder and immediately understand what the application actually does. When a feature gets too complex, it naturally splits into smaller features. This scales infinitely better than the traditional flat structure. #reactjs #javascript #webdevelopment #frontend #softwareengineering #coding #architecture #cleancode #webdev #reactdeveloper

Nobody talks about this React performance trap — and it bit me hard in production. I was using useContext to manage auth + theme + cart state in a mid-size app. Only a few components actually used the cart state. But every time the cart updated — every single component consuming the context re-rendered. Even the ones that only needed the user's name. Here's why: React's Context API re-renders all consumers whenever the context value reference changes — regardless of which slice of state they actually use. There are workarounds with Context: → Split into multiple contexts (AuthContext, CartContext, ThemeContext separately) → Wrap consumers in React.memo() → Use useMemo to stabilize the context value But honestly? All of these feel like duct tape. This is exactly where Zustand and Redux Toolkit shine. Both let you subscribe to only the slice of state you need. A component using useSelector(state => state.user.name) will only re-render when that specific value changes — not when the cart updates, not when the theme toggles. ZUSTAND Minimal boilerplate, great for small-to-mid apps. Selector-based subscriptions built in. REDUX TOOLKIT Structured, scalable. useSelector memoizes out of the box with Reselect. The lesson I took away: useContext is great for low-frequency, global state (auth, theme, locale). The moment you have state that changes often and is consumed by many components — reach for a proper state manager. Performance issues in React are rarely obvious until they're in production. Knowing why re-renders happen matters more than memorizing which hook to use. Have you run into this? Would love to hear how you solved it — Context splitting, Zustand, RTK, or something else entirely? #ReactJS #JavaScript #WebDevelopment #Frontend #Zustand #Redux

"useEffect" vs. "useLayoutEffect": Are you using the right React hook? 🤔 In React, both "useEffect" and "useLayoutEffect" manage side effects, but their timing is what sets them apart—and choosing the wrong one can impact your app's performance. Here's a quick breakdown: "useEffect" - Timing: Runs asynchronously after the component renders and the browser has painted the screen. Performance: Non-blocking. It won’t slow down the user interface, making it perfect for most side effects. Best For: Fetching data from an API Setting up subscriptions Managing timers "useLayoutEffect" - Timing: Runs synchronously after all DOM mutations but before the browser paints the screen. Performance: Can block the rendering process. Use it sparingly to avoid a sluggish UI. Best For: Reading layout from the DOM (e.g., getting an element's size or position). Making immediate visual updates based on those measurements to prevent flickering. The Golden Rule 🏆 Always start with "useEffect". Only switch to "useLayoutEffect" if you are measuring the DOM and need to make synchronous visual updates before the user sees the changes. Understanding this distinction is crucial for building performant and seamless React applications. #ReactJS #WebDevelopment #JavaScript #FrontEndDev #Performance #CodingTips #ReactHooks

I recently ran into a classic Next.js App Router challenge while building EduTrac, my school management portal. The Problem: I had a ParentLayout (sidebar, topbar, navigation) wrapped around my entire (parent) route group. It worked great for the Dashboard and Learning Hub, but when I built the Security & Settings page, I wanted a clean, focused UI—free from the sidebar. Because of how Next.js layouts work, my Sidebar was "leaking" into every single page inside that group. The Solution: Route Group Isolation Instead of using messy conditional logic (like if (pathname === '/settings') return null), I leveraged Route Groups to separate concerns: 1. Root Group (parent): Holds the WardProvider (Context) so data is available everywhere. 2. UI Group (dashboard-group): Holds the actual ParentLayout (Sidebar/Nav). 3.Settings Route: Sits inside the root but outside the UI group. The Result: A clean URL (/parent/settings) with a focused UI, while still maintaining access to my global state. Architecture isn't just about where files live; it's about controlling how they behave. Eleazer Ugwu #NextJS #WebDevelopment #ReactJS #SoftwareEngineering #EduTrac #Frontend

My client's app was bleeding users. 6.2-second load time. Brutal. The problem wasn't the design or the copy — it was a React SPA shipping a 2.4MB JavaScript bundle to every visitor before showing a single pixel. Here's what I did to fix it: → Migrated the 3 highest-traffic pages to Next.js with Server-Side Rendering (SSR) → Split the bundle using dynamic imports — lazy-loaded everything below the fold → Moved static content to Static Site Generation (SSG) with ISR for cache efficiency → Replaced heavy client-side data fetching with getServerSideProps Result after 2 weeks: — Load time: 6.2s → 2.4s (61% faster) — Largest Contentful Paint: 4.8s → 1.6s — Bounce rate dropped by 34% The client hadn't changed a single word of content. Just cleaner architecture. This is why I now audit the rendering strategy before touching the UI on every new project. What's the worst load time you've inherited on a project? Drop it below — curious how bad it gets out there. #nextjs #reactjs #webperformance #fullstackdeveloper #buildinpublic #llm #vibecoding #anthropic

Ah, imperative input handling for submission… only if there was a browser native to handle forms… Guess we will have to wait until the mythos drop

⚡ Stop using useState for every input field in React. Most developers default to useState for handling inputs — and it works. But it can hurt your app's performance. Here's what happens behind the scenes: → User types a character → State updates → Component re-renders → Repeat on EVERY. SINGLE. KEYSTROKE. That's dozens of unnecessary re-renders just for a search bar. ✅ The fix? useRef. With useRef, you attach a ref directly to the DOM element and read the value only when you need it. No state. No re-renders. Just clean, efficient DOM access. The difference: ❌ useState → Re-renders on every keystroke, slower performance, unnecessary state updates ✅ useRef → Avoids re-renders, faster & efficient, controlled DOM access Now, useRef isn't always the answer. If your UI needs to react to input changes in real time (live validation, conditional rendering, etc.), useState is still the right tool. But for cases like search bars, form fields, or any input where you only care about the value on submit — useRef is your best friend. Small change. Big performance win. 💡 #React #JavaScript #WebDevelopment #Frontend #ReactJS #PerformanceOptimization #Programming