React vs Fundamentals: Should Beginners Start with Frameworks?

Unpopular Opinion: Junior Developers Should NOT Start With React This might sound controversial, but I see it often. Many beginners jump directly into frameworks like React or Next.js without understanding the problems those tools solve. Before React, you should understand: • How the DOM works • Event handling in JavaScript • State and data flow in vanilla JavaScript • Basic rendering logic Before using a framework, ask: Why was this framework created in the first place? React exists to solve problems like: Complex UI state management Efficient DOM updates (Virtual DOM & reconciliation) Component-based architecture Similarly, understanding concepts like Server-Side Rendering (SSR) makes frameworks like Next.js much easier to appreciate. The Same Applies to Styling Before using utility frameworks like Tailwind CSS, you should understand: Flexbox Grid Positioning The CSS box model Otherwise you end up copying classes without understanding layout behavior. The Real Point Frameworks are powerful. But they make far more sense when you understand the problems they were designed to solve. Strong fundamentals make learning any framework faster. Weak fundamentals make every framework confusing. Do you think beginners should start with fundamentals first, or jump straight into frameworks? #FrontendDeveloper #ReactJS #WebDevelopment #JavaScript #SoftwareEngineering #Developers #TechCareers

I think we should move to minimalistic frameworks that AI understand and can scaffold quickly even if it's not exactly intelligible to us

So would you recommend creating https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_components instead? They are a built-in to the browser, they are component oriented, use DOM APIs. You will need to learn all the basics to be effective.

I tend to agree with this. Understanding how the DOM and JavaScript fundamentals work makes frameworks like React much easier to understand later.

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Spot on—understanding the "why" behind the Virtual DOM and SSR made my transition to Next.js much more intuitive. Frameworks are powerful, but they’re just abstractions of the fundamentals we still need to master to build truly scalable apps.

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