I love React, but the author does make some good points. React does have a lot of footguns, especially if you don't have a very solid grasp of how it works (or at least a solid mental model).
A big part of the problem happens well before React though. Lots of people don't even know how JavaScript works despite using it every day. So it's no wonder that people get tripped up trying to understand functional components, useEffect, etc.
> Lots of people don't even know how JavaScript works despite using it every day.
Imo every React course on the internet should start by having people implement a multi-step form wizard using solely Jquery. You don't appreciate where you are if you forget where you came.
This was downvoted? That’s sad. I tell folks getting started that they should build something without any framework so they can feel the pain that things like React are built to solve. Understanding the fundamentals is important so you can look at something like hooks as cognitive overhead that needs to be accepted
A big part of the problem happens well before React though. Lots of people don't even know how JavaScript works despite using it every day. So it's no wonder that people get tripped up trying to understand functional components, useEffect, etc.