React Development Tools

To develop any software application, we need some tools and techniques; React JS is no exception to it. You need different React development tools which should be installed to develop React.js application in efficient manner. To effectively develop React.js applications, you'll need a set of development tools that streamline the workflow, aid in debugging, improve productivity, and ensure code quality. Here’s a suggested set of tools to install and use for React.js development:

1. Code Editor or IDE

Choose a code editor or Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that suits your preferences and supports JavaScript and JSX syntax highlighting, as well as integration with Git and other development tools. Popular choices include:

• Visual Studio Code (VS Code): Lightweight, powerful, and highly extensible with a large extension marketplace tailored for web development.
• Atom: Another lightweight and customizable editor with a robust ecosystem of packages.
• Sublime Text: Known for its speed and simplicity, with extensive community support and plugins available.

2. Node.js and npm (or Yarn)

Node.js is essential for running JavaScript on the server and managing dependencies using npm (Node Package Manager) or Yarn, another package manager developed by Facebook. Install Node.JS before working with React JS. NPM is installed automatically when Node.js is installed. You can separately install yarn which is another package manager similar to NPM.

• Install Node.js: Download and install Node.js from the official website (https://nodejs.org/). This includes npm by default.
• Verify Installation: Open a terminal or command prompt and run 'node -v' and 'npm -v' to verify Node.js and npm installation.

3. Create React App

The create-react-app, CRA in short, is a generator which is used to quickly setup and boilerplate generation for React application. The CRA is optional but it is especially useful for beginners who generally have no clear-cut idea how to go ahead for React application development. Developing React app from scratch is cumbersome for the beginners and CRA rescues beginners from the hurdles of development. React application uses Babble, Webpack and other tools. The CRA facilitates installation of these development dependencies. The CRA frees the developers from the worries of React Environment Setup.

Create React App is a command-line tool to generate a new React project with a predefined folder structure, development server, and build scripts. Use the following command to install create-react-app at your system for a project.
npx create-react-app react-app-demo
cd react-app-demo
npm start

You can also install it globally using -g switch as given below.

npx create-react-app -g my-react-app-demo

4. React Developer Tools (Browser Extension)

Browser extensions help inspect and debug React components in the browser:

- React Developer Tools: Available as extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Allows inspecting React component hierarchies, props, state, and performance.
- Chrome Extension: [React Developer Tools](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/react-developer-tools/fmkadmapgofadopljbjfkapdkoienihi)
- Firefox Add-on: [React Developer Tools](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/react-devtools/)

5. ESLint and Prettier (Code Quality)

Tools for enforcing code style, formatting, and detecting errors:

• ESLint: JavaScript linter to enforce coding standards and find common errors.
• Prettier: Code formatter to maintain consistent code style across your project.

Install ESLint and Prettier and configure them to work together in your editor/IDE.

6. React Router (For Routing)

If your application requires client-side routing:

React Router: Library for routing in React applications. Install it using npm or yarn. The command is as follows.
npm install react-router-dom

7. State Management 

Depending on your application's complexity, you may need state management solutions:

• Redux: Predictable state container for managing global state in larger applications.
• Context API: Built-in React feature for managing global state without external libraries.

Additional Tools (Depending on Project Needs)

• Testing Frameworks: Jest, React Testing Library for unit and integration testing.
• CSS-in-JS Libraries: styled-components, Emotion for styling React components.
• GraphQL Clients: Apollo Client, Relay for integrating with GraphQL APIs.
• Server-Side Rendering (SSR): Next.js, Gatsby for server-side rendering and static site generation.

Learning and Documentation

Refer to official documentation and community resources to learn more about each tool and how to effectively use them in React.js development:

• React Official Documentation: [React Docs](https://reactjs.org/docs/getting-started.html)
• npm Registry: [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/)
• ESLint: [ESLint](https://eslint.org/)
• Prettier: [Prettier](https://prettier.io/)

By installing and familiarizing yourself with these tools in sequence, you'll be well-equipped to develop, test, and maintain React.js applications efficiently, ensuring high code quality and productivity throughout the development process. Adjust the tools based on your project requirements and personal preferences as you gain more experience with React development.

In this post we learnt about the pre-requisite for React Environment Setup. The following tools must be installed at your system to begin with React application.

• Code Editor
• NodeJS and NPM
• React and React DOM
• Webpack
• Babel