Core React Concepts

JSX and Rendering

Understand how JSX works and how React renders and updates UI efficiently.

JSX under the hood

JSX is transformed into function calls that create React elements.

tsx
const element = <button>Save</button>;

Equivalent conceptually:

tsx
const element = React.createElement('button', null, 'Save');

Rendering expressions

tsx
const user = { name: 'Sam' };
return <p>Hello, {user.name}</p>;

Rendering arrays

tsx
const tags = ['react', 'typescript'];
return <ul>{tags.map(tag => <li key={tag}>{tag}</li>)}</ul>;

Re-render cycle

React re-renders components when:

  • State changes
  • Parent re-renders with new props
  • Context value changes

React then reconciles differences and applies minimal DOM updates.

Rendering best practices

  • Keep render logic pure
  • Avoid side effects during render
  • Compute expensive values with useMemo when needed

Next, we will build reusable components.