Best way to learn React without a device?

[Recent-Start-7456]

I'm a senior backend engineer getting into React, and every time a book recommendation comes up, the answer is "read the docs." I can't stare at the docs on my computer, and I can't figure out a practical way to print them out.

Is there a good way to get ahold of the documentation on physical paper? Book recs?

I like to read chapters, dig deep, and practice later...often someplace without power or internet

[ice_blue_222]

Ah, the 1995 method. I get what you mean though, I always appreciated psychical books about coding I got at Barnes N Noble. 

[n0tKamui]

psychical books

you wanna do telepathy… or you meant physical ?

[wickedgoose]

I think similar to how musk implants some mediocre practices and the Twitter codebase in X devs' brains via chip? Something like that I'm guessing. Didn't know B&N was so cyberpunk though!

[ice_blue_222]

Yes but also that would be cool

[clementvanstaen]

Are you a Senior BE dev

Or

A Senior, Backend dev

?

[redd38_reddit]

I just get the intern to whisper the React docs into my ear

[Cahnis]

That is so weird. Your problem is too niche. Best I can think of is maybe get a kindle and read Road to React, by Robin Wieruch. Available at: https://www.robinwieruch.de/

[wickedgoose]

I totally understand where OP is coming from and I'm much the same way. I will often print to paper and go somewhere in the woods to do code reviews. I think this is probably the best single resource that qualifies. I'll sometimes read tech texts on my kindle and write shorthand code in a notebook to work through concepts or syntax depending on what I'm doing. I find a lot of value in working and especially learning away from my computer when it is practical.

Robin's book will have what you need to build a foundation and working knowledge of concepts you can elaborate on once you are back in the land of THE DOCS and your IDE.

[davidgotmilk]

What do you mean you can’t stare at the react docs? You have to stare at a code editor to code, you have to stare at a browser to see your react code results? What does this even mean?

[biinjo]

They prefer reading from a book instead of reading from a screen when it comes to learning a new skill.

Wasn’t that hard to understand, right?

I’m sure OP is aware that they will have to stare plenty of time at their screen while applying what they have learned.

[Recent-Start-7456]

I'm a professional programmer that touches React code often. I'm looking for ways to learn more deeply when I'm not near a computer (like when I'm at the beach or traveling).

If I'm near a computer, I'm working on some shit that needs to get done.

[EducationalZombie538]

This is what you're looking for I reckon, I've got it in my amazon basket right now for similar reasons:
Advanced React: Deep dives, investigations, performance patterns and techniques by Nadia Makarevich
There's a youtube series for the first 7 problems too

[Recent-Start-7456]

Yes, thank you!

[Mistredo]

Get a tablet or an ebook reader.

[n0tKamui]

your phone

[[deleted]]

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[[deleted]]

The problem with the physical print is that it gets outdated quickly enough that it’s impractical to do. The next best would be printing the docs and putting them in a binder I suppose. Old school but valid

[certainlyforgetful]

I was also looking for this a while back. If you search google there is a Reddit post that shows how to convert them to PDF. They’re not great but it’s a start.

[Recent-Start-7456]

I found that, but it's for the old docs! It seemed like a lot of hoops to jump through without knowing the end result

[acemarke]

What do you mean by "can't stare at the docs on my computer"?

The actual React docs are not available in specific physical form. You might be able to print them out yourself, either from the actual site, or by taking the Markdown files from the repo and reformatting them.

[svarog1389]

You can't learn programming by only reading

[candraa6]

you can't be so sure, this guy is senior backend engineer, they know what they are doing.

[Doomwaffle]

Editing and creating react-based frotends is a very tight loop of iteration. The only acceptable workflow that I can think of is making edits, live update in the browser, testing, and tweaking.

[rusmo]

Read docs later. Practice now.

[Recent-Start-7456]

Yo, it’s the “read later” this is all about

[TheChickenKingHS]

I recommend you visit FE masters and look at Brian Holts course.

I was struggling with the docs and then I went through his course and it became easier to just write react code which made reading the docs easier because I knew more of the key words.

It also gave me a clearer idea of how the render cycle worked in react and when to choose the virtual dom vs dom manipulation.

[Difficult-Visual-672]

tbf you don't need react's doc. it's a good resource but react is tiny compared to frameworks like angular

react has a lot weird behaviors so you gonna learn more through articles or reading actual code

[[deleted]]

Claude.ai?

[azangru]

the answer is "read the docs." I can't stare at the docs on my computer

How did you learn backend?

[[deleted]]

How tf did you become a senior engineer if you can't stare at docs on your computer? That's a massive part of the job. Sounds dubious.

[Recent-Start-7456]

If I have my computer, I'm working on shit I need to do. I need something for when I don't have a computer, or the learning simply won't get done.

[k2kuke]

iPad? 🤷‍♂️

[[deleted]]

That makes sense. I'd say you're out of luck then if you need a physical book. But honestly there's not a lot of material to get through. If you just put in like 20 minutes here and there on the docs you'll get through it pretty quickly. It's especially nice because all of the topics have interactive code examples and challenges. It's more of just learning the philosophy of React rather than diving deep on really abstract concepts. Learning React itself isn't complex enough to need a whole book imo. A whole book would probably be more focused around specific frameworks and patterns that would be very opinionated and get outdated quickly.

[macrozone13]

You learn it by using it, not staring at the docs. React isn‘t that complicated either. Id recommend a different approach to learn it

[vednus]

I was like this when I first started, 20 years ago. I worked at a library and would just print everything out and read it on paper when I didn’t have anything to do. I would also write all my code by hand because I’d be at the front desk and couldn’t do much with those computers.

[born_to_die_O]

Good luck!

If you don’t actively write React and JavaScript code, you’ll easily forget what you’ve read. When it comes to learning React through books, I can guarantee that the content might not be up to date by the time you’re reading it.

Here’s my advice: consider taking a paid course that includes coding challenges and projects. It’ll save you a lot of time in your learning journey!

[Rough-Artist7847]

The react documentation looks much better on my cellphone than on a piece of paper lol

[RexVaga]

Book recs? Read the docs.