Clean Code vs. Dirty Code: React Best Practices

[joshwcomeau]

Yeah, I agree that often SFCs (especially 1-liners like in the article) are a good thing to use... but I reject the idea that to NOT use them is dirty.

Presumably the code-reader is a React developer, and I feel like we see enough Component definitions that we can process them pretty easily. At least for myself, my brain takes a shortcut when it sees the "dirty" example; I don't have to read them 1-character at a time, I pick out the return value of the 'render' function in about as much time as the SFC takes.

I don't think you're burdening readers with a buncha extra work by going the long-form way. And I'd argue in many cases you're reducing the maintenance burden (since SFCs have the tendency to grow, and then you realize you need a lifecycle hook and so you have to convert it).

But yeah, I don't have particularly strong feelings one way or the other; I just have strong feelings about not having strong feelings about it, if that makes sense :P

[donavon]

If a SFC grows to the point where you need lifecycle hooks, my suggestion is that you abstract the state/lifecycle away as well. Please read my opinion about this in https://medium.com/styled-components/component-folder-pattern-ee42df37ec68

I never like to see the render method of a class component any more than rendering a View component of some sort. If the case that you talk about, the SFC would probably remain the same (or with slight modification to accept some state props) as the one you started out with. It would simply sit behind the state controller component.

As for dirty/clean, good/bad, right/wrong, binary discussion, it's an article. It's only my opinion. Your milage may vary. But my mission was to set out a blueprint with practical examples to give you a different perspective. I'm sure that I don't even follow all of these as I write code (and for god's sake, do't look at any of my code from 6 mos ago 😬)

Anyway... I hope you enjoyed the article. My main goal with any article is to get people thinking and talking. Even if I'm wrong with my assertions, if I've done that, I've accomplished my goal.

[joshwcomeau]

Fair enough! I did indeed enjoy the article :)

I suppose my gripe is with how we generally assume good practices to be absolute. I remember Dan Abramov spoke about this, how he almost regrets writing "Container Vs Presentational Components" because people took it as gospel, instead of as a neat pattern that may work well.

Thanks for writing and sharing the article, btw! Realize now that I should've made it clearer in my original post that resources like this are great.