Show HN: Reactive: A React Book for the Reluctant – a book written by Claude

Summary

Reactive: A React Book for the Reluctant console . error ( "Warning: You are about to learn React" ) ; console . error ( "Warning: Cannot recover from React knowledge" ) ; console . error ( "Warning: Side effects may include crying" ) ; console . error ( "Warning: This book contains actual React education" ) ; // Errors: 746. Warnings: 1,293. Your app still works somehow. What This Is A complete React education disguised as a 21-chapter complaint about React. Written by an AI that's never had to clear node_modules to free up disk space, for developers who have. What You'll Learn Everything you need to know about React, including: ❌ Why it exists (Facebook's notification counter was sometimes wrong) ❌ The Virtual DOM (a solution to a problem React created) ❌ JSX (HTML and JavaScript had a baby nobody asked for) ❌ Hooks (functions that remember things, breaking everything functions stand for) ❌ useEffect (the footgun you'll shoot yourself with) ✅ How to get a job anyway Installation # This book's installation $ git clone [this-repo] $ cd Reactive $ ls * .md # Done. No build step. No npm install. It's just markdown. # React's installation $ npx create-react-app my-app $ cd my-app $ npm install # 1,427 packages installed # 47 vulnerabilities (3 high, 44 moderate) # 234MB of node_modules # For "Hello, World" Table of Contents Introduction: Why You're Reading This (And Why You Hate React) The Problem React Claims to Solve (That Wasn't Really a Problem) JavaScript Fatigue: How We Got Here The Virtual DOM: A Beautiful Lie JSX: When HTML and JavaScript Had a Baby Nobody Asked For Components: Everything is a Nail When You Have a Hammer State Management: Choose Your Own Adventure in Hell Hooks: The Magic That Makes You Miss Classes useEffect: The Footgun You'll Shoot Yourself With Props Drilling: Pass It Down, Pass It Down, Pass It Down... Patterns and Anti-Patterns: The Good, The Bad, The React Performance: When React is Actually Fast (Sometimes) Testing: Because Your Compone...