Recently, react has become one of the commonest frameworks among developers. It comes in handy when developing React.js apps. You can use it to inspect and edit the React component tree that creates the page, and for every component, you can check devices, status, hooks, and more. In this article, I will be writing on some react developers’ tools to help you understand your options and how you can use them to make the most of the framework itself.
Chrome React Developer tools
This is one of the most useful tools built particularly for Chrome. Using this tool, it is faster and easier to get a list of components and subcomponents.
After installing the React Developer Tool extension, a new tab opens listing the component. You can select, edit and even view their details and conditions. With the help of this tool, you can view and know the performance of an application. If you want to create an exceptional and unique app, this is an essential add-on for your React.
React Bootstrap
Have you ever heard of Bootstrap? That’s definitely, a Yes. It is a popular CSS framework and probably the most known. In simple terms, it offers several CSS classes and JavaScript functionalities that you can use to create beautiful user interfaces without being an expert in any of these technologies.
Currently, React Bootstrap developers have rewritten the Java script bit to make them usable with react. You can now use your components as if they were React components.
React-Proto
If your interest in code is not as much as visual design, then React-proto may be the tool for you. Using the tool, you can prototype User interfaces by drag and drop rather than writing code.
Don’t confuse this, as it does not mean you wouldn’t write any code. This will serve as a prototype for the components you need. To do this, start with an image and then use the tool to highlight all possible components, name them, give them props, and hierarchy. Once completed, you can export them to the automatically generated code for later customization.
If you are looking to start a new project already developed, this is definitely a good tool that will save you a lot of time in the initial project setup. The most interesting part is that the app is usable will three systems; therefore, there is no excuse not to try it out.
Storybook
React was developed to help you write the user interface intuitively. Therefore, the concept of components but writing code to create a visual component is not the most natural task, so we usually switch from code to browser and return to code.
Then we have Storybook, an open-source tool that can be used for your UI components development. This is not the same as a code library, or let me say it’s beyond code. The online interface editor enables you to develop, study, and finally show your creations in an interactive way (essential for developing visual components).
Bit
Bit offers a CLI tool and online platform where you can publish your React components (after being isolated from Bit) and allow others to see them. You can also search for components that have been created and published by third parties. In their third-party store, you can navigate the complete marketplace of components. They are rendered for your benefit; therefore, you will not only read the code to figure out what they should do.
Also, you can get a comprehensive detail of each component, where you can freely edit the code used in rendering the preview and ensure the component meets your needs before you decide if you will be downloading it and input it into your project. Or you might decide to import it with bit import for further development in your local environment. Suppose you want to publish someone else’s work instead of importing it. In that case, you get a very simple command-line tool that allows you to track changes in each component individually without creating a different project for each one.
React Sights
Google Chrome is a react development tool to help you perform a react inspection of things. To elaborate this, after you add the extension to Chrome, you will need to enable access to the files’ URLs.
Once you are done with this process, you will see all the components you have developed in the tree structure. Using the tree structure, you can have a simple understanding of the connection of each component. And if you hover over the component, you can identify its current status and props.
React Extension Packs
If you are familiar with JavaScript, you will understand that one of the best IDE or developer tools in Visual Studio. Thanks to the strong Visual Studio community, React Extension Packs came into play. This is the next-level extension for react developers. In this pack, you will get seven small extensions that can add value to your project.
ReactJS code snippets: It has 74 snippets, although 34 are prototype-specific snippets.
ES Lint: This provides support for command-line tools that have similar names. It incorporates it into your IDE and improves your syntax, sets up your own encoding style, and even does automatic error fixing for you.
npm: Every time you need to install a new dependency, restart the server, or even run certain npm-specific commands, you need to switch from the IDE to the terminal, which can be a bit tricky. Therefore, this extension extends the option to execute npm commands directly from the command palette.
JS ES6 Snippets: These snippets contain another set of 40+ snippets. They are not specific this time, but since you are eventually working with JavaScript, it is required to speed up your process.
Search node modules: Using this extension, you can locate a module easily and open it using the editor. This may seem like a case of very specific use; however, it will save you a lot of time when you need it.
npm IntelliSense: The name may not be the best way to describe how amazing this extension can be (especially with time-saving): it helps you fill in the names of your extensions automatically (auto-complete) when you try to import them into your code.
Path IntelliSense: Similar to the previous extension, it helps you to (auto-complete) automatically fill in the path for local imports. This saves time, especially if you are not the only one working on a big project, and have to memorize all the paths and file names becomes a huge headache.
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Originally published at upstack.co on Jun 8, 2021, by Emmanuel Ighosewe.
