A front-end developer is one of the most critical appointments for any company wanting to boost its online presence. People’s perceptions of your brand will be influenced by their coding, UX sensibility, and ability to collaborate with your tech and design teams. The JavaScript library, React is one of the most commonly used technologies for client-side development.
A rise in demand for React has led to a tremendous need for React developer abilities, like Stack Overflow’s annual poll list for most-wanted web ‘frameworks’ year after year (and ours, too—for good measure). Technical recruiters frequently find themselves in a bind when they don’t get resumes with a solid foundation and relevant skills. Most of their problems stem from a lack of specific expertise to seek for.
The recruiting procedure for a React developer is very complicated and time-consuming. So, how do you find the top React developer for your organization? We’ve put up a comprehensive guide on finding the ideal React developer for your company.
What is React?
“React” is an open-source JavaScript library for creating dynamic user interfaces, often known as ReactJS or React.js (UIs). UIs are the set of on-screen menus, search bars, buttons, and anything else that a user interacts with to utilize a website or app on a computer or smartphone screen. A single web page or mobile app may be built on Facebook’s 2013 technology (with React Native).
Components are the building blocks of React’s UI framework. All of the code necessary to show a tiny piece of a broader user interface is contained inside a component, which is an HTML and JavaScript hybrid. As the complexity of an app increases, so does the complexity of these components.
In contrast to frameworks like Ember.js and Angular, React focuses only on rendering the UI and leaves many other aspects to the project’s developers to implement. React is seen as an opinionated individual.
One of the most popular libraries used by programmers is React. Compared to the previous year, there was a 10% rise in the percentage of developers who claimed to utilize React in the 2020 State of the Developer Ecosystem Survey. Furthermore, React is the clear winner regarding raw statistics and the sheer volume of downloads.
What is the purpose of React, and what issues does it solve?
In the absence of React, developers were forced to use less UI-focused predecessors like jQuery or “vanilla JavaScript,” which refers to the raw JavaScript language without any accompanying frameworks. As a consequence of this approach, there were longer development periods and a greater potential for errors and problems. Problems like this were swiftly resolved thanks to React’s dominance.
Hundreds of thousands of React-powered websites exist. Due to its speed and adaptability, it has become a popular choice for various applications. Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Reddit, Airbnb, and Uber are all well-known examples of sites that use React.
React makes it simple to construct UI test cases, build SEO-friendly sites, reuse components on various platforms, apply existing code for a website on a mobile app, and improve performance on resource-intensive online apps.
What other languages or frameworks does it resemble?
Other JavaScript frameworks have little in common with React regarding design and functionality.
Vue, on the other hand, has some resemblance to React. Additionally, it has the potential to deliver reactive and composable views while keeping the emphasis on the core library while delegating problems like routing and global state management to partner libraries.
Another characteristic of React is that it uses JSX syntax, which is quite similar to the original HTML syntax. In this sense, familiarity with HTML may be really helpful while learning React.
The key benefits or attributes of this product are as follows:
React’s functional programming approach is a major benefit. By using pure functions to construct software, functional programmers avoid the complexities of shared states, changeable data, and side effects. Declarative rather than imperative programming is the hallmark of functional programming, so React has a minimal boilerplate code. This implies that you can do a great deal with a tiny amount of code. Learn how to use the method, and you’ll be able to save time and avoid coding mistakes in the long run.
React comes with two essential features that contribute to its attractiveness for JavaScript developers, JSX and Virtual DOM.
A specific React syntax extension called JSX (short for JavaScript eXtension) enables web developers to blend HTML and JavaScript code. JSX greatly decreases the amount of code required to perform this function since JavaScript natively does not support it. Since all current web browsers support the React framework, JSX may be used on any platform.
React produces a Virtual DOM when JSX is used to control and update the DOM. In React, the Virtual DOM is an artificial replica of the site’s DOM, and this fake copy is used to determine what components of the real DOM need to update when an event occurs (like a user clicking a button). As a result, it requires less computational power and less time to refresh the website. Making the experience more enjoyable for programmers in general.
What are the most critical React skills?
What do you need to know as a react developer? React is a view library/framework and does not dictate how we manage state (data) in our apps for an IT recruiter to remember. This was countered with the publication of Redux, a popular package for state management, in 2015.
Because of this, Redux is no longer the go-to method for handling application state, with React Hooks taking its place. In the modern-day, Redux is seldom used to create new applications. However, Redux is used by many current projects, products, and businesses and will need ongoing maintenance for many years to come.
What is the average frequency of changes to the technology stack?
Since the future is something we cannot know with certainty, it’s impossible to provide an answer. Changes like replacing mixins with higher-order components or moving away from class components towards functional, hook-based components occur every two to three years.
How many resources, tools, and technology are out there to help?
Many free lessons on how to use React are accessible online and on many other resources. Amateur and experienced programmers equally like the library’s ease of use since it’s less complex than Angular.
Additionally, other plugins and modules for React may be used. Since Facebook created the framework, the underlying ecosystem has been quite potent. Several JS libraries may be used with React. It’s crucial to find a tool that doesn’t seem to have been abandoned or updated.
What kind of experience do you need to seek when hiring a React developer?
For React, having a background in academia or the sciences is meaningless. When it comes to commercial experience, though, it is critical. Having some open-source knowledge is a good perk, but it’s not necessary. It’s a huge plus if a developer can keep up with the development of a well-known OS library.
Many people start as front-end developers using React since it’s very easy to do basic tasks in the framework. As a result, React is a popular choice for recent boot-camp grads looking for their first job out of school. Commercial experience is much more advantageous than attending boot camps and creating one or two projects on the side. Even while giving novices a go is admirable; their inexperience doesn’t always translate into true expertise.
How can the screening process certify a candidate’s React developer skills?
This ability is known as “hard” or “technical” since it is important for a job. Learning and developing these abilities may be done via education and certifications.
On the other hand, soft skills refer to a person’s interpersonal capabilities. They’re notoriously difficult to pin down. Through the use of soft skills, we can determine whether or not a potential employee will be a good match for our firm. The following are some of the most critical soft skills for a React developer:
- Excellent communication abilities
- Teamwork
- Creativity
- The capacity to deal with criticism
When checking a CV, what are the most important things to consider?
Commercial experience with front-end projects is unquestionably the first thing to check for on a CV. In the end, experience is more important than a big list of tools. Why?
Many new tools have been brought to the front-end development community in the last few decades, many of which attempt to handle the same issue differently. There are several trends, some of which are popular for a short period of time before becoming obsolete, and the landscape changes quickly.
The inclusion of a certain tool in a resume indicates that the person can use it. However, this does not imply that they know why they did it this way or the advantages and disadvantages of other options. If developers lack that core expertise in handling a wide range of issues, they will only know what they’ve been taught or learned in the past.
There are a lot of recognized tools that may be included in one’s résumé, but the ability to solve issues is much more significant. Name-dropping tools are preferable to using phrases like “design solutions” or “offering architecture.”
Technical examination of React developer abilities using an online coding test
Finding a talented React developer might be a struggle if you’re doing all the hard work yourself. When it comes to the paperwork and interviews, the procedure almost always requires patience.
Hiring on a project basis? Look no further than these online employment forums and marketplaces. However, if you have a large project that requires a long-term commitment and funding, you need a software development business with a well-established recruiting procedure.
Assessing a React developer’s skills
A good React developer skills test must meet the following requirements before it can be used:
- The assessment indicates the level of the professional job being performed.
- It won’t take more than an hour or two to finish.
- The degree of difficulty corresponds to the candidate’s skill set.
In addition to ensuring that the solution works, the test also examines the code’s quality and how effectively it handles edge situations.
Candidate access to important resources is feasible since it is as similar to a natural programming environment.
You get to work with every library and framework you’ll encounter in your day-to-day life.
