Common Choices You’ll Face When Starting with React

Introduction

When you begin working with React, you’ll quickly realize there are a lot of choices to make. Some are about tools, others about style, and a few about best practices. Making the right decisions early can save you headaches later.

Here’s a simple guide to the most common decisions you’ll run into.

1. Project Setup

Before writing your first component, you’ll need to decide how to set up your React app.

• Vite → Super fast, modern tool. Great for most single-page apps (SPAs).

• Create React App (CRA) → Older tool. Good for beginners but slower and less used today.

• Next.js → A full framework built on React. Perfect if you need server-side rendering (SSR), SEO, or want frontend + backend in one project.

• Others → Remix (routing-focused), Gatsby (static and content-heavy sites).

👉 For beginners, start with Vite. For professional projects with SEO needs, Next.js is usually the choice.

2. Language Choice

React works with both JavaScript and TypeScript.

• JavaScript (JS)

  • Easier to start with.

  • Larger beginner community.

• TypeScript (TS)

  • Adds type safety → fewer runtime errors.

  • Better for bigger projects, but has a learning curve.

👉 Many teams start with JS, but switch to TS as projects grow.

3. Syntax / File Extensions

Depending on your language, your files will look slightly different.

• JSX (.jsx / .js) → JavaScript with HTML-like syntax inside.

• TSX (.tsx / .ts) → JSX + TypeScript.

👉 If you’re using TypeScript, go with .tsx files. Otherwise, stick to .jsx.

4. Component Style

You can write components in two ways:

• Class Components

  • Older, more verbose.

  • Used before React Hooks existed.

• Function Components (with Hooks)

  • Modern and concise.

  • Easier to test and the standard way today.

👉 Always prefer function components unless you’re maintaining older code.

5. State Management

State is how React remembers things. You have multiple options:

• Local State (useState, useReducer) → For simple cases inside one component.

• Context API → Share state between components without prop drilling.

• Redux / Zustand / Jotai / Recoil → Handle global state in larger apps.

• React Query / SWR → Manage server data (API calls, caching, retries).

👉 For beginners, start with local state. Move to advanced tools only when you need them.

6. Styling

How your app looks is another decision:

• CSS / SCSS → Traditional stylesheets.

• CSS Modules → Scoped styles (avoid conflicts).

• CSS-in-JS (Styled Components, Emotion) → Write styles directly in JS.

• TailwindCSS → Utility-first CSS, very popular in 2025.

👉 If you like utility classes, try TailwindCSS. Otherwise, start with simple CSS and grow from there.

7. Data Fetching

Most apps need to get data from APIs. Here are your options:

• Fetch / Axios → Manual HTTP requests.

• React Query / SWR → Handles caching, retries, pagination automatically.

• Next.js built-ins (SSR/SSG) → If using Next.js, you can fetch data server-side.

👉 Start with Fetch or Axios, then move to React Query for bigger apps.

🎯 Final Thoughts

React gives you lots of flexibility, which is why you’ll face so many choices. The good news? You don’t have to learn everything at once.

• Start with Vite + JavaScript + Function Components + Local State.

• As your app grows, adopt TypeScript, advanced state management, and better styling tools.

• If you need SEO or server-side rendering, move to Next.js.

Learning React is a journey — and each of these decisions will come naturally as you build more projects. 🚀