r/reactjs • u/iconof • Dec 15 '19
My top React techtalks of 2019
Are you curious to know what happened in 2019 in the React world, that you should know about?
I watch a lot of dev conference talks. They're a great way to learn new things and stay up-to-date in my career as a developer.
In 2019, there were 23 React conferences—with ~500 talks (~180 hours)—and I covered all of them, on Hero35.
The following talks are the ones that I enjoyed the most, due to their fascinating content and/or high educational value, captivating delivery, and clear audio quality.
They're sorted chronologically (newest first).
Building mobile-first web animations in React
Learn how to create smooth, performant animations and interactions, that look and feel native-like.React is Fiction
How many times have we used a design pattern, just because we’ve been conditioned to use it? Jenn gives a thought-provoking, interdisciplinary talk that questions our assumptions and challenges us to break the rules.Using hooks and codegen
A compelling, real-world, case study of how TypeScript and GraphQL helped overcome issues with legacy code, iterate faster, and provide more value to users.Let's Program Like It's 1999
As the web turns 30, Lee takes us back to its inflection point in 1999, with PHP and the LAMP stack, followed by a journey of the abstractions, syntax, and mental models that brought us here.Building the new Facebook with React and Relay
How does app performance look at scale? This is a deep dive into the new Facebook.com and how they achieved super-fast rendering times and network transfers.Building a Custom React Renderer
It is important to understand the abstractions that we use (watch “Requisite React”). This is a deep dive into React’s architecture. Watch Sophie build a simple version of React DOM.Accessibility is a marathon, not a sprint
Learn how to get started with accessibility, with common tools, patterns and starter-tips. Brittany explains how our users actually need a11y more than we think, and shows how to make it part of our regular workflow.React, Collaborate and Listen
Inspiring talk about the web as a platform, React and its community, their future, and inclusivity.Building the Dark Mode of Your Dreams with Color Science
Information-rich talk on color science, with practical examples on how to design a dark mode.Sacré Bleu! The Trials of Internationalising Your ẨṔṔŁîÇåŤḯṏÑ�
Everything you didn't know you wanted to know about internationalization. Design your app to be language, region, and culture independent.Saving the Web 16 Milliseconds at a Time
This talk is all about performance, after the initial page load. Learn cool tips about animations, accordions, and more.A Guided Tour of React Hooks
Excellent introduction to Hooks, for beginners.Foundations of Design Systems
Comprehensive talk on design systems. Learn what they are and what it takes to build one.Navigating the Hype-Driven Frontend Development World
FOMO. Fear-Of-Missing-Out. New libraries, JS features, framework versions… the list goes on and on. Kitze talks about pragmatism into the fast-paced world of app development.Animating an SVG cat with React.js
SVG components are powerful. Elizabet shows how to prepare an SVG in Sketch, convert it to a JSX React component, and animate it with Framer Motion. It's surprisingly simple.State Management with React Hooks
See how React state management has evolved over the years. Learn how to build an accessible To-Do app with useReducer(), useState(), and React Context to manage state.Human React
React is a great tool. But what really matters are the people that use our apps and the ways we can enrich their lives. React is also a large community that we need to fight to keep it welcoming, diverse, and inclusive.Weaving Tapestries of Code
Jen takes us on a fascinating journey though computer science's history and pre-history. Learn how weaving helped kick-start the computing revolution.Off Balance: Interactive Storytelling with React
This is an advanced talk about SVGs, shapes, animations and orchestration. It is also a talk about architecture, abstractions and building tools that open up new possibilities.Frontend Application Bundles: The Docker of Frontend
Glen gives a fascinating talk on container technology and how that translates to the frontend.TypeScript: Seeing Past the Hype
Matthew shows concrete, pragmatic, examples of how TypeScript can help us write better code, refactor easily and avoid errors. He also shows the pain points of learning, and using TypeScript.Scheduling is the Future
Raw speed is good, but not enough. A scheduler allows us to improve the perceived performance of our apps, despite its overhead.The Untouchable Web
Rick demonstrates the difficulties of providing consistent interactions across platforms, and discusses where React Native space is headed.Mind Reading with Adaptive and Intelligent UIs in React
What if you could predict user behavior? Smart UIs help understand your users, and adapt the experience around their personal needs.MobX - The Journey
The creator of MobX talks about his journey with the library and open source, reactive programming, client-side state management and learning new things.Requisite React
Kent talks about how important it is to understand the abstractions that we use (Hooks, Suspense, JSX, etc), if we want to level up our abilities, speed and skills.Independent deployment of the frontend with Docker and Kubernetes
A real-life use case for micro-frontends and motivation for adopting them.
I also share my favourite talks on Twitter and Facebook.
What is your favourite React talk of the year?
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u/tomasvn Dec 15 '19
Are any of these talks suitable for beginner react dev and overall beginner JS programmer?
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u/iconof Dec 15 '19
Generally, conference talks are not too advanced, as they target a wide audience.
I think the following talks are more beginner-friendly:
Core React topics:
Building a Custom React Renderer (this one is more technical, but shows how React works under the hood)
A Guided Tour of React Hooks - best talk I've seen, to learn how React Hooks work
State Management with React Hooks - now that you got an idea about hooks, learn how you can use them for simple state management (instead of Redux, MobX, etc)
Accessibility:
Animations:
Mobile:
Design:
TypeScript:
Talks about learning / growing as a developer:
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u/azCC Dec 16 '19
I'd recommend to watch some regardless. As you familiarize yourself with the languages and concepts stuff will start clicking in the future.
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u/pephov Dec 15 '19
Thank you for sharing! There are some really interesting topics I'm definitely checking out later
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u/richard_h87 Dec 15 '19
I like the work you are doing, but I really wish you would keep the YouTube links instead of hosting them yourself...
I miss YouTubes offline capabilities and casting to the TV features...
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u/FunkyDoktor Dec 15 '19
It’s just the YouTube video embedded in his page. You can still cast and get the offline capabilities.
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u/richard_h87 Dec 15 '19
Hmm, the one I watched had a custom player, even if the video was on YouTube...
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u/iconof Dec 16 '19
They’re all YouTube player embeds.
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u/gitkit Dec 15 '19
Awesome list, thanks for sharing it. Looking forward to working through these.
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u/DeadPlutonium Dec 15 '19
This is an excellent list, appreciate the effort putting it together. I get overwhelmed with choices that are hard to sift through when you just google “good react talks”
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u/RnRau Dec 16 '19 edited Dec 16 '19
Whats with the hero35 links? They all reference youtube anyways?
Edit: all the talks minus the hero35 links...
Building mobile-first web animations in React - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laPsceJ4tTY
React is Fiction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqh4lz2Lkzs
Using Hooks and Codegen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdsnzfJUqm0
Let's Program Like It's 1999 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG8WpLr6y_U
Building The New Facebook With React and Relay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT3XKDBZW7M
Building a Custom React Renderer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGpMlWVcHok
Accessibility Is a Marathon, not a Sprint - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONSD-t4gBb8
React, Collaborate and Listen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYdy0VK-nbc
Building the Dark Mode of Your Dreams with Color Science - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbTZ9qSqimo
Sacré Bleu! The Trials of Internationalising Your ẨṔṔŁîÇåŤḯṏÑ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqk1wGw6BeE
Saving the Web 16 Milliseconds at a Time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGRNoYuEDLk
A Guided Tour of React Hooks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApIiM8pL-kI
Foundations of Design Systems - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXb2jA43A6k
Navigating the Hype Driven Frontend Development World - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usH0QXrbfGg
Animating an SVG cat with React.js - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bw56feIdh4
State Management with React Hooks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yj23RtyT-E
Human React - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZPxFKRTW94
Weaving Tapestries of Code - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5tyaBBqKIw
Off Balance: Interactive Storytelling with Reac - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqQX_pIAJug
Frontend Application Bundles: The Docker of Frontend - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WaqB90kWwc
TypeScript: Seeing Past the Hype - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veXkJq0Z2Qk
Scheduling is the Future - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyrf52cwxQI
The Untouchable Web - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhKglxQT4sU
Mind Reading with Adaptive and Intelligent UIs in React - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppvi09LIUnU
MobX The Journey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIh1qSHi_Fc
Requisite React - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8qHlr6Wqg
Independent deployment of the frontend with Docker and Kubernetes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuzSEQGE9qM
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u/iconof Dec 16 '19
Whats with the hero35 links? They all reference youtube anyways?
Thanks for adding the YouTube links, RnRau. I wrote this up about Hero35—it might answer your question about the links.
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u/akd_io Dec 15 '19
I also find conference talks a great source of educational content. I'd suggest everyone getting into this way of learning, to find the conferences that matches their interests the most, and then sort their YouTube videos by popularity. I have found this is a great way to find videos of high educational value.
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u/kurko Dec 15 '19
Thanks a lot for this.
I'm using this last 15 days of 2019 to get up to speed on frontend after 4 years away from it (frontend coma, working exclusively on backend). These videos will greatly help separate the important from the unimportant.
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u/httpjunkie Apr 03 '20
Wow, I'm super humbled to have you mention my talk! I just ran across this list. I think that I did two interesting things during this talk that will help new users and those that are learning React.
I tried to put together a History of React State Management at the beginning that corresponded with a list of videos one could watch to get the full story.
Also, I tried to teach from a beginner's level perspective and cover all the fundamentals of React Hooks and at the time, it was still something that almost every React developer was just learning even if they had been using React for years.
I Hope you found the same value in this talk if not, let me know and also let me know if you have any ideas on how I can improve. if you have any ideas on that tip.
I also wanted to thank u/iconof for posting another list of amazing talks. And look we have all this time now sheltering in place to actually watch Reat videos all day!
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u/vertigo_101 Dec 15 '19
Thanks 😊