Early React

In the early days of web development, Multi-Page Applications (MPAs) were the norm (they were really the only way to do it). Each user interaction typically required a full page reload, resulting in a slower, less responsive user experience. This approach had several drawbacks:
  1. Poor performance due to frequent page reloads
  2. Increased server load for generating entire pages
  3. Difficulty in maintaining complex user interfaces
  4. Inconsistent state management across pages
  5. Difficult with accessibility and focus management
These challenges motivated the development of UI frameworks like React, which aimed to create more dynamic, responsive web applications.

Enter React

React, introduced by Facebook in 2013, brought a paradigm shift in web development. It addressed many of the issues faced by MPAs by introducing:
  1. Component-based architecture
  2. Virtual DOM for efficient updates
  3. Declarative UI development
  4. Unidirectional data flow

Network Management in Early React

In the early days of React, managing network requests was still a challenge:
  1. AJAX calls were typically handled using libraries like jQuery or the native XMLHttpRequest
  2. Fetching data often occurred in component lifecycle methods (e.g., componentDidMount)
  3. Managing loading states and errors was manual and repetitive
  4. Caching and optimizing network requests required custom solutions
Even with the introduction of hooks, using useEffect to fetch data was still challenging. It eliminated bugs (like forgetting to handle componentDidUpdate) but it introduced issues like infinite re-renders and hard-to-debug bugs.
Developers had to carefully manage when and how data was fetched to ensure a smooth user experience while minimizing unnecessary network traffic.
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