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I was fully onboard with React as my front-end Javascript framework of choice for years. That all changed when I suddenly had to support a stand-alone React app that I had no hand in building. Thankfully Hotwire had just been released, and my manager was aware of how painful maintaining this application was going to be. So I started the process of migrating the React app into the Rails app, using Hotwire as the new front-end framework. How did it go, what lessons were learned, and would I do it again?
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In the presentation titled "React-ing to Hotwire", David Hill, a staff engineer at Care Rev, recounts his experience migrating a complex stand-alone React application into a Rails app using Hotwire as the new front-end framework. This shift was prompted by the challenges faced while maintaining the original React application, particularly after the departure of key developers who had built it. The talk reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of React while advocating for the advantages of Hotwire. Key points discussed in the presentation include: - **Background on React**: Hill shares his positive beginnings with React, highlighting its ease of getting started and capabilities for creating interactive UIs. - **Transition Necessity**: Hill narrates the internal struggles at his previous job, where he faced a critical React application with diminishing support, leading to a need for a strategic change. - **Challenges with React**: He describes a frustrating experience with modifying a seemingly simple feature in the React app, which turned out to require extensive changes across multiple files, exacerbated by using additional libraries like Redux and Re-kit. - **The Argument for Hotwire**: Hill outlines how he successfully persuaded management to transition to Hotwire by demonstrating its simplicity and by working on a small proof-of-concept project using Hotwire that showcased better maintainability. - **Benefits of Using Hotwire**: The advantages of Hotwire included reduced server costs, easier code management, and improved developer onboarding due to its Rails-like structure. - **Using Stimulus with Hotwire**: He highlights the ease of creating interactive functionalities with minimal code, exemplified through his implementation of a character count feature using Stimulus. - **Successful Outcome**: After four months of rebuilding the application with Hotwire, the project launched successfully, leading to ongoing satisfaction among the developers and continued use of the system he built. The main takeaways from Hill's presentation stress the importance of maintainability in development, the reduction of client-side state management overhead, and how environments that are closely aligned to Rails conventions can lead to better developer experiences and productivity.
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