ReactJS is one of the top and well-known open-source frameworks in the field of front-end technology. Unique and innovative applications are crafted using its flexible Javascript library. We have written this blog to help the community of React JS developers by shedding some light on the React JS best practices. So, they can build great high-performing website apps which could ultimately build a great business. So, let us dive into the details.

React best practices and Security based components

Reusable React JS component

One functional component is equal to one function that means each functional component should have one function. Therefore when you create a functional component, create it with a single function. In this way, you can improve the reusability of the React-based components.

Delete Irrelevant React code

“Keep the code as short and tiny as possible” is the most common rule in every application development process, let alone React. These React.js best practices are used to craft smart and error-free code.

In software development, a principle called Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) is used. It is mainly focused on minimizing the repetition of software patterns, replacing it with abstractions, or using data normalization to avoid any redundancy.

To work on code formatting, you can either use your own style guide or can use a well-known proficient style guide for eg Airbnb React Style Guide, Facebook Style Guide, WordPress style Guide, and so forth. No matter if you use your own or follow others, just don’t get confused between various guides.

Index as keys

You will need to add a key prop to your elements whenever you are using React to create an array of JSX elements. Normally, React developers use a map function to build an index that can set the key property. Let me warn you. That is not the right way!

React uses the key property to track every element in the array. And the collapsing nature of the array will ultimately result in a situation where wrong information is delivered at the wrong places. It is obvious, especially when you are looping through class components with the state.

Make necessary Comments only

React developers must add the comments in the application wherever it is necessary. Eliminating the ability to add a comment in the application means that you need to write a completely intelligent code on your own without any exceptions. This provides clear code sections.

Generally, comments mean a spot indicating the poor design, especially the long and wordy comments. It clearly shows that the React developers didn’t have a clue about what they are working on. And to make up for that, they have written lengthy comments.

Be Aware of State and Rendering

In React, there are two categories of the state. They are stateful and stateless. The stateful component offers necessary context and stores the component’s state information. While the stateless component has no memory and couldn’t offer any kind of context to the part of the user interface.

But the stateless component is scalable and reusable. It is also purely similar to the javascript function. It separates stateful logic from stateless logic. In react, a better way to use a stateful component is to fetch data and a stateless component. And then that stateless component is used to display that fetched data.

React v16.08 was launched with a new feature called React Hooks. It can write a stateful functional component. React Hooks have eliminated the use of any class component. The data should not be in the component state if it is not directly rendered in the render method. And if the data is not directly rendered then it can cause unnecessary re-renders.

Use ESLint, Prettier, and snippet libraries

The squiggles will yell at you because the ESLint would need you to keep your code neat and tidy. You can link your IDE to this. The best practices allow you to retain your own ESLint configuration file. Rather than disabling the errors, a good React developer will try to fix all the ESLint errors.

Prettier is the name of a React code formatting tool. It has a container with a certain set of rules for code formatting and indentation. You can check spells, function length, or find some suggestions for better approaches with the help of SonarLint. If you use Husky, it is considered to be one of the best practices for both React JS and Git alike. The Husky can also be defined in a package.json file. It can help you prevent your application from bad commit and bad push.

If you want to code best and trend syntax then Code snippets are the right choice for you. They help you with keeping your code relatively error-free. You can also use a lot of snippet libraries like ES7 React, JavaScript (ES6) code snippets, and so forth.

Add Security to HTTP Authentication Function

Authentication is applied during a function like a user login or account creation in many applications. This function needs to be highly secure because there are chances of exposing the client-side authentication and authorization due to several security defects which are enough to destroy the security protocols in the application.

The common techniques used to validate the authentication function include JSON Web Token, OAuth, AuthO, React Router, PassportJS, and so on.

Security with JWT function:

If you are using the JWT function to validate your authentication process then you need to take into account the points mentioned below:-

Never keep local storage-based JWT tokens. Because it will be easy for someone to get a JWT token if they are using the browser’s Dev tools console and write. console.log(localStorage.getItem(‘token’))

So, instead of storing your JWT token in the local storage, store it in an HTTP cookie. Or there is also an option to keep your tokens in your React JS app’s state. JWT tokens should always be kept in the backend. Because it would be easy to sign and verify the keys on the backend side.

You should ask for a strong and long password when someone is creating an account. It is also considered a React JS practice that uses long and unpredictable secrets similar to passwords. But make sure you use HTTPS instead of HTTP. It will be an assurance for your React web app to render a valid certificate that can also be sent over to a secure SSL network.

Prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

To prevent cross-site scripting, you need to create automated overseeing features. This feature is used to sanitize the user input. It will then reject all the malicious and invalid user input from being rendered into the browser. Secure Against DDoS Attacks

When a React application has loopholes and it masks the IP then know that the vulnerable security concerns could take place. It can also cause the termination of the services that could result in restricted communication. The methods to stop it are as follows:

Limitation of rate on APIs:- this method will help you put a limitation on the number of requests for a specific IP from a specific source with the complete set of libraries that are using the Axios-rate limit. Apart from that, another method is to imply an app-level restriction to the API.

SQL Injection

Using this kind of attack, anyone can manipulate your data. By administering arbitrary SQL code, the attackers can modify the user data without the user’s permission and can also extract any confidential information. So what is the solution to this?

If you want to eliminate any type of SQL injection attacks, the very first thing you need to do is to validate the API call function against their respective API schemas. You have to use timely validation of the schema if you want to avoid suspicious code injection while handling the issue of time-based SQL injection attacks.

Using an SSL certificate is another compelling way to be secure against SQL vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

After reading this blog, you might have gained some insights on how to make most of the React JS practices. It includes all from building a single component to large enterprise-grade applications and other React products. The React JS provides only fewer typing options and more explicit codes. If the developers start using these best practices, they would like all the advanced features with code reusability, advanced React JS components, adding a state variable, and other smaller ready-made React.JS features for simplified use.

We hope that these React best practices will help you in eliminating any present or future complications with the react JS development. However, if you have any queries or suggestions, share them with us in the comments section below.