Modern React, Refreshed (2021 → Now)
If you last looked closely around React 17, the model changed twice. This is the catch-up: Server Components and the ship-less-JS mindset, what hooks look like now that the compiler auto-memoizes, the server-vs-client state split, and a fast tour of the framework, CSS, and database landscape.
4 lessons · ~1.5 hours
1. The New Model
The Server Components shift
The biggest change since 2021 — components that run on the server and ship zero JS, with client components as islands.
Hooks today & the compiler
Hooks still run the show — but the React Compiler auto-memoizes, and "you might not need useEffect" is now doctrine.
State management in 2026
The field split in two — server state (TanStack Query / RSC) vs. client state (Zustand & friends). Redux is no longer the default.
The landscape: frameworks, CSS & data
A fast orientation — the frameworks that matter, why CSS made libraries optional, and the database shift.