Notes on PHP, Drupal, Laravel, React, and Next.js development.
Jun 2026
React Server Components explained from the actual problem they solve (shipping less JS, not just server-rendering): the Server vs Client Component distinction, why server-only resources are safe in RSC, when 'use client' is genuinely needed, and how to compose the two together correctly.
Read more →Jun 2026
Building custom React hooks properly: what actually qualifies as a hook, extracting real duplicated logic (an online-status hook and a debounced-value hook as worked examples), the rules of hooks that still apply inside your own hooks, and when extraction is premature.
Read more →Jun 2026
React vs Vue in 2026: JSX vs Single-File Components, explicit state (useState/Redux/Zustand) vs Vue's built-in reactivity and Pinia, ecosystem flexibility vs curated tooling, performance realities, and a practical framework for deciding.
Read more →Jun 2026
Every real cause of React's 'Too many re-renders' error — calling a setter directly during render, invoking instead of referencing an event handler, a useEffect with a bad dependency array, and state that should have been derived directly — plus a systematic way to debug it.
Read more →Jun 2026
When to actually use useState/useReducer, Context, Zustand, or Redux Toolkit for React state — a practical decision ladder rather than a popularity contest — plus why server data (API responses) is a separate problem best solved by React Query/SWR instead of any of these.
Read more →Jun 2026
Six real useEffect mistakes and their fixes: missing dependencies, misusing the empty dependency array, missing cleanup functions, unhandled fetch race conditions, using an effect where a direct computation would do, and object/array dependencies that break reference equality — plus a pre-flight checklist.
Read more →