Is learning React easy?

This is one of the most common queations I read in Quora or in Facebook groups for developers.

tldr;

Learning react is not easy. At least for those that have no prior experience to web development.

I have trained literally hundreds of people of most different backgrounds. From absolutely beginners without any prior experience to computers to people with significant experience in desktop programming.

For none of them was easy. Not because I'm a louse mentor or teacher. And I hate to say that I'm one of the best teachers/mentors out there based on customer satisfaction.

All the time I'm listening "I watched that video from this or that guy and I understood everything, but when I tried to apply it myself I couldn't".

So why is React difficult to learn?

There are tons of materials out there but still, it's hard for a beginner to get it.

Personally I learned React in the most difficult way there is.

One MUST understand very well javascript. Another must have is basic web dev experience such as events, asynchronous programming and more.

So in order to learn react you should be a web dev (just a beginner one no need to be an expert).

If you skip those topics you will just manage to slow down your learning process. Because YOU WILL learn those one way or the other.

It's like you want to learn how to cook some sauce like beshamel or holandez but you don't know what is a pot, a fry pan and what is a cream. You'd need to learn how to boil water first and then move on.

THIS IS THE FASTEST AND EASIEST WAY.

Also one should define what means the "I learned react". There are multiple levels of knowing React. There are multiple levels of knowing anything. Even cooking has different levels of skill.

If you want to learn react so you can build a todo app, and being already a web dev, a couple of days should be enough.

If you want to get a junior position and you are already a web dev then few months should be enough.

If you are starting from zero, then you'd need a couple of months to learn javascript, then a couple of weeks to learn web dev basics and then a month to learn all necessary to build 70-80% of most apps. And then you'd need to spend few months to build apps.

You can't skip that part.

Then you have reached the junior level.

Until next time, and remember: This is the right way to learn!