The Best React Extension for VS Code

This snippets extension (I won’t type the entire name out again) is incredibly popular with over 2 million downloads. To back this up, every big time developer I’ve heard talk about React on a podcast, YouTube video, etc. uses this extension and loves it.

I’ve always said that developers are “intentionally lazy”. In other words, we find ways to constantly improve the speed at which we right code by writing less of it ourselves. These snippets making writing React much much faster!

Although this article is focused on snippets for React, React code is primarily made up of modern JavaScript. For this reason, this extension includes several useful JavaScript snippets.

In modern JavaScript, code is broken up to different modules and then reused in other areas using the import syntax. Here’s a couple of import snippets to consider.

Import a default export.

//imp
import moduleName from 'module'

Import a named export.

//imd
import { destructuredModule } from 'module'

To get a little more specific to React, here’s a couple of React imports.

Import React

//imr
import React from 'react'

Import React and Component.

//imrc
import React, { Component } from 'react'

Iterating through a list of items is not difficult but it does get repetetive (no pun intended).

For each iteration

//fre
arrayName.forEach(element => { }

For of iteration

//fof
for(let itemName of objectName { }

For in Iteration

//fin
for(let itemName in objectName { }

Functions are obviously something that we write every day. Here’s a few different ways to generate them.

Anonymous Function

//anfn
(params) => { }

Named Function

//nfn
const functionName = (params) => { }

Now, we can dive into more React specific stuff. Let’s start with Lifecycle Methods.

ComponentDidMount

//cdm
componentDidMount = () => { }

ComponentDidUpdate

//cdup
componentDidUpdate = (prevProps, prevState) => { }

ComponentWillUnmount

//cwun
componentWillUnmount = () => { }

With the snippets we’ve mentioned so far, you have the ability to stub out most of a React component by combining them, but it gets better! Here’s some snippets that will generate an entire component for you!

React Class Component

//rcc
import React, { Component } from 'react'

export default class FileName extends Component {
  render() {
    return <div>$2</div>
  }
}

React Class Component With Prop Types

//rcep
import React, { Component } from 'react'
import PropTypes from 'prop-types'

export class FileName extends Component {
  static propTypes = {}

  render() {
    return <div>$2</div>
  }
}

export default $1

React Functional Component

//rfc
import React from 'react'

export default function $1() {
  return <div>$0</div>
}

We’ve covered a bunch of snippets in this article, but there are several more. Here’s a couple of categories that might be worth a deeper look!

• React Native
• Prop Types
• Redux
• Tests
• Writing to the Console

Never write code that you don’t have to. My only caveat to that statement comes if you are learning. If you’re new to a language or framework, avoid snippets while you’re learning. Write it all out for the experience! After that, SNIPPETS AWAY!