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Hello friends!

Welcome to this week’s Sloth Bytes.

I hope you had an amazing week.

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Sloths need to stay warm to digest their food

If they get too cold, sloths can die of starvation even on a full stomach. This is because the bacteria which breaks down the leaves will die if a sloth’s body temperature falls too low, leaving undigested leaves in their stomach which are unable to pass along or be thrown up.

Introduction to React

React has become the most popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces, But what makes it special?

Why React's Popularity Keeps Growing

• Component-Based: Build reusable UI pieces like Lego blocks

• Virtual DOM: Automatically optimizes updates for better performance

• Massive Ecosystem: A LOT of npm packages to solve common problems

• Strong Community: Lots of resources for React.

• Battle-Tested: Used by Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, and Airbnb

• Great Developer Tools: React DevTools make debugging easier.

• Cross-Platform: Build mobile apps with React Native

• Future-Proof: Regular updates and active development by Meta

How React Makes Development Easier

1. Declarative vs Imperative

Instead of telling the computer HOW to do something (imperative), React lets you describe WHAT you want (declarative).

2. Components Make Code Reusable

Think of components as custom HTML elements. Here's a simple example:

Vanilla JavaScript:

// Creating multiple cards means repeating this code
const card1 = document.createElement('div');
card1.className = 'card';
const title1 = document.createElement('h2');
title1.textContent = 'Card 1';
card1.appendChild(title1);
document.body.appendChild(card1);

React:

// Create once, use anywhere
function Card({ title }) {
  return (
    <div className="card">
      <h2>{title}</h2>
    </div>
  );
}

// Use it multiple times
function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Card title="Card 1" />
      <Card title="Card 2" />
      <Card title="Card 3" />
    </div>
  );
}

3. State Management Made Simple

Let's look at a more complex example with a todo list:

Vanilla JavaScript:

// HTML
<div>
  <input type="text" id="todoInput">
  <button onclick="addTodo()">Add</button>
  <ul id="todoList"></ul>
</div>

// JavaScript
let todos = [];

function addTodo() {
  const input = document.getElementById('todoInput');
  todos.push(input.value);
  input.value = '';
  updateTodoList();
}

function updateTodoList() {
  const list = document.getElementById('todoList');
  list.innerHTML = '';
  todos.forEach(todo => {
    const li = document.createElement('li');
    li.textContent = todo;
    list.appendChild(li);
  });
}

React:

function TodoList() {
  const [todos, setTodos] = React.useState([]);
  const [input, setInput] = React.useState('');

  const addTodo = () => {
    setTodos([...todos, input]);
    setInput('');
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <input 
        value={input}
        onChange={(e) => setInput(e.target.value)}
      />
      <button onClick={addTodo}>Add</button>
      <ul>
        {todos.map((todo, index) => (
          <li key={index}>{todo}</li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    </div>
  );
}

Should You Learn React?

✅ Learn React if:

• You build interactive web applications

• You’re looking for a job (more jobs use React)

• You need to maintain large applications

• You work with a team

• You want to build mobile apps later (React Native)

• You enjoy component-based architecture

• You want to join a thriving community

⚠️ Consider alternatives if:

• You're building simple static websites

• You're just starting with JavaScript

• You need better SEO out of the box (Next.js might be better)

• You prefer smaller bundle sizes (Svelte might be better)

• You want full-stack features built-in (Angular might be better)

Getting Started

Go through the documentation IT’S REALLY GOOD.

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*A message from our sponsor.

Thank you to everyone who submitted 😃 

RelyingEarth87, Classy-Cassy, mc-milo, ddat828, Micwir, ravener, pyGuy152, agentNinjaK, LaurelineP, SohamDandekar, dropbearII, JamesHarryT, Jk-frontEnd, SlothKai, tobiaoy, pavan-15-hub, codiling, and GiantMango.

Valid JavaScript Comments

In JavaScript, there are two types of comments:

1. Single-line comments start with //

2. Multi-line or inline comments start with /* and end with */

The input will be a sequence of //, /* and */. Every /* must have a */ that immediately follows it. To add, there can be no single-line comments in between multi-line comments in between the /* and */.

Create a function that returns True if comments are properly formatted, and False otherwise.

Examples

comments_correct("//////") 
output = True
# 3 single-line comments: ["//", "//", "//"]

comments_correct("/**//**////**/")
output = True
# 3 multi-line comments + 1 single-line comment:
# ["/*", "*/", "/*", "*/", "//", "/*", "*/"]

comments_correct("///*/**/")
output = False
# The first /* is missing a */

comments_correct("/////")
output = False
# The 5th / is single, not a double //

How To Submit Answers

Reply with

• A link to your solution (github, twitter, personal blog, portfolio, replit, etc)

• or if you’re on the web version leave a comment!

New video coming this week :)

That’s all from me!

Have a great week, be safe, make good choices, and have fun coding.

If I made a mistake or you have any questions, feel free to comment below or reply to the email!

See you all next week.