The Average React Developer

We talk a lot about the best React devs, the future of React, and the ecosystem as a whole. We need to talk about the average React dev, and why they don't like React very much.

S/O Mir for the awesome edit 🙏

[knevari]

I really needed to hear this. I was starting to get tired of doubting myself everyday and feeling like shit because I’m not good enough, reading articles, building projects and trying my best to learn new stuff and still feeling like I’m always behind. Thank you so much

[gabrielbianchi]

Yesterday I had a big breakdown questioning my skills. This video definitely came at the right time. Thank you Theo. I watch all of your videos and I think this might mean I’m not “average”

[_Aarius_]

Im a primarily back-end dev on an site that uses an angular frontend and ive never used react, personally, but a portion of this really resonated: in previous jobs, i was solving tickets or implementing a particular feature, and unless the tech we were using taught me about a feature when i googled "why does <x> happen when <y> in library <z>" or "how to <X> in <Z>", then i wouldnt know it. Even though i am an enthusiast, in my own time i live in cli, server, and low level stuff. There are ca lot of places to be enthusiastic, and not all of them are the front end.

the points in this video are good, but they aren't just applicable to react - they apply to any industry norm / mature / common technologies

[javierneri]

No, please don't say that I'm not the average React dev. That's my only excuse for having poor code.

[jackson-gabbard]

Thank you for this video. I run an engineering team of ex-Facebook, ex-Google, and ex-Microsoft folks among many other folks who are bootcamp grads who happen to be extraordinarily talented. I love my team. I'm proud of them. And they struggle to imagine the 'average'. This video is so relevant to us. Thank you.

[nezukovlogs]

I actually agree with you on first part of twch twitter group, i learn so much from these people especially people like Theo, Prime, Trash, Warren, Melkey, Emiko, Average Engineer, jlarky and so many others who are causally talks about sometimes in memes also the best concepts of JS and react which normally people don;t know about

[darialyphia]

« Half of people are dumber than that person » damn feels good to be seen

[grug_smash_keyboard]

I felt the exact same way when I watched the Primeagan's Sturgeon law take. Just like how having $5.3k in your bank account puts you on the right side of the median US household in terms of saving account balance, devs who spend time outside work to understand tech and play with other technologies aside from their work stack probably belong in the top quartile in terms of developer quality. Just being where you are can cloud you from what's really happening.

[UwU-dxhu]

This is a beautiful video. I love technology and watch tech videos while eating...
Finally i feel recognized!

[shantanukulkarni]

I work in a company where frontend was made by very average unenthusiastic backend developers and boy you should see the codebase. Ejected cra with class and functional components mixed. Some components have 8 to 10 useffects with 4 useffects have no dependency. 3 different types of UI libraries to create buttons, modals and table... And jQuery littered like rabbit shit all over the place. I am the solo frontend developer left after a massive layoff and it my job to bring this codebase to some standards.

[atalha]

It should also be noted that your viewers aren't just average React devs as you're not an average YouTuber – you're a React psychologist and a superb YouTuber!🚀

[penguindrummaster]

This statement is so true for so many aspects of programming. I still have a hard time understanding that my peers aren't my equals. Let me rephrase that: they aren't me. I have a desire to learn the minute details of this field, but that's not the common thread. There are people I look up to for their talents and knowledge, but it doesn't mean that they are as interested in getting better. A person's growth and interests are highly individual, and you shouldn't think less of them because they aren't as invested as you.

Great video.

[joaoalpoim]

Hey Theo, just wanted to say I appreciate this kind of videos a lot.
I saw your video "Your Goals Kinda Suck - LEVEL UP As A Developer " a year ago and it was such a slap in the face. I now send that video to all my coworkers everytime we have a conversation around this topic.
I was following the behaviours you describe in the video and wondered why I felt unfulfilled and unhappy in life. That was a click for me, and even though I might not be as much as an enthusiast and will never get to your level in programming, I now have a clear direction. I dont want to just change jobs for the money anymore, I want to learn and contribute and help make a better product.
Thank you and keep up the good work

[Khigha]

I appreciate your videos so much Theo! Quality content with the perfect balance between education and personality. Keep it up broski!

[nonlinearsound-]

To me, with all those years of developing software, starting in Assembler and C, building a tech stack by myself over and over again until the age of frameworks and prebuilt tech stacks it feels strange that there are developers who don’t really understand and care for the tools they are using as developing software turned into a 9 to 5 labor thing instead of our hobby as a job experience.

[JasonSilvis-gv]

Hello Thanks for the information. I became a developer because i felt something was up with my body so i wanted a less physically demanding job. Turns out there was something wrong and that step was vital. Problem is im not enjoying my current position because they do not utilize the tools i enjoy using so in my downtime i try to hone them. I am a little nervous to apply to positions now because im rusty and have a disability that severly impacts me. This video lifted up my spirit. Thank you.

For the people here. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from your dreams.

[johngagon]

I live two lives: working on flux React by day. Trying to poc new stuff on my own at night. I came from a Java, then groovy Grails which was extremely easy. T3 reminds me of that same easy of development. (a far cry from Rust (try zig instead)). React is one tech that is good at one typical problem: web apps. What's interesting is that we've come full circle from server apps to SPAs back to server, (but better), with next. A lifelong developer knows to keep an ear to the ground if they're going to be asked to switch. Sometimes we get jaded by tech churn, Moore's law. But with that is a drive to get back to the original love we had with development which involves learning the cool shortcuts out there. Type safety is a real problem at work. Type Error replacing NullPointerException almost had me jaded. Thanks for resparking the fire and yes, it's made me an enthusiast again like when I was part of a <tech> user group/conference goer.

[cloynelson]

OK, but how are those people are even landing jobs?

[WomboBraker]

This is nice to hear, always fighting with self doubt

[drevan]

It is the thing that I picked in 2014 (or maybe 2015, who remembers) at a company of 1, 000 that got acquired by a big tech company with 27, 000 employees. I’ve initialized over 100 React projects and I now feel stuck in the giant ecosystem I helped create. I’d love to pivot to Solid or HTMX, but we’d have to rewrite so much…