A 3-day instructor-led course for working React developers updating their skills for 2026.
React has changed substantially since 2024. React 19 shipped Server Components, Actions, and the React Compiler. Create React App was deprecated. React Router v7 absorbed Remix. AI coding assistants are now part of every developer’s workflow. This course catches you up, and teaches the review skills you’ll need to use AI well.
Audience
This course is designed for working React developers with at least one year of React experience who want to bring their skills up to mid-2026 standards. The audience is mixed by design: both senior developers catching up after a heads-down period in React 17/18 codebases, and mid-level developers leveling up.
Every module includes a clear core path for everyone, plus stretch tasks for fast finishers and seniors who want more depth.
Objectives
By the end of three days, you will:
- Recognize what’s new in React 19 and explain when each piece matters
- Choose between Vite, Next.js 15, React Router v7, and other modern starters based on project needs
- Apply the right hook for the job, and spot the hook mistakes AI tools make
- Implement modern routing in both React Router v7 framework mode and Next.js App Router
- Pick the right state-management approach for each kind of state
- Build with TanStack Query for client data and Server Components for server-driven UI
- Profile and optimize a React app, knowing what the React Compiler handles automatically
- Write meaningful tests with Vitest, React Testing Library, MSW, and Playwright
- Work productively with AI coding assistants while spotting their typical React mistakes
- Apply React-specific security and accessibility practices
Format
- 3 days of instructor-led training, about 7 hours of instruction per day
- 54% hands-on lab time across the full course (over 11 hours of hands-on work)
- Eight substantial labs, most 60–105 minutes, each with a stretch task
- A tool-agnostic AI-assistant thread running through every day, plus a focused module on Day 3
- Materials provided: slide deck (PPTX), lab manual (DOCX), lab repo on GitHub, optional pre-work doc, student setup guide
Outline
Day 1: Foundations for 2026
- The 2026 React Landscape: React 19 highlights, the React Compiler, Vite as default, framework picks
- Hooks That Matter in 2026: the rulebook, when not to
useEffect, the new arrivals (use,useActionState,useFormStatus,useOptimistic), specialty hooks - Routing with React Router v7 + Next.js Comparison: library mode vs framework mode, file-system routing, side-by-side
- Lab 1: Modernize a Legacy Chat App
- Lab 2: Routing + Auth in Two Frameworks
Day 2: Data, State, and the Server
- State Management Without Dogma: decision framework, Zustand, Jotai, RTK as one option
- Modern Data Fetching: TanStack Query in depth, optimistic updates, Suspense +
use() - Server Components and Server Actions: the mental model, the boundary, streaming, common pitfalls
- Lab 3: Pick-Your-Tool State Refactor
- Lab 4: TanStack Query Migration
- Lab 5: Server Components Dashboard
Day 3: Performance, Quality, and AI
- Performance in the Compiler Era: measurement first, what the Compiler does and doesn’t, manual memoization, code splitting, virtualization
- Testing React Apps in 2026: Vitest, React Testing Library, MSW, Playwright, evaluating AI-generated tests
- Advanced React with AI Assistants: tool-agnostic patterns, the mistake taxonomy, project context (AGENTS.md), the review checklist
- Production Concerns + Wrap-up: React-specific security, accessibility, where to go next
- Lab 6: Profile and Optimize
- Lab 7: Test Suite from Scratch
- Lab 8: AI-Assisted Feature, End to End
Prerequisites
- Working knowledge of modern JavaScript (ES2020+)
- Some prior React experience: comfortable reading and writing function components, JSX, and basic hooks
- Familiarity with Node.js and npm; ability to install software globally
- A computer with macOS, Windows, or Linux; a modern browser; reliable internet
- Optional: basic TypeScript awareness. The pre-work document covers TS-in-React essentials for students who want a refresher
What’s New in Version 2.0
This is a substantial overhaul of the 2024 course (v1.3.0), not a refresh. The biggest changes:
- All React 19: Server Components, Actions, the React Compiler, the new hooks
- Framework-neutral: concepts taught framework-free, then shown in both Next.js 15 and React Router v7
- Modern data layer: TanStack Query covered in depth; plain
useEffect+ fetch retired - Real testing module: Vitest, RTL, MSW, Playwright; the 2024 course had none of this
- AI thread: woven through every module, plus a focused module on Day 3
- Cut from 2024: plain Redux + Thunk (replaced with RTK + decision framework), Single-SPA micro frontends (cut entirely), generic security advice (replaced with React-specific 2026 concerns)
- 54% hands-on: up from the previous lecture-heavy ratio