React Projects You Can Do to Build Your Skills

React developers have many opportunities in the workforce, and practising is a good way to learn more and expand your knowledge. If you are interested in becoming a developer, we’ve created some React projects that you can try to improve your skills. But first, let’s look at the basics of React and its benefits.

What is React?

React, or ReactJS or React.js, is a commonly used framework in the JavaScript community. Developed by a Facebook software engineer, Jordan Walke, this open-source library helps developers build or create front-end applications that dynamically change data without reloading the page. 

React makes front-end rendering simple, quick, and scalable. How? By replicating the web application in the virtual memory of the browser. This enhances flexibility so that whenever a change or any modification in an application component happens, the UI is rendered again without having to refresh the whole page.

Advantages of React

WhatsApp, Netflix, and Dropbox are industry leaders using React to create iconic user interfaces (UIs). Why are so many companies utilising React? 

React has several benefits that give it an edge:

• Facilitates the development of large web applications without having to reload pages when data changes

• Easy to learn and simple to use

• Lets you build component parts to expedite and streamline development

• Provides reusable components

• Supports cross-platform development

• Integrates with Angular framework

Preparing you for React projects

React developers must build robust and effective applications that perform well and provide a positive user experience.  If you want to be a React developer, you’ll be expected to be efficient, accurate, and have an eye for scalability and ease of maintenance. 

Practising these skills can give you proficiency with React, and learning by creating projects can benefit you by:

• Learning by doing and building from the ground up

• Expanding your familiarity with programming fundamentals, such as functions, objects, and arrays

• Building your understanding of React and its main fundamentals, such as JSX, Virtual DOM, and component lifecycle

• Developing proficiency in JavaScript, object models, DOM manipulation and event handlers, data structures, and algorithms

• Learning to translate application requirements into code

• Performing project management, problem-solving, and troubleshooting

4 entry-level React project ideas

1. Develop a chat app.

Building a basic app that can send messages back and forth is a good place to start developing the React experience. You can start bare bones, but then you can add functionality as you develop more skills. For example, you might add a group chat feature or user authentication.

2. Create a to-do list.

The first item on your list? Learn React! Creating an app to keep track of daily duties is another introductory React project idea. You can add functionality to search tasks, click checkboxes or strikethrough items, filter tasks by completion, or create other parameters as you see fit. 

3. Work on a weather app.

This project is valuable because you’ll need to learn how to integrate with a weather program to feed into your app. You can create an application that shows the temperature and weather conditions that the user selects. You can add dates, months, year, and other weather conditions. 

4. Build a calculator.

Sure, there’s already one on your phone. However, this is about testing your developer skills. Creating a calculator is another simple way to play around with React. You might start with basic arithmetic functions, but then you can build on your work by levelling up your calculator to handle more complex functions. 

3 advanced React projects

1. Make a meme generator.

Making a meme generator is a good challenge as you continue developing your React skills. As a beginning step, you can learn to create a Snapshot photo gallery. 

However, you must demonstrate even more skills to build a meme generator. Your users will need access to random memes, which you can either set up via API or create your database of meme images. Then, you’ll need to let users input their text on those images. 

Make your meme generator even more complex by allowing users to set up their accounts, use login credentials, and share their creations on their social media channels.

2. Start a social app.

You’ll want to develop your skills before diving into this React project. Still, at least you have plenty of examples of quality social media apps to draw inspiration from like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, etc. 

You must develop several components to offer basic features such as user authentication, profiles, and notifications. You can also set up feeds and post interactions to make your app distinct.

3. Set up a shopping app.

Creating an e-commerce application is an advanced way to test your skills. You’ll need to use React to register users, set up logins and authentication, help users search items, and filter preferences. Then, you’ll also need to let people add items to a cart, provide shipping details, and pay. You might even set your app to gather feedback and show star ratings and user reviews. By building a shopping app, you can add value to your portfolio and develop your abilities.

Becoming a React developer

These React projects can help you build your skills and give you concrete experience to discuss your capabilities with potential employers. As a React developer, you could expect to earn an average of ₹5,50,0002 per year, according to Glassdoor [1]. 

So, what does the job of a React developer entail? As a React developer, your daily responsibilities will likely include: 

• Developing features for front-end applications

• Writing code to create JavaScript-based applications for web or mobile environments

• Optimising application functionality

• Testing software at different stages of development

Learn more about React 

You can execute many of these React projects on your own. However, you may prefer guided learning. On Coursera, you can discover courses to develop your React skills. For example, you can explore React Basics taught by Meta staff or get into more detail by earning a Full-Stack Software Developer Professional Certificate offered by IBM.