Good Practices in React Architecture: Organizing Components, Hooks, and Server Connections

When building applications with React, organizing code well helps in creating maintainable, scalable, and readable projects. Following good practices in React architecture allows you and other developers to easily understand the code, make updates, and avoid confusion. Here are some best practices to guide you on where to place components, hooks, and server connections.

1. Organizing Components

In React, components are the building blocks of your application. It’s essential to keep them well-organized. Here’s a common way to structure components:

• Reusable Components: These components are often generic and can be used throughout your app, like buttons, inputs, and card layouts. You should place them in a components/ folder. Group similar components together to keep everything structured.
• Page Components: These components are responsible for rendering entire pages. Place them in a pages/ folder. Each page component usually combines several smaller components and manages the layout for that specific page.
• Feature Components: If you have components that are specific to a certain feature (like a shopping cart or user profile), it’s a good idea to keep them in separate folders, such as features/ShoppingCart or features/Profile. This keeps your project organized, especially if it has many features.

Example Project Structure:

2. Organizing Custom Hooks

Custom hooks are functions that encapsulate reusable logic in React. If your hook is useful in multiple places, consider creating a hooks/ folder and placing your hooks there. This makes it easier to find and reuse hooks without repeating code.

Example Hook Usage

For example, if you have a hook for fetching data, you could create a file like useFetch.js in the hooks/ folder.

In useFetch.js:

3. Where to Place Server Connections

The connection to a server (API calls, database requests) should usually be done in the following areas:

• Custom Hooks: For reusable server connections, custom hooks work well. You can create hooks for different types of data fetching or actions (e.g., useGetData, usePostData). This approach allows you to keep all server logic in one place, making it easier to maintain.
• Page Components: If the data or server call is specific to one page, you can place the server call directly in the page component. This helps keep the logic simple and localized.
• Separate API Layer: For larger applications, having a separate api/ folder to manage all server requests can be beneficial. In this approach, each file represents a specific type of data or feature.

Example API Layer Structure:

In userApi.js:

Summary

By keeping your components, hooks, and server connections organized, you can make your React projects more maintainable and readable. Place reusable components in a components/ folder, page components in a pages/ folder, and feature-specific components in a features/ folder. Use a hooks/ folder for reusable logic, and consider a separate api/ layer for managing server connections. With this structure, you’re set up to build a well-organized and efficient React application!