Building a React app without a clear project in mind is like assembling IKEA furniture with no manual and three extra screws. You can do it—but good luck figuring out what you just built. That’s why in this course, we’re building something real. Not another todo list. Not another weather app. Something you'll actually want to deploy, customize, and maybe even brag about. And yeah, it’s based on real-world developer pain—mine, specifically.

Meet Your Project: A Real App (Not a Todo List)

Let’s get this out of the way: todo lists are dead. Everyone builds them. No one uses them. So we’re skipping that cliché.

Instead, we’ll build a real-world app—something you might actually use on your portfolio or even hook up to a backend. Think: dynamic UI, real data, routing, components that do more than display static text. You’ll build something you can tweak, extend, and be proud of.

What Features We’ll Build Together

You’re not just clicking buttons here. We’re building out:

A clean UI with reusable components Real navigation using React Router Dynamic content pulled from dummy data or a real API (your call) Forms, state, and interactivity that feels like a polished app Error handling (because things will* break)

Basically, you’re going to learn React by building like a developer, not following a checklist.

Tech Stack Breakdown — What Tools We’ll Use

Here's the toolkit:

React (obviously) Vite for fast builds (once you use it, you'll never go back) React Router for navigation that doesn't reload the page like it's 2005 VS Code (if you’re still using Notepad… we need to talk) ESLint + Prettier* to stop you from writing cursed code

We’ll also sprinkle in tools like classnames and maybe even a local JSON server if we want mock APIs. If you’re new to Vite, this intro explains why it’s eating CRA’s lunch.

Why This App? (Spoiler: It’s Based on Pain)

I didn’t choose this app idea because it sounded cool. I chose it because I needed it.

Once upon a time, I built an internal dashboard. It started simple… and quickly spiraled into a mess of state, janky conditionals, and components that felt duct-taped together.

So this time, we’re doing it right. We’re solving common frontend problems like:

“How do I share state between components?” “Where does this data even come from?” * “Why is this button not doing anything!?”

Expect to solve real problems, not contrived ones.

Dev Flow: How We’ll Build It, Piece by Piece

We’re taking the agile-ish route.

First, we’ll set up the project. Then we’ll scaffold the basic layout. From there, we’ll build page by page, component by component, learning React patterns as we go.

This is how real devs work—build, refactor, panic a little, then keep going.

Oh, and I’ll show you how to avoid the traps I fell into. Like writing massive components that tried to do everything. (Spoiler: don’t do that.)

Up next, you’ll start writing the pieces that power your UI. We’ll dig into React Components 101: Functions That Build UIs. Here's your next step.