🇬🇧 CityJS London 2026

A Decade and Counting: React’s Rhapsody of Life

React has been shaping how we build user interfaces for over a decade. But its journey hasn’t exactly been smooth. From early skepticism about JSX and “mixing HTML with JavaScript” to debates over hooks, concurrency, and RSC, React has sparked more controversy and innovation than almost any other library in the web ecosystem.

In this talk, we’ll revisit the past that led to React’s creation, explore the many “trouble in paradise” moments that challenged the community, and look at what’s coming next. Along the way, we’ll uncover the deeper ideas behind React—composition, predictable data flow, and powerful abstractions—and reflect on what a decade of React can teach us about the evolution of software itself.

Transcript

1. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE • APRIL 17, 2026. Hello, London! 👋 🇬🇧
2. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE MATHEUS ALBUQUERQUE • @ythecombinator
3. PAST FUTURE LESSONS LEARNED TROUBLE IN PARADISE
5. The Past A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
6. What were you up to before React? A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
7. THE PAST: THE WEB — THE FORMATION OF FRAMEWORK WAVES FROM THE EPICENTER • SARAH DRASNER
8. THE PAST: THE WEB
9. THE PAST: THE WEB
10. What were you up to before React? A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
11. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
12. ↝ CLIENT-SIDE MVC FRAMEWORK. ↝ COMBINED EXISTING TOOLS TO HANDLE THE COMPLEX INTERACTIVITY OF PRIMITIVE FACEBOOK TIMELINES, CHAT, NEWS FEEDS, AND OTHER ADVANCED APPLICATIONS. ↝ INTRODUCED SOME APIS AND FEATURES THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY MAKE THEIR WAY INTO REACT INCLUDING render, createClass, AND refs. THE PAST: BOLTJS — OUR FIRST 50,000 STARS • CHRISTOPHER CHEDEAU (@VJEUX)
13. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
14. ↝ SAME PROBLEMS SOLVED IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY. ↝ MUCH MORE FUNCTIONAL WITH NO MVC ARCHITECTURE. ↝ INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT OF RE-RENDERING WHEN SOMETHING IN THE UI HAS CHANGED. ↝ FUNDAMENTALS WERE BORN: PROPS, STATE AND THE BASIC CONCEPT OF COMPONENTS. THE PAST: FAXJS — OUR FIRST 50,000 STARS • CHRISTOPHER CHEDEAU (@VJEUX)
15. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
16. ↝ AN EXTENSION OF PHP THAT ALLOWED CREATION OF INTERFACES USING XML LITERALS RIGHT INSIDE THEIR PHP CODE. ↝ FIRST INTRODUCED TO HELP PREVENT XSS ISSUES. ↝ ENDED UP BEING AN EXCELLENT WAY TO STRUCTURE APPLICATIONS WITH CUSTOM COMPONENTS. THE PAST: XHP
18. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
19. “With React you can build applications without even thinking about performance and the default state is fast.” Pete Hunt (2013)
20. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
21. Guillermo Rauch (2015) “With this model in place, the programmer is thus relieved from the burden of specifying the transition between states (or transformation) of the UI over time.”
22. — WHY REACT ISN'T DYING • DOMINIK (@TKDODO)
23. — REACT.JS: THE DOCUMENTARY • HONEYPOT
24. Trouble in Paradise A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
25. ECOSYSTEM FRICTION REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
26. 2016 STREAMING SSR
27. 2020 CONCURRENT REACT
28. 2022 REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
29. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT” REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
30. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
31. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT”
32. “NEXT.JS IS EATING REACT”
33. GROWING RESENTMENT REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
34. JSX vs. SOC
35. JSX vs. SOC
36. REACTIVITY
37. HOOKS
38. HOOKS
39. HOOKS
40. CONCURRENT REACT
41. REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
42. REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
43. REACT SERVER COMPONENTS
44. GROWING RESENTMENT
45. GROWING RESENTMENT — REACT IS BECOMING A BLACK BOX • JARED PALMER
46. GROWING RESENTMENT
47. Software development continually goes through cycles. #1 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
48. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
49. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
50. …And so do trouble in paradise moments. What’s di ff erent now? #1 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
51. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
52. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
55. React pushed us to the future. #2 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
56. REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE
57. REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE OTHER FRAMEWORKS JSX / VIRTUAL DOM / HMR + FAST REFRESH
58. OTHER PLATFORMS FLUTTER / JETPACK COMPOSE / LITHO / SWIFTUI / COMPONENTKIT / YOGA LAYOUT / RESWIFT REACT PUSHED US TO THE FUTURE
59. Before cars, we had no car accidents.
60. COFFEESCRIPT → ARROW FUNCTIONS
61. EMBER → REACT ROUTER
63. The Future A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
64. OUTGROWING A SINGLE COMPANY
65. OUTGROWING A SINGLE COMPANY
66. ↝ REACT COMPILER FORGET ↝ ACTIVITY OFFSCREEN ↝ OPTIMISTIC STATE UPDATES ↝ RESOURCE PRELOADING ↝ TRANSITION TRACING ↝ … THE PRESENT FUTURE
67. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
68. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
69. REACT NATIVE REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
70. HERMES V1
71. A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
72. STATIC HERMES — STATIC HERMES (REACT NATIVE EU 2023 ANNOUNCEMENT) • TZVETAN MIKOV
73. REACT STRICT DOM
74. REACT EVERYWHERE? REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
75. REACT EVERYWHERE!
76. REACT EVERYWHERE!
77. AI, AGENTS, AND WHATNOT REACT: INTERNALS AND ADVANCED PERFORMANCE PATTERNS/ A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
78. AI PRIMITIVES
79. AGENT-NATIVE UI BUILDING
81. Lessons Learned A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
82. React is a democratic agent for Computer Science in our realm. DSLs, COMPILERS, CONCURRENCY, FIBERS, EFFECT HANDLERS, IMMUTABILITY… OH MY! #3 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
83. Remember: JSX created a similar feeling among developers worldwide. …IT WAS GOING AGAINST SO MANY BEST PRACTICES THAT IT COULDN'T BE CONSIDERED A GOOD IDEA. #4 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
84. React is still good enough for a lot of us. NOTHING IS INHERENTLY BROKEN ABOUT IT. ALSO, IT WILL NEED SOMETHING A LOT BETTER THAN REACT TO REPLACE IT. AND WE’RE NOT THERE (YET). #5 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
85. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH — DISCUSSION ON: IS VDOM STILL FASTER? • MIKE TALBOT
86. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH — SSR-BENCHMARK • EKIN KOC
87. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
88. REACT IS STILL GOOD ENOUGH
89. Guillermo Rauch (2015) “In general, comparing libraries or frameworks in terms of features seems inferior to examining the model it imposes on the programmer. The latter will inform you about how well the code will fare over time as the product matures and the team grows, but the former won’t. It will also empower you to foresee what the evolutionary path of the technology looks like.”
90. Reports of a certain tool's death are mostly exaggerated. OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS, LACK OF EVIDENCE AND JUSTIFICATIONS, AND MORE! #6 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
91. “REACT IS DYING” — REACT I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU'RE BRINGING ME DOWN • FRANÇOIS ZANINOTTO
92. “REACT IS DYING”
93. “{SOMETHING} IS DYING” — DISCUSSION ON: UNDERESTIMATED PHP • ALEXANDER DYRIAVIN
94. React stopped being just a library years ago. AND WE’RE STILL CATCHING UP TO WHAT IT BECAME. #7 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
95. Don't always trust speculations and predictions! AGAIN… REPORTS OF A CERTAIN TOOL'S DEATH ARE MOSTLY EXAGGERATED. #8 A DECADE AND COUNTING: REACT’S RHAPSODY OF LIFE
96. This is me, 12 years ago, showcasing Ionic at an Apple developers meetup telling them that Angular would be the future of mobile development.
98. Matheus Albuquerque ↝ 👨💻 STAFF SWE @ MEDALLIA ↝ ⚡ GOOGLE DEVELOPER EXPERT ↝ 𝕏 YTHECOMBINATOR
99. THAT’S ALL, FOLKS! THANKS! 👋 🇬🇧 QUESTIONS? MATHEUS ALBUQUERQUE • @ythecombinator