WebStorm (or Visual Studio Code), React, Redux and jsdoc

When I started using PhpStorm many years ago, it changed the way I experience coding. The project started feeling differently: instead of a multitude of text files, where I had to use global search, global replace a lot – I used TextPad back then, great tool it was, considering Macros feature that worked really well actually, – that changed completely when the code became clickable, it started feeling like an interconnected entity, a single unit where files, classes, interfaces, variables, namespaces – all of this vocabulary was really understood by the IDE, and it supported you with features like Go To Declaration and Find Usages. It’s completely indispensable when writing in modern PHP, which is a great object-oriented language in my, however unpopular opinion.

There’s no more money in PHP though, all web in mobile and probably even VR and data and robotics and AR and 3D-modelling – as someone wise said, “if it can be rewritten in Javascript, it will be, soon”.

Javascript is really great nowadays with ES6 standard – still a pretty weird language with all `this` nonsense, and a few other quirks, but overall is increasingly enjoyable to work with, because of the thriving ecosystem, built with the brain-power of the tech giants involved in the Browsers War competition for years.

I started working with this new framework called Electrode, and it’s basically a powerful opinionated build tool around React, Redux, Webpack, SSR, PWA. Nice combination. A little rough around the corners, but gets the job done. Wasn’t my decision to use, but seems like great stuff indeed. All for free of course, but we’re kind of used to that by now, don’t we? Telling you, us tech geeks have taken over the world and just piling up the shared wealth now.

In Meteor, I always insisted on writing clickable code – makes maintenance a no-brainer even when you feel a little slow at the moment, it’s just so easy when you have your API one keystroke away at all times, and you can travel in and out, back and forth. Maps it out in my brain better than a visual diagram, it’s almost a visceral feeling.

Anyway, here’s the way I write my React and Redux.

TODO: code and links.


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