Principal Engineering React Best Practices

Principal-engineer-level refactoring guide for React applications. Contains 42 rules across 8 categories, prioritized by impact from critical (state architecture, composition) to incremental (testability). Each rule includes code smell indicators, before/after examples, and safe transformation steps.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Refactoring existing React codebases
• Reviewing PRs for architectural issues
• Identifying technical debt
• Planning large-scale refactoring efforts
• Deciding whether to extract, inline, or restructure components
• Improving testability of React code

Rule Categories by Priority