unreacted - react-from-scratch

A project exploring the fundamentals of React by building a simplified version from scratch using raw TypeScript. I wrote this to learn how React works under the hood.

Currently, we have the most popular hooks implemented: useState, useEffect along with the component logic.

All with less than 100 lines of code for most of the files.

Package size for the core template: 9.7 kB. Unpacked size: 30.4 kB. (49.8 kB with the favicon :)

Every file in src/ has a purpose, from rendering to the virtual DOM, to the hooks and the component logic.

The place to work on is src/app.ts where you can start building your own components.

It is still raw, so you will need to get to a lower level to write the typescript code.

This is not meant to be production ready (of course), but it is a great way to learn.

Setup

1. Use the CLI to create a new project:

npx unreacted project-name

or

bunx unreacted project-name

Building the Project

This project uses Bun's built-in bundler to compile the TypeScript source code (src/app.ts) into a JavaScript file (dist/bundle.js) that can be run in a browser.

Run the build command:

bun run build

This will create the dist/bundle.js file.

Running the Application

After building the project, open the index.html file in your web browser:

bun run dev

This will load the HTML page, which in turn executes the bundled JavaScript (dist/bundle.js), rendering the CounterComponent into the page.

Project Structure

• index.html: The main HTML file that hosts the application.
• src/: Contains the source code for the React-like library and components.
  • app.ts: The main application entry point, renders the CounterComponent.
  • vdom.ts: Virtual DOM creation and diffing logic.
  • hooks.ts: Implementation of useState and useEffect hooks.
  • renderer.ts: Component rendering logic.
  • index.ts: Exports library functions (not the application entry point).
• dist/: Contains the bundled JavaScript output.
  • bundle.js: The browser-compatible JavaScript file generated by the build process.
• package.json: Defines project metadata, dependencies, and scripts (including the build script).
• tsconfig.json: TypeScript configuration file.