Revisiting my React course 3 years later

Robinson created React 2025 to help frontend developers build full-stack applications, including databases, payments, and deployment. The course followed a real product, Fast Feedback, using Next.js, Firebase, Stripe, and Vercel.

Firebase has run the original app for years without maintenance, so Robinson is still happy with it, though he might compare other database options for a new project. He would likely use NextAuth, now called Auth.js, to make server-side authentication easier than managing sessions and cookies around client-side Firebase Auth.

Robinson shows how async Server Components can fetch data directly, while client components handle interactive controls. In his rebuilt app, the feedback table is rendered on the server with no extra client-side JavaScript, and loading UI can appear while data streams in. He says mutations and optimistic updates still need a clearer solution in the 2023 App Directory.

Robinson would still choose Next.js for a project that needs a mix of static marketing pages, dashboards, and server-rendered routes in one app. For styling, he favors Tailwind and Tremor for dashboard components, and would avoid runtime CSS-in-JS because it can add client JavaScript and complicate streaming.

Robinson says common tools such as ESLint, Prettier, and TypeScript have become steadier choices as churn in parts of the JavaScript ecosystem has slowed. He would use TypeScript from the start, adding types gradually rather than needing deep expertise upfront.