React create-react app: Starting a new React project is very tangled, with so many build tools. It uses many outposts, configuration files, and other requirements such as Babel, Webpack, ESLint before writing anything of React code. Create React App CLI tool removes all that intricacies and makes React app simple. For this, you need to install the package using NPM, and then run a few simple commands by using the command prompt function to get a new React project.
A create-react app is an exceptional tool for new learners or newcomers, which allows them to create and run React projects very quickly. The thing which makes it different from others is its manual configuration. This tool is wrapping all of the required outposts like Webpack, and Babel for React project itself and then you need to focus on writing React code only. This tool sets up the development environment, provides an excellent developer experience, and optimizes the app for production.
Requirements for creating: React create-react app
The React Create React App is maintained by Facebook and can work on any platform, for example, macOS, Windows, Linux, etc. To create a React Project using create-react-app, you need to have installed the following things in your system.
Node version >= 8.10
NPM version >= 5.6
Let us check the current version of Node and NPM in the system,
Run the following command to check the Node version in the command prompt.
$ node -v
Run the following command to check the NPM version in the command prompt.
$ npm -v
Installation
Here, we are going to learn how we can install React using CRA tool. For this, we need to follow the steps given below.
Install React
We can install React using npm package manager by using the following command. There is no need to worry about the complexity of React installation. The create-react-app npm package manager will manage everything, needed for React project.
C:\Users\javatpoint> npm install -g create-react-app
Create a new React project
Once the React installation is successful, we can create a new React project using the create-react-app command. Here, I choose the “react project” name for my project.
C:\Users\javatpoint> create-react-app reactproject
We can combine the above two steps in a single command using npx. The npx is a package runner tool which comes with npm 5.2 and above version.
Important Note
C:\Users\javatpoint> npx create-react-app reactproject
The above command will take some time to install React and create a new project with the name “react project.” Now, we can see the terminal below.
The above screen tells that the React project is created successfully on our system. Now, we need to start the server so that we can access the application on the browser. Type the following command in the terminal window.
$ cd Desktop
$ npm start
NPM is a package manager which starts the server and access the application at the default server http://localhost:3000. Now, we will get the following screen.
Next, open the project on Code editor. Here, I am using Visual Studio Code. Our project’s default structure looks like as below image.
In React application, there are several files and folders in the root directory. Some of them are as follows:
1. node_modules: It contains the React library and any other third party libraries needed.
2. public: It holds the public assets of the application. It contains the index.html where React will mount the application by default on the element.
3. src: It contains the App.css, App.js, App.test.js, index.css, index.js, and serviceWorker.js files. Here, the App.js file is always responsible for displaying the output screen in React.
4. package-lock.json: It is generated automatically for any operations where npm package modifies either the node_modules tree or package.json. It cannot be published. It will be ignored if it finds any other place rather than the top-level package.
5. package.json: It holds various metadata required for the project. It gives information to npm, which allows to identification of the project as well as the handling of the project’s dependencies.
6. README.md: It provides the documentation to read about React topics.
React Environment Setup
Now, open the src >> App.js file and make the changes that you want to display on the screen. After making desired changes, save the file. As soon as we save the file, Webpack recompiles the code, and the page will refresh automatically, and changes are reflected on the browser screen. Now, we can create as many components as we want, and import the newly created component inside the App.js file and that file will be included in our main index.html file after compiling by Webpack.
Next, if we want to make the project for the production mode, type the following command. This command will generate the production build, which is best optimized.
$ npm build
Read more
What are the difference between React and Vue.js?
What are Life Cycle Method in React and How to use it.
