React: then & now

JS Party: JavaScript, CSS, Web Development

Back at React Summit in New York, KBall & Nick sat down with Tom Occhino & Shruti Kapoor for more fascinating conversations.

Tom Occhino, a key figure in React’s history at Facebook (now Meta), reveals the origin story of React, which began when an ads engineer presented a revolutionary approach to web UI rendering. The discussion extends to React’s evolution through Next.js.

Then, Shruti Kapoor breaks down React 19’s major features, including React Server Components (RSC), the new compiler implementation, and enhanced APIs that promise to streamline development workflows.

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Featuring:

• Tom Occhino – Website, LinkedIn, X
• Shruti Kapoor – Website, GitHub, X
• Nick Nisi – Website, GitHub, Mastodon, X
• Kevin Ball – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, X

Show Notes:

• React.js: The Documentary
• React 19 RC

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Chapter

1. It's party time, y'all (00:00:00)

2. Sponsor: Fly.io (00:00:39)

https://fly.io/

3. Tom Occhino! (00:03:08)

4. When React was first released (00:11:47)

5. Vercel vs Facebook (00:15:38)

6. Next.js (00:21:39)

7. Constraints (00:26:07)

8. AI (obligatory) (00:28:27)

9. Conferences (00:34:06)

10. Tom's final words (00:35:57)

11. Sponsor: WorkOS (00:36:52)

https://workos.com

12. Sponsor: Jam.dev (00:39:42)

https://jam.dev

13. Shruti Kapoor! (00:41:15)

14. Actions (00:44:35)

15. Compiler (00:47:16)

16. Suspense (00:52:04)

17. Conferences (00:57:09)

18. CDD (01:01:20)

19. Exciting things (01:02:25)

20. TypeScript (obligatory) (01:05:49)

21. Shruti's final words (01:08:55)

22. Outro (01:12:15)