9 - Are React Server Components Risky?!?

The gang interviews Matt on this episode, talking about all things React Server Components (RSCs), exploring their benefits, trade-offs, and adoption strategies. The hosts draw on their experiences at Wayfair, Fireworks, and Whoop to provide practical insights for learning and adopting RSCs.

Why React Server Components

• Benefits:

  • Improved Time to First Byte (TTFB) via streaming.
  • More cohesive view of data dependencies (tighter front-end/back-end coupling).
  • Potential for smaller client-side bundles (automatic code splitting).

• Trade-offs:

  • Requires a server layer (which might be a new concept for some React developers).

Migrating to React Server Components

• Adoption Strategy:
  • Start page by page (easiest entry point).
  • Flip the mental model: Start from the server and work towards the client.
  • Need to consider the bundler support for RSCs.
• Challenges:
  • You cannot easily swap out a small subsection of your page with an RSC.
  • Ensuring the bundler supports RSCs.
• Key Considerations:
  • Think about two environments: server and client.

Understanding RSC Concepts

• Two Environments: The importance of understanding server (server components, server actions) and client (client components) environments when using RSCs. Front-end engineers new to server-side development need to be aware of security implications and potential caching issues.
• Frameworks: Highlighted the importance of understanding the core RSC principles separate from framework implementations like Next.js.
• Not Necessarily Server Rendered: Clarifying that client components can be server-rendered, avoiding the assumption that client components are solely client-side rendered.
• Resources: Blog post "React for Two Computers" by Dan AbramovOpens in new tab is a great resource to learn about the mental model. Also start to look at the other framework implementations to understand that there's next features and there are RSC features

Standup Updates

• Dillon: Using a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor to manage blood sugar levels and migraines.
• Scott: Getting wedding suits, migrating from Datadog to Grafana monitors.
• Matt: Working on lyaml translation migration. Experimenting with Parcel's RSC integration and Redwood SDK.

Links / References:

• React for Two Computers by Dan AbramovOpens in new tab
  • An excellent introduction to the concepts behind React Server Components
• The Bookkeeping PatternOpens in new tab
  • A little look at how Scott and Matt leveraged Server Components and Server Functions at Fireworks
• Waku RSC Todo AppOpens in new tab
• Parcel RSC Todo AppOpens in new tab
• RedwoodSDK RSC Todo AppOpens in new tab