Struggling with React? Here’s what I learned as a beginner — and how AI can now teach you better and faster.

It’s 5:20 in the morning.
I’m sitting at my desk, flipping through my old notes.
And suddenly —
A wave of nostalgia hits me.

One page stood out:
A blog post I wrote back in 2019 titled:
“How to Build the Simplest React App.”

I couldn’t believe I had written that.
It brought me straight back to a different version of myself.

When Back-End Me Was Thrown Into Front-End

It was 2019.
I had just switched jobs and joined eBay.
Yes — that eBay.

A few days into the new role, I got assigned to a small team.
They handed me a front-end task.

But I was a back-end developer.
I had never touched React, or anything front-end.

I didn’t want to say no. I had just joined the company.
Saying no might make me look weak.
So I said yes — and started figuring it out on my own.

That’s how it all began.

A kind teammate shared her Git repo.
I started digging through her code.
And just like that…
I stumbled into the world of React.

It wasn’t easy.

I had to Google everything —
How to install Node, npm, and npx.
How to use create-react-app to get things running.
How to fix every strange error message.

StackOverflow was my best friend.

But finally, after hours of debugging and reading blogs,
I got it to work.

My first React app.
If you’ve built one before, you know that iconic spinning logo screen.
That was my victory moment.

Fast-Forward to Today — And Things Have Changed

If I were learning React today?
It would be a whole different story.

I could just open ChatGPT and type:

“How to create a React project rapidly?”

In seconds, I’d have a complete, step-by-step answer.

Need help installing npx, npm, or Node?

“How to install npx?”

Not only would ChatGPT tell me how —
It’d explain what it is, why it matters, and how to use it.

No more hours wasted clicking random blog posts.
No more dead ends on outdated tutorials.

If I Had AI Back Then…

I imagine telling my teammate in 2019:

“Hey — don’t worry. I’ll be up to speed fast and hit the deadline.”

Because with AI like this?
That confidence would’ve been real.

The Funny Thing Is…

Even though I worked on a full React project back then,
I’ve forgotten so much.

I saw my own notes explaining concepts like:

• components
• props
• state
• hooks like useState and useEffect

And I barely remembered them.

I even found a code snippet with useCallback and useMemo.

const onChange = useCallback((e) => {
   console.log(e);
} ,[]);
const onChange = useMemo((e) => {
   console.log(e);
} ,[]);

It looked familiar, but not quite.
I had to reread my own explanations to understand them again.
It felt… vaguely familiar and strangely distant.

But Today, I Have a New Teacher

So I did the simplest thing.

I asked ChatGPT:

And boom — instant clarity.

I could even ask it to rewrite the code as a runnable example.
Paste it in my IDE, hit run, and watch it work.

This is the kind of learning experience I never had before.

Here’s the Bigger Realization

We are living in a new era now — the era of large language models.
And in this era, AI has changed how we learn computer science.

You no longer need to feel lost when you hit a wall.
You don’t have to spend hours Googling the right question.

Because AI can now be your:

• tutor
• debugger
• explainer
• and even your cheerleader

It’s fast.
It’s patient.
And it doesn’t judge.

You ask. It teaches.

That’s the magic of this moment in history.

To Every React Beginner Out There…

If you’re just starting your journey —
You’re in the best possible time to learn.

Yes, React is still complex.
Yes, you’ll hit bumps along the way.

But now? You don’t have to do it alone.

You have an always-on teacher, coach, and mentor — right in your browser.

Use it.
Learn faster.
Build with confidence.

Even if you’re starting from zero —
AI will meet you where you are and help you level up.