This article is not intended for seasoned React pros, but rather, those of us who make websites for a living and are curious how React can help us reason about updating user interfaces. I’ve been intrigued by React for some time, and now that it has gained some standing in the community as well as good reviews, the time to learn it seemed justified. There are so many new technologies constantly emerging in front end development that it’s sometimes hard to know if effort into learning something new will pay off. I’ll spend this article going over what I think some of the most valuable practical takeaways are so that you can get started.