Why hello there!
Since it was released on Monday, thousands of developers have purchased my new course, The Joy of React. The early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive!
I've gotten lots of questions since then, and thought it would be helpful to round up the most common ones and answer them for you here!
As a quick reminder: The Joy of React is only available for a few more days in Early Access! You can pick it up for 50% off right now at joyofreact.com.
Also: If you're sick of hearing from me this week, you can opt out from this topic. I'll still let you know when I publish new blog posts, but you won't receive any more emails about The Joy of React.

What is The Joy of React?
The Joy of React is a self-paced interactive online course, designed to give you an intuition for how React works, and how to use it to build rich, dynamic web applications.
It's not a typical passive course where you sit and watch me code. The Joy of React is distributed exclusively through my custom course platform. It uses the same tech stack as my blog; it allows me to create and embed custom widgets and bespoke educational tools into the lessons.
It's a “multi-modality” course: there are interactive articles, videos, exercises, real-world-inspired projects, and even a couple of mini-games:
Quick demo showing one of the mini-games, spotting differences between HTML and JSX
Christopher “vjeux” Chedeau, co-creator of React Native + Prettier and “OG” React contributor, spent a few hours checking out the course. Here's what he had to say:
Testimonial from vjeux: The Joy of React feels like playing a video game. You have text, videos, coding challenges, mini-games, well timed jokes and a boss at the end of each section. You never get bored! It does an exceptional job at explaining all deep decisions and trade-offs we've made when creating React in a way a beginner can understand.

What's the deal with “Early Access”?
I decided to release The Joy of React in “Early Access”. This means that the course isn't completely finished yet, but you're still able to start learning.
Essentially, it's like a pre-order, except you can start right away. The course is roughly ⅔rd finished.
Over the coming months, I'll be publishing new content as it's created. I expect to have the course completed by June or so.
As part of the “Early Access” crew, your feedback will influence the development of the course. For example, I decided to add React practice interview questions, because it was a popular request!

What happens when the “Early Access” period ends?
On January 31st, the doors close. The Joy of React will no longer be available for purchase. The course will be unavailable until it's completed, likely in June or so.
This is how I structured things with my last course, CSS for JavaScript Developers, and I found it was a good way to allow me to focus on developing the course while also getting a lot of great feedback.

What sorts of things do we build in the course?
The course is structured into modules and projects.
In the modules, we learn foundational skills and practice with exercises. Some of the exercises are pretty in-depth: for example, we build a mini version of the Gradient Generator I released on my blog.
The course currently has two larger-scale projects:
  • Word Game, where we build a Wordle clone from scratch
  • Accessible Toast, where we build a <Toast> component from scratch, making sure to follow all of the best practices when it comes to component API design, usability, and accessibility.
There will also be a 3rd project released later, though I'm not yet sure what it will be.

Who is this course for?
I built this course primarily for developers who have struggled to truly understand React.
Here's who I think this course is most suited for:
  • Bootcamp grads who rushed through React in their program, but who don't really feel confident in their understanding.
  • Self-taught developers who have gotten frustrated trying to learn React on their own.
  • Angular/Vue developers who just can't get the hang of React.
  • Front-end developers who have been using React for a while, but still don't really feel like they "get it" / aren't sure if they're doing it right.
I've been calling it a “beginner-friendly” course. You don't need any prior React experience (though I do assume you're familiar with HTML/CSS/JS).
For example, Dave Henson is a junior developer who hadn't touched React before starting this course:
Testimonial: I started this course with zero knowledge of React. I now feel not only like I know what I'm doing with React, but also why I'm doing it. Josh has the wonderful skill, so rarely found in experts, of being able to clearly explain complicated things to someone totally new to a subject in a fun and engaging way. If you are new to React, I can whole-heartedly recommend this course.
That said, this course goes surprisingly deep. Even if you've been using React for years, you'll probably still have a few epiphanies, and come away with a much clearer understanding of how React works. Here's what developer Santiago Greco had to say:
Testimonial: I considered myself an advanced developer when it comes to Javascript and React. Well, this course proved me wrong. It actually helped me to get things clear, things that I already 'knew'! This is a constant on every module, and I can assure you that it is also one of the main qualities of Josh's teaching: he provides clarity even for things or concepts that you thought you already understood. Having done his first CSS course I had high expectations for this course as well. It's exceeded them by far. I suggest it not only for newbies but for literally everyone!
I want this course to give you a solid bedrock foundational understanding of modern React, something you can build on top of for years to come.

Does this course use React classes? Hooks? Or both?
We focus exclusively on hooks. I built this course using React 18 (the latest version), and we follow all of the most recent and up-to-date practices.
While class components aren't officially deprecated, hooks are widely acknowledged as the future of React. I wanted to make sure I was helping you develop skills that would last a long time!

What if I don't like the course?
It's important to me that you get a lot of value from the course. If you purchase the course and you don't find it useful or worthwhile, send an email within 30 days to support@joshwcomeau.com and we'll issue a full refund, no questions asked. ❤️

Are team licenses available?
Yep! If you'd like to purchase multiple licenses for you and your team, you can do so on the Team Checkout page.
Need more time? The “Early Access” preorder ends in a few days, but I know that the wheels of bureaucracy spin slowly. If you're interested in picking up multiple team licenses, I can offer an extension. Reply to this email before the doors close, and we'll figure something out!

I still have questions!
If I haven't answered your question here, you can check out the FAQ on the course homepage. I answer some additional common questions there!
You're also more than welcome to ask me! You can reply directly to this email and ask your question. I look forward to hearing from you. 😄

That's all I've got today! I hope you're having a wonderful week so far! 💖
 —Josh
 
PS. If you've been on the fence about picking up a copy, what's holding you back? Reply to this email and let me know! I'd love to know what's stopping you from hopping aboard.
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