Are you still writing React apps in 2025? That's okay, so are most people!

If I have React questions, I ask Cody Olsen. He's like an LLM in human form, capable of providing comprehensive, context-rich answers to any React query.

In this episode, we explore React's landscape in 2025, examining both the stabilization of React Server Components and the promising future with the React Compiler.

The dust has finally settled on React Server Components, marking the end of a multi-year journey where React became more opinionated about—and significantly better at—application development and data fetching. However, this period of increased complexity and somewhat unclear benefits has led to growing interest in React alternatives.

As Cody notes in the episode, "What's fascinating is if you're using things like Astro, it seems like that's where people are having a lot more fun, where things are a lot more intuitive."

But this isn't a zero-sum game. React SPAs remain excellent for certain use cases, Next.js continues to excel at dynamic applications, and Astro shines for marketing websites. Each tool has its place, and we shouldn't force applications to conform to any framework's constraints.

Looking forward, the React Compiler stands out as a particularly exciting development. While it won't magically fix poorly written code, it will optimize unoptimized code, leading to significant performance improvements. For instance, Sanity Studio saw their targeted EFPS (Editor Frames Per Second) score improve by over 20%—double their initial 10% prediction.

As both the compiler and its linter mature, they'll serve as valuable guardrails, guiding developers toward building more performant React applications.

If there's anything you feel like we didn't cover in this episode, or you have ideas for future episodes, reach out and let me know!