The Wacky World of Writing Whimsical React Widgets

Photo by Oskar Yildiz on Unsplash

As developers, we are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible and experimenting with new technologies. But sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the everyday grind and lose sight of the joy that comes with creating something truly unique and playful. That’s why today, we’re taking a trip down the rabbit hole and exploring the wacky world of writing whimsical React widgets.

React widgets are the building blocks of any application and with a touch of imagination and creativity, we can turn them into something truly extraordinary. And let’s not forget, that by doing so, not only we are keeping our code organized and maintainable but also, we are making the application much more fun and interactive to use.

For example, let’s take a look at the humble toggle button. With a few lines of code and some fancy animations, we can turn it into a vibrant, color-changing button that brings a smile to the user’s face.

import React, { useState } from 'react';

function ColorToggle() {
  const [color, setColor] = useState('blue');
  function handleClick() {
    const newColor = color === 'blue' ? 'green' : 'blue';
    setColor(newColor);
  }
  return (
    <button onClick={handleClick} style={{ backgroundColor: color }}>
      Change Color
    </button>
  );
}

But, the fun doesn’t stop there! We can also add a touch of whimsy to the often-overlooked progress bar. Imagine a progress bar that never seems to

import React, { useState } from 'react';

function InfiniteProgress() {
  const [progress, setProgress] = useState(0);
  useEffect(() => {
    const interval = setInterval(() => {
      setProgress((prevProgress) => (prevProgress + 1) % 100);
    }, 100);
    return () => clearInterval(interval);
  }, []);
  return (
    <div>
      <div style={{ width: `${progress}%`, height: '20px', backgroundColor: 'blue' }} />
      <div>{`${progress}%`}</div>
    </div>
  );
}

Of course, not every experiment turns out as planned, and we’ll also explore some examples of where things went wrong and what we can learn from them.

Remember, the wacky world of writing whimsical React widgets is about pushing the boundaries of what is possible and having fun with code. So, don’t be afraid to think outside the box and see where your imagination takes you.