Learn React vs Complete Intro to React v9

11 lessons cover JSX, components, props, state, Hooks and React programming patterns. Rebuilt around function components and Hooks in the 2020 refresh. Solid intermediate scope, but stops short of routing, data fetching and state libraries.

No single named instructor — the course is platform-authored with written steps, animations and an AI helper rather than video lectures. Clear and consistent, but lacks the narrative voice some learners prefer for a hard topic like React.

The course sits behind Codecademy Pro (~$30/month) for projects, quizzes and the certificate. Fair for the interactive practice, but free alternatives like Scrimba's and freeCodeCamp's React content cover similar ground.

Seven guided projects apply JSX, Hooks and forms inside the browser sandbox. Good for reinforcement, but they hold your hand and run in a simplified environment — you do not configure tooling or deploy anything real.

Teaches genuinely current React (Hooks, function components) that transfers to real codebases. The gap is the jump from sandbox exercises to a real editor, build tooling and a deployed app — learners must bridge that themselves.

v9 covers React 18 and 19 features (form actions, Suspense, the React Compiler) plus a modern Vite + TanStack Router + TanStack Query stack. Praised for currency, with a minority of long-term Frontend Masters subscribers flagging that other courses in the catalog can drift.

Brian Holt is the most consistently praised aspect across nine years of Hacker News mentions. Learners use words like 'excellent', 'great', and 'brilliant'. His pet adoption project framing is repeatedly cited as memorable.

Requires a Frontend Masters subscription (currently $39/month), which is consistently described as worth it if you complete more than one course per month. Less competitive against free alternatives if you only want a single React intro.

The single build-along project (an e-commerce app in v9, evolved from the pet adoption app of earlier versions) is praised for being non-trivial and integrating real ecosystem tools (TanStack Query, Vitest) rather than toy examples.

Holt spends real time on tooling (Vite, ESLint, Prettier, code-splitting, Vitest) and modern ecosystem choices, which is the single most-cited reason people say his courses transferred well to their day jobs.