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Libraries
Everyday utilities worth reaching for instead of writing your own.
These are the small, everyday utilities you reach for instead of writing your own: date handling, validation, state management, and similar plumbing. None of them are exciting on their own, but a well-maintained library saves real debugging time versus a hand-rolled version. Check download counts, maintenance activity, and bundle size before adding one to a production app.
date-fns
A set of small, tree-shakeable date functions instead of one big Moment-style object. Good when bundle size actually matters.
↗Lodash
The old standby for array/object helpers, still maintained, though check if native JS or a lighter alternative already covers what you need before adding it.
↗React Hook Form
Uncontrolled-by-default form handling that barely re-renders, pairs well with a Zod resolver for validation.
↗TanStack Query
Handles server-state caching, refetching, and loading/error states so you stop hand-rolling useEffect data fetching.
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