State Management in React is Evolving! Say Goodbye to Redux Boilerplate & Hello to Simpler Tools like Zustand, Jotai, & Recoil

By DHANIAN — @e_opore

📘 Master React State Management with My Full Guide eBook

State management has always been a critical aspect of building robust and scalable React applications. For years, Redux dominated the conversation — and rightly so. It introduced a strict, centralized way of managing global state. But as apps grew, so did the boilerplate, complexity, and learning curve.

Today, the React ecosystem has matured. The core library itself now ships with powerful primitives like useState, useReducer, and useContext. But beyond that, a new wave of tools — Zustand, Jotai, Recoil, and others — are changing how we think about managing state in React.

This article walks you through that evolution — and more importantly, shows you how to adopt these tools in your own workflow.

If you're serious about mastering these tools, I strongly recommend working through the React State Management eBook. It’s a complete, step-by-step learning resource that covers every major approach with real examples.

The Problem with Redux: A Quick Sketch

Consider a typical Redux setup:

┌────────────┐
│  Actions   │
└────┬───────┘
     ↓
┌────────────┐
│  Reducers  │
└────┬───────┘
     ↓
┌────────────┐
│   Store    │
└────┬───────┘
     ↓
┌────────────┐
│ Components │
└────────────┘

Each change in your app state had to pass through multiple layers of ceremony. You'd write action types, dispatchers, reducers, connect your components — and still deal with verbose boilerplate.

This worked, but it slowed down development and created complexity for teams trying to move fast.

A Better Way: Simpler State Tools

Let’s take a look at how much simpler the modern React landscape has become.

1. useState and useReducer – Local Component Logic

import { useState } from 'react';

function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>{count}</button>;
}

Use useReducer for more complex logic:

function reducer(state, action) {
  switch (action.type) {
    case 'increment': return { count: state.count + 1 };
    default: return state;
  }
}

const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(reducer, { count: 0 });

These are foundational. My React eBook guides you through building actual apps using these hooks.

2. useContext – Share State Globally (without Redux)

const ThemeContext = createContext();

function App() {
  return (
    <ThemeContext.Provider value="dark">
      <Header />
    </ThemeContext.Provider>
  );
}

function Header() {
  const theme = useContext(ThemeContext);
  return <h1>Current theme: {theme}</h1>;
}

Simple and elegant for small-scale global state.

Zustand – Global State Without Boilerplate

Zustand is a minimalist state manager by the creators of Jotai and React Spring. No Providers. No boilerplate. Just global state that works.

import create from 'zustand';

const useStore = create((set) => ({
  count: 0,
  increment: () => set((state) => ({ count: state.count + 1 })),
}));

function Counter() {
  const { count, increment } = useStore();
  return <button onClick={increment}>{count}</button>;
}

The eBook includes a full chapter on Zustand, with deep dives and real app use cases. Get it here.

Recoil – Fine-Grained React-Friendly Global State

Recoil brings React’s mental model to global state. You define atoms and selectors, and React handles the rest.

import { atom, useRecoilState } from 'recoil';

const countState = atom({
  key: 'count',
  default: 0,
});

function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useRecoilState(countState);
  return <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>{count}</button>;
}

It's incredibly intuitive and powerful when working with deeply nested or shared states.

Jotai – Primitive and Flexible

Jotai is inspired by Recoil but simplifies things even further.

import { atom, useAtom } from 'jotai';

const countAtom = atom(0);

function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useAtom(countAtom);
  return <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>{count}</button>;
}

If you prefer building composable and atomic state systems, Jotai is an ideal choice.

Final Thoughts

React’s state management landscape is no longer locked to Redux. You now have the freedom to choose tools that scale with your application — without forcing complexity.

Whether you’re building a local feature, managing global app state, or fetching server data — there’s a modern solution for you that’s simpler and cleaner than Redux ever was.

Ready to Master This?

I've written a full, structured guide — React State Management: Simplified — to help you understand, implement, and master every tool mentioned here. It includes complete examples, architecture tips, and project breakdowns.

➡️ Get the eBook Here

And if you're building or scaling your React career, this resource will save you weeks of trial-and-error.

—

Written by DHANIAN

Follow on X: @e_opore

All eBooks: codewithdhanian.gumroad.com