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Zeroact

Zeroact is a custom React-like framework written from scratch with the primary goal of learning React internals by implementing them, instead of treating React as a black box.

This project focuses on how React works, not on feature completeness or production use.

🎯 Main Goal

The main goal of Zeroact is to:

  • Understand React internals deeply
  • Learn how rendering, reconciliation, and hooks work under the hood
  • Gain confidence reading and reasoning about React source code
  • Build strong mental models instead of relying on abstractions

Zeroact is actively used in SquidPong, my final school project, to prove that the concepts are understood and usable in a real application.

✨ Features

  • ⚛️ Function components only (no class components)
  • 🧵 Fiber-based architecture
  • 🔁 Incremental rendering with a scheduler
  • 🪝 Custom hooks implementation:
    • useState
    • useEffect
    • useRef
    • useCallback
    • useContext
  • 🔄 Localized re-renders (subtree updates, not full root re-renders)
  • 🧠 Custom reconciliation logic
  • 🧩 JSX support

🧠 What’s Implemented Manually

Zeroact re-implements core React ideas, including:

  • Virtual element creation
  • Fiber tree creation and traversal
  • Work loop and scheduling
  • Hook state storage and ordering
  • Effect queues and execution
  • Update propagation through the fiber tree

Every part exists to be read, debugged, and understood.

🕹 Used In: SquidPong

Zeroact powers the UI layer of SquidPong, a multiplayer game built as a final school project.

Using Zeroact in a real project validates:

  • The correctness of the architecture
  • Hook behavior under real interaction
  • State updates, effects, and rendering performance

🚫 Non-Goals

  • Production readiness
  • Full React API compatibility
  • Performance optimizations beyond learning needs

📚 Inspiration

  • React source code
  • Build Your Own React by Paul O’Shannessy
  • Redux and React architecture patterns

⚠️ Disclaimer

Zeroact is a learning project.