React Component Trees as State Machines: Understanding Asynchronous Updates and Concurrent Features

This article explains modeling a React component tree as a state machine, which helps clarify the implications of asynchronous updates and React's concurrent features. A React application can be viewed as a state machine model where the UI is a function of state: UI = f(state). However, asynchronous updates break this synchronous guarantee, leading to potential invalid updates by users. The article suggests using optimistic updates or intermediate (pending) states to address this, and emphasizes that React's concurrent features (like startTransition) also need similar synchronous handling to avoid invalid actions.