Code reviewInterview preparation
Intermediate·Concept·2 min read

How do I spot common React and async bugs?

Practice this question

Short explanation:

React and async bugs often come from incorrect assumptions about identity, snapshots and completion order. A render's values can be captured by a callback, and asynchronous results may arrive after the UI has moved on. Review the lifecycle and timeline rather than checking syntax alone.

Key points:

  • Unstable list keys can attach state to the wrong item; use stable IDs.

  • Missing effect cleanup can leave listeners or stale requests running.

  • forEach(async ...) does not await completion; choose sequential work or bounded concurrency.

  • For each effect, identify setup, dependencies, cleanup and what happens if an old request finishes late.

Interview point:

  • Walk through two renders or two overlapping requests and show which value or result the code will actually use.
Adapted from 11_AI_CODE_REVIEW.md · “How do I spot common React and async bugs?”. Code examples are study fragments. Difficulty and core labels are editorial estimates; version-specific behavior should be checked against your project.