Web developers either love or hate client-side JavaScript. The proliferation of frameworks is empowering for avid followers of the JavaScript ecosystem, but often terrifying for backend developers who want to catch up. Is it really easier to write JS in 2017 than in 2007? I believe so, but only if we stop to appreciate how much the size and complexity of web pages grew in the past decade. Let's explore how to use the React component model to create a simple development process and a scalable architecture for building modern web apps.