Modern design tools demand pixel-perfect precision, lightning-fast interactions, and massive flexibility — all without compromising performance. In this talk, I’ll take you behind the scenes of building a complex, Canva-like design editor using React. From virtual rendering and custom canvas interactions to state management and component architecture, this talk will cover 10 practical performance lessons we learned (some the hard way!) while pushing React to its limits.
You’ll walk away with real-world insights on:
- Optimizing rendering in dynamic UIs (e.g., drag-and-drop, layers, zooming)
- Efficient use of useMemo, useCallback, React.memo, and IntersectionObserver
- Handling thousands of DOM nodes without crashing the browser
- Structuring performant state in large collaborative apps
- When to avoid React and drop to raw DOM or canvas APIs
Whether you're building a dashboard, a rich editor, or just curious about scaling React, this talk will sharpen your performance mindset and give you tools to build smoother experiences for your users.
This talk has been presented at React Summit US 2025, check out the latest edition of this React Conference.