Just because that new job requires React experience doesn’t mean you need to rescind your application. Flip that JavaScript, and incorporate some advice from expert developers.

React is a JavaScript library that supports the building of applications—specifically, user interfaces. Created by Facebook in 2011, React (aka React.js or ReactJS) lives up to its name by efficiently “reacting” and updating the browser’s Document Object Model (DOM) when any state changes are made.

While other app-dev framework options exist, like jQuery, Angular, and Vue, a summer report from TechBehemoths found that 75% of over 900 IT companies surveyed use React.js.

Here are some beginners’ React tips from application consultants who spoke with IT Brew.

“It can be very spaghetti.” A React UI is made up of components, which are just pieces of the interface itself. To stay organized and contain disparate, noodle-y lines of code, build a better, menu-like folder structure, according to Steve Bennett, senior technical project lead at Soliant Consulting. Bennett recommends making additional folders for individual components and subcomponents, like buttons or a navigation bar.

“The file name should match very closely to what…that component is doing,” Bennett told IT Brew.

“Try not to reinvent the wheel.” There’s no reason to bang your head against a wall trying to find a solution to an already-solved problem. With React’s Node Package Manager (NPM), you can add components by importing third-party libraries. Bennett, for example, frequently uses a third-party library called Auth0 to handle authentication, to avoid repeatedly rewriting code.

Npmjs.com, which offers a variety of publicly available components, also provides stats on downloads and dependencies. After all, you want components that are reliable. “You want to see something that is being used frequently. You want to use something that has recent commits to it, which means that it’s being maintained,” Bennett recommended.

Read the rest here.—BH

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When it comes to building a strong cybersecurity workforce, MK Palmore wants to look where others haven’t. It’s “actually a security imperative,” said Palmore, director of Google Cloud’s office of the CISO, a former FBI cyber-branch special agent, and a board member at cybersecurity diversity, equity, and security nonprofit Cyversity.

Google is a company that has seen its fair share of DE&I-related controversies, ranging from allegations of workplace discrimination and labor retaliation to concerns over the impact of some of its products and contracts.

In an interview with IT Brew, Palmore said Google has tried to advance diversity in cybersecurity with a variety of initiatives. Those include its Coursera-based Google Career Certificates program, scholarships like its partnership with Women in Cybersecurity, and Be Internet Awesome, a curriculum that teaches kids the fundamentals of safety online.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What are the biggest blind spots in cybersecurity caused by a lack of diversity?

Technology has now become sort of the backbone of how it is that we grow as a society. And, you know, cybersecurity is a natural component of that—you can’t have conversations about technology without talking about cybersecurity. So, when you think about the user, this [large] group of diverse people, and you think about the people who are creating the technology and subsequently securing it, and you begin to see the disparity that exists between the user and the people who are creating this technology. There’s a natural inclination, I think, to balance that.

Secondly, I would say that, if you’ve been in the security industry for any amount of time, and I have now for a decade plus, the topics of security have not changed radically in terms of the cyberthreat landscape and what it is that we’re seeing. So, problem-solving is part of the issue. And if you agree that problem-solving is part of the issue, you have to believe that more diverse groups will bring different answers to the table in terms of solving those problems.

Read more here.—TM

Do you work in IT or have information about your IT department you want to share? Email [email protected] or DM @thetomzone on Twitter. Want to go encrypted? Ask Tom for his Signal.

Today’s top IT reads.

Stat: $438.5 million. That’s the amount Juul is paying to settle state investigations into marketing that allegedly targeted underage users. (The Verge)

Quote: “In addition to depleting stratospheric ozone, many of these chemicals can also act as powerful heat-trapping gases accelerating the dangerous weather extremes of climate change.”—the Natural Resources Defense Council and the International Dark-Sky Association, in a joint statement encouraging the FCC to examine the potential environmental impact of SpaceX’s second-generation satellite launches (PCMag)

Read: Some lawmakers are worried about data collection on TikTok and the potential for the app to be used to “spread disinformation or promote influence operations.” (Wired)

Hackers unite: When 20k+ cybersecurity pros met up at this year’s Black Hat to boost skills and build community, they needed a *really* secure network. See how Cisco helped build and secure that resilient network right here.*

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