Profile page for Donavon West

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Donavon is a long-time JavaScript veteran and an adamant believer in clean code. His mission is to make the name "American Express" synonymous with technology in the development community by hosting conferences and meetups, writing articles, and giving technical talks. When not coding in React, he can be found playing with his two young boys at their home just outside of New York City – the eldest is learning Python on his own, and the youngest is a budding chess player.

Posts by Donavon West

React Hooks are live in production. Learn what you need to know to get started using and testing them today.

Share logic in your React package with support for both custom Hooks and class components by using the Hydra pattern.

Discover techniques to transform the code review process into something that is enjoyable and productive.

Learn how the new JavaScript rest and spread syntax can simplify your code and reduce visual clutter.

When coding, it's important to avoid distractions and learn to stay focused.

This is the one-year anniversary of the American Express Technology Blog. Here's a look back at what we've accomplished, and a peek at what's in store.

Clean code is a consistent style of programming that makes your code easier to write, read, and maintain. Discover how to make your React code cleaner using easy-to-follow examples.

In React, Render Callbacks are a powerful alternative to Higher-Order Components (HOCs). Learn why you should avoid using one of the most popular implementations, Function as Child Components, and discover better solutions like Render Props and Component Injection.