Deploying a React.js Application to Production: A Step-by-Step Guide

Creating an application is just the first half of the journey — the other half is deploying it. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of deploying a React.js application to production.

For the purposes of this guide, we’ll be deploying our application to Netlify, a popular platform for deploying web applications.

Building your React.js Application

Before deploying, you need to build your application for production. This process includes minification, bundling, and optimization for performance.

In your project directory, run:

npm run build

This will create a build directory in your project folder that contains the production-ready version of your application.

Creating a Netlify Account

To deploy on Netlify, you first need to create an account. Go to Netlify and sign up. It’s free for personal projects.

Deploying Your Application

Once you’re logged into your Netlify account, you can deploy your app.

1. Click on the “New site from Git” button.
2. Connect to your Git provider (GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket) and select your repository.
3. In the build settings, make sure the build command is npm run build and the publish directory is build.
4. Click on “Deploy Site”. Netlify will now pull your code from the repository, build it, and deploy it. You will be given a unique URL to access your deployed application.

Customizing Your Domain

Netlify provides a default domain for your site, but you can also add a custom domain. Go to the “Domain settings” for your site and follow the instructions to set up a custom domain.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed a React.js application to production. This process ensures your app is available to users and provides a real-world environment for testing and validation.

In the next post, we will discuss how to create reusable components in React.js. Until then, happy coding!