Based on how they are run they are completely not just ordinary JavaScript functions, hook era components are also not just JavaScript functions, it's a very complicated system. React calling them "just functions" is untrue, just marketing buzz words, and it leads developers into traps.

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b_e_n_t_o_n 16 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Many functions can only be called in a certain context. Calling them "not functions" is misleading imo because it implies those functions are compiled out or something, like `$state()` in Svelte.

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slmjkdbtl 15 hours ago | parent [-]

Yeah they themselves are functions but how they're called are managed by a complicated system, I think treating them as a separate new concept is less misleading than calling them plain functions

	▲	b_e_n_t_o_n 14 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Well they aren't plain functions, they're like lifecycle methods for the component with an implicit `this`. Perhaps that's how they should be described.

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Izkata 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> React calling them "just functions" is untrue

I'm pretty sure this is also untrue. AFAIK React has never used that phrase (and at the very least, I can't find it anywhere official right now), it came from other people convincing newcomers that hooks aren't something more complicated like objects (comparing to class-based components). React has always treated them as special functions, hence always prefixing them with the word "use".

	▲	slmjkdbtl 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> it came from other people convincing newcomers Yeah I think you're right