Sherlock: Writing a Single-Page Application in 2016

Originally published on Medium.

I’ve been working with single page applications for the better part of my career. After a couple of months writing React-based SPAs, I felt parts of my workflow had become painfully inefficient, leading me to explore Flux and Redux.

Key Challenges

I compiled a list of real-world concerns when implementing Redux:

• Route management, history, and navigation
• Handling asynchronous user input with server feedback
• Efficient initial state loading
• Error handling and partial data retrieval
• App state debugging and reproducibility
• User session management
• Production deployment optimization
• Component modularity and testability
• Development workflow improvements

Project Exploration

I researched existing Redux projects including react-redux-starter-kit, sound-redux, and react.rocks to understand best practices before beginning my own implementation.

Building Sherlock

Inspired by Bitcoin and the Bitcore playground, I created “Sherlock,” a Bitcoin wallet application showcasing Redux patterns. The project demonstrates route management using redux-simple-router and async button state handling.

Development Experience

Hot module replacement and time-traveling debugging capabilities were excellent. While React error messages needed improvement, Redux DevTools provided valuable development support. I plan continued feature development with contributions welcome.