Not sure how much relevant it is, but author's stance on JSX reminds me of a meme known as "Baton Roue" which depicts person throwing a stick into the wheel of

Not sure how much relevant it is, but author's stance on JSX reminds me of a meme known as "Baton Roue" which depicts person throwing a stick into the wheel of the bicycle he's riding. In other words - sure you don't have to use JSX, but if you really decided to work with React you are highly advised to go with JSX because that's what makes work with it much easier: you get familiar syntax which is easily parseable when somebody else is reading a code. However, if you decided against JSX then you're doing yourself a disservice, because sticking to raw JS does not improve development process at all, probably even opposite.