OP is talking about compiling react in prod mode yourself, having pulled the source as an npm dependency, as opposed to pulling in the pre-built prod version wi

OP is talking about compiling react in prod mode yourself, having pulled the source as an npm dependency, as opposed to pulling in the pre-built prod version with a script tag. See the npm section right below the Individual Downloads section you've linked to in [2] - this is the recommended, and more common, way to use react.