But the point is you did end up learning it. I didn't claim you need to understand them before you understand React... however, you also don't need them yet whe

But the point is you did end up learning it. I didn't claim you need to understand them before you understand React... however, you also don't need them yet when you are learning react. You can use React just fine without them; it gets cumbersome, but by that point, it's time to learn about the toolchain - which is the ideal point to learn about it: you are now facing the problems they are solving.