Preparation for React 19 Upgrade

WordPress 6.6 will ship with version 18.3 of the React library, which is identical to 18.2 but adds warnings for deprecations and other changes to help developers prepare for the ReactReact React is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces. https://reactjs.org/. 19 upgrade once it becomes stable.

It’s recommended to stop using the deprecated features to ensure better compatibility with React 19 when it ships with WordPress. Keeping deprecations unchecked may lead to bugs or unintended behavior in your plugins. Addressing them is important to ensure smooth and reliable functionality.

Removed: defaultProps for function components

When searching the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party and theme repo for the use of deprecations in React 19, this one was found to be common.

React 19 will remove defaultProps for function components in favor of ES6 default parameters. This change can cause unexpected side effects when a component relies on default values provided by defaultProps.

// Before.
function Welcome( { text } ) {
	return <p>{ text }</p>;
}

Welcome.defaultProps = {
	text: 'Howdy!',
};

// After.
function Welcome( { text = 'Howdy!' } ) {
	return <p>{ text }</p>;
}

Please refer to the official React 19 upgrade guide for a full list of deprecations and changes.

Props to @kirasong for review and @juanmaguitar for proofreading.

#6-6, #dev-note, #dev-notes, #dev-notes-6-6