36 practice questions with answers for React JS interviews in Kochi.
React JS jobs in Kochi
Kochi's Infopark and SmartCity host IT-services firms, product companies and start-ups, making it Kerala's largest tech job market along with Thiruvananthapuram. Testing and data roles are common in its service and product teams.
Below are 36 questions that match the mix of service, product and domain employers hiring react developers in Kochi.
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Code that touches browser globals runs during server rendering, where window and document do not exist. This often comes from a library that accesses window at import time or from reading localStorage in render. Fix it by moving browser access into useEffect or event handlers inside a Client Component, checking typeof window !== 'undefined', or loading the library with next/dynamic and ssr: false from a client component.
React.memo wraps a component so React skips re-rendering it when its props are shallowly equal to the previous props. It is useful for components that render often with the same props and are expensive to render, like rows in a big table. It only works if props stay referentially stable, so objects and callbacks passed to it are usually memoised with useMemo and useCallback.
04
How do Suspense and streaming server rendering improve performance?
With streaming SSR, the server sends HTML in chunks: the page shell is sent immediately and slower sections wrapped in Suspense are streamed later as their data resolves, replacing the fallback. Users see content sooner and hydration of parts can happen selectively, prioritising what the user interacts with. Frameworks like Next.js App Router use this with server components and loading.js boundaries.
05
You are building a 4-step onboarding wizard. How do you keep data when users move back and forth between steps?
Store the wizard data in a parent component, a reducer, or a small store, not inside each step, because step components unmount when hidden. Each step receives its slice and an update callback. Validate each step before moving forward, and optionally save drafts to sessionStorage or the server so a refresh does not lose progress. The current step can also live in the URL for back-button support.
06
Which queries should you prefer in React Testing Library and why?
Prefer queries accessible to everyone: getByRole (with the name option) first, then getByLabelText for form fields, getByPlaceholderText, getByText and getByDisplayValue. Use getByAltText and getByTitle for images and titles. getByTestId is a last resort when nothing else works. Role-based queries also check accessibility, because if a button cannot be found by role and name, screen reader users will struggle too.
07
Describe a time you found and fixed a bug reported by a real user.
Situation: customers reported that the address form sometimes submitted an empty PIN code. Task: find the root cause quickly. Action: I reproduced it with browser autofill, which changed the DOM value without firing our onChange in a custom input. I switched to a native controlled input, added a schema check before submit and wrote a regression test. Result: the issue stopped and support tickets dropped.
08
Your component fetches data in useEffect and the network tab shows thousands of requests in a loop. What could cause it?
Common causes are a missing dependency array, so the effect runs after every render and its setState triggers another render, or a dependency that is a new object or array each render, like options={{ page: 1 }}. Since Object.is compares by reference, the effect always sees a change. Fix by adding correct dependencies, depending on primitive values, or memoising the object with useMemo.
A portal renders children into a DOM node outside the parent component's DOM hierarchy while keeping them in the same React tree, so context and event bubbling still work.
import { createPortal } from 'react-dom';
function Modal({ children }) {
return createPortal(
<div className="modal">{children}</div>,
document.getElementById('modal-root')
);
}
They are used for modals, tooltips and dropdowns that must escape overflow hidden or z-index issues.
10
What are Core Web Vitals and how do React apps affect them?
Core Web Vitals are Google's user experience metrics: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint, loading, target under 2.5s), INP (Interaction to Next Paint, responsiveness, under 200ms, which replaced FID in 2024) and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift, visual stability, under 0.1). Large React bundles hurt LCP and INP, heavy renders on clicks hurt INP, and images or content without reserved space hurt CLS. SSR, code splitting and transitions help.
11
How do you include accessibility checks in your React tests?
Use jest-axe or vitest-axe to run axe-core on rendered components.
import { axe } from 'vitest-axe';
test('form has no a11y violations', async () => {
const { container } = render(<SignupForm />);
expect(await axe(container)).toHaveNoViolations();
});
Also query by role and label in tests, run Lighthouse or axe DevTools in the browser, and test keyboard navigation manually, since automated tools catch only part of the issues.
12
When would you use useLayoutEffect instead of useEffect?
useEffect runs after the browser paints, which is fine for most side effects. useLayoutEffect runs synchronously after DOM changes but before paint, so it is used when you must measure layout and update immediately, for example positioning a tooltip based on its size, to avoid a visible flicker. It blocks painting, so overusing it hurts performance, and it does not run during server rendering.
13
You import a component and get the error 'Element type is invalid: expected a string or a class/function but got undefined'. How do you debug it?
This almost always means the import does not match the export. If the file uses export default Header, import it as import Header from './Header'. If it uses export function Header, import it as import { Header } from './Header'. Also check the file path, circular imports and that the component name starts with a capital letter. Logging the imported value quickly confirms it is undefined.
14
A user types into an input inside a list row, then sorts the list, and the typed text appears in a different row. How would you fix this?
The rows are probably keyed by index or by a value that changes after sorting, so React keeps the DOM input in the same position while the data moves. Give each row a stable key from the data, such as the record id. Better still, make the input controlled and store its value in state keyed by id, so the text always follows the correct record.
15
How do you fetch data in a Next.js App Router page?
Make the page an async Server Component and await data directly.
// app/products/[id]/page.tsx
export default async function ProductPage({ params }) {
const { id } = await params;
const product = await getProduct(id);
if (!product) notFound();
return (
<main>
<h1>{product.name}</h1>
<AddToCartButton id={id} />
</main>
);
}
AddToCartButton is a Client Component. In recent Next.js versions params is a promise.
16
Explain the testing pyramid and the testing trophy. Which applies to frontend?
The pyramid says write many unit tests, fewer integration tests and very few end-to-end tests, because lower tests are fast and cheap. The testing trophy, popular for frontend, adds static analysis at the base and puts the most effort in integration tests, since they give the best confidence per cost. For React, I rely on TypeScript and ESLint, many component tests, some unit tests for logic and a few E2E tests.
17
What are nested routes and what is the role of Outlet?
Nested routes let a parent route render a shared layout, like a dashboard sidebar, while child routes render inside it. The parent component places <Outlet /> where the matching child should appear. For example, /dashboard renders DashboardLayout, and /dashboard/orders renders Orders inside its Outlet. This keeps layouts consistent, avoids repeating headers and lets each section load its own data.
children is a special prop containing whatever JSX you place between a component's opening and closing tags. For example, in <Card><h3>Title</h3></Card>, the h3 is passed as props.children. It lets you build wrapper components like layouts, modals and cards that do not need to know their content in advance. It is the foundation of composition in React.
19
A junior developer is confused about when to use useEffect. How would you explain it and help them?
Situation: a new joiner was putting almost all logic into effects, causing bugs. Task: help them build the right mental model. Action: I explained that effects sync with outside systems, while calculations go in render and user actions go in handlers. We refactored one of their components together and I shared the react.dev article on avoiding effects. Result: their next PR had no unnecessary effects.
20
Show a basic React Router setup with a home page, a product page and a 404 page.
Hydration is the process where React, running in the browser, attaches event handlers and state to HTML that was already rendered on the server, making it interactive. React expects the first client render to match the server HTML exactly; if not, it reports a hydration mismatch. Until hydration finishes, the page is visible but buttons may not respond, which is why reducing client JavaScript matters.
Zustand is a small state library with a hook-based API and no Provider.
import { create } from 'zustand';
const useCart = create(set => ({
items: [],
add: item => set(s => ({ items: [...s.items, item] })),
clear: () => set({ items: [] })
}));
const count = useCart(s => s.items.length);
Components subscribe with selectors, so they re-render only when the selected slice changes.
Lifting state up means moving shared state to the closest common parent of the components that need it. The parent holds the state and passes the value and a setter callback down as props. For example, a temperature input and a converter display both read from state kept in their parent. This keeps a single source of truth instead of two components trying to stay in sync.
25
In development your API call inside useEffect fires twice, but only once in production. Why does this happen, and what does StrictMode do?
StrictMode is a development-only wrapper that helps find bugs. It renders components twice to catch impure rendering, and mounts, unmounts and remounts components to check that effects clean up properly. This is why a fetch in useEffect may appear to fire twice locally. It does not happen in production. The fix is to write proper cleanup, not to remove StrictMode.
26
Should you keep related values in one state object or several useState calls?
Group values that always change together, like x and y coordinates, into one object. Keep unrelated values in separate useState calls, which makes updates simpler and avoids accidentally overwriting fields. Avoid contradictory or duplicated state, such as isLoading and isError both being true. When many values change together through clear events, useReducer is often a cleaner choice than a big object.
In data or framework mode, a route can define a loader that fetches data before the route renders, and an action that handles form submissions or mutations for that route. Components read data with useLoaderData. After an action runs, the router automatically revalidates loaders so the UI shows fresh data. This moves data fetching out of effects and avoids request waterfalls between parent and child components.
28
Where should you store the logged-in user's auth token in a React app?
The safest common choice is an httpOnly, Secure, SameSite cookie set by the server, because JavaScript cannot read it, which protects it from XSS theft. Keep only non-sensitive user info, such as name and role, in React state or context. If you must use tokens in JavaScript, keep the access token in memory, use short expiry and refresh tokens via cookies. Avoid localStorage for tokens.
29
The linter shows a react-hooks/exhaustive-deps warning and a teammate wants to disable the rule. What do you advise?
Disabling it usually hides a stale closure bug. The rule tells you the effect reads a value that can change. Instead, include the dependency, move a function inside the effect, use the updater form of setState so state is not needed, or move non-reactive logic into useEffectEvent. If an object dependency changes every render, create it inside the effect or memoise it. Suppress only with a clear comment.
30
Tell me about working with a backend team when an API did not match what the frontend needed.
Situation: the orders API returned deeply nested data and no pagination, making our list screen slow. Task: get a better contract without blocking either team. Action: I shared a proposed response shape with the backend developer, explained the performance impact with numbers and built against a mocked API using MSW meanwhile. Result: they added pagination and flatter fields, and we integrated in two days with no rework.
31
Tell me about a time a requirement changed late in a sprint. How did you handle it?
Situation: two days before release, the product owner asked to add a GST number field with validation to our checkout form. Task: deliver it without risking the release. Action: I estimated the impact, proposed shipping the field with basic format validation first and the full verification API in the next sprint, and added tests. Result: we released on time and the follow-up shipped a week later.
32
How do you set SEO metadata in a Next.js App Router page?
Export a metadata object or a generateMetadata function from a page or layout.
export async function generateMetadata({ params }) {
const { slug } = await params;
const post = await getPost(slug);
return {
title: post.title,
description: post.summary,
alternates: { canonical: `/blog/${slug}` },
openGraph: { title: post.title, images: [post.cover] }
};
}
Next.js renders the tags in the head during server rendering.
33
How do you handle a form with multiple controlled inputs using one change handler?
Use the React DevTools Profiler: record an interaction, then check the flame chart for components with long render times and the reason each one re-rendered (enable 'record why each component rendered'). Pair it with the Chrome Performance panel for long tasks, layout and network. Enable highlight updates to spot unnecessary renders. Measure first, fix the biggest cost, then measure again in a production build.
35
What are the common styling options in React, and how do Server Components affect the choice?
Options include plain CSS or CSS Modules (scoped class names), Tailwind CSS utility classes, Sass, and CSS-in-JS libraries like styled-components or Emotion. Runtime CSS-in-JS needs client-side JavaScript and context, so it fits poorly with Server Components. That is why Tailwind and CSS Modules, or zero-runtime libraries, are the most common choice in modern Next.js projects. Component libraries like shadcn/ui build on Tailwind.
36
An accessibility audit says your signup form fails screen reader checks. What would you fix to make the form accessible?
Link every input to a visible label using htmlFor and id (useId helps), use correct input types, and mark required fields. Show errors as text, connect them with aria-describedby and set aria-invalid on failing fields. Move focus to the first error on submit, keep everything keyboard operable and do not rely on colour alone. Use native button and form elements instead of clickable divs.
Few big employers listed in Kochi?
Many Kochi candidates also apply to teams in Bangalore and to remote or hybrid roles. Practise the Bangalore set as well.
Which companies hire React JS professionals in Kochi?
Companies with large offices in Kochi include many IT services and product firms. Use their company pages below to practise employer-specific sets.
Are React JS interviews in Kochi different from other cities?
The questions depend more on the company than the city. Kochi's mix of employers decides the style: Testing and data roles are common in its service and product teams
How do I find React JS jobs in Kochi?
Shortlist companies with Kochi offices, keep your CV focused on React JS projects, apply on company career pages and job portals with the Kochi filter, and practise the questions on this page before each interview.