Every React Developer Uses Hooks. Almost None Can...

title: "Every React Developer Uses Hooks. Almost None Can Explain How They Work." description: A from-scratch build of React's hooks system reveals that the rules aren't arbitrary — they're inevitable consequences of a linked list with a cursor. tags: [react, hooks, javascript, internals, deep-dive] date: 2026-04-08 My friend Marcos has been writing React for nearly three years. Production dashboards, complex state, the whole thing. One evening, over coffee, hooks came up. "Do you know how hooks