Namaste-React: course assignments and source code for Akshay Saini's React course

Nine chapters of assignments and source code from a live React course

Namaste-React is not a framework or a library. It is a companion repository to the Namaste React Live Course offered by NamasteDev, taught by Akshay Saini. Each of the nine chapters maps to a session in that paid course and contains four things: an assignment, a theory solution, source code, and notes in both digital and handwritten forms.

Digital notes credit Arpan Kesh and handwritten notes credit Ashraya KK, who contributed those documents alongside the coursework. That contribution structure is visible in the README chapter listings, where each chapter links to external Google Docs and Bit.ly URLs for the notes files.

For someone following the course, this repository provides a worked reference for every chapter. For someone who has not taken the course, the source code exists but the explanations do not: the theory files answer specific assignment questions rather than building from first principles. Chapter names alone give a rough outline of what each session covers: Inception, Igniting our App, Laying the Foundation, Talk is Cheap (show me the code), Let's get Hooked!, Exploring the world, Finding the Path, Let's get Classy, and Optimizing our App.

Chapter progression from a plain HTML script tag to an optimized React app

Chapter 01 (dated 24-12-2022) is titled Inception and starts before any build tooling. Its Coding directory holds App.js and index.css, which points to React being loaded directly into an HTML page. Chapter 02 is titled Igniting our App, which is where Parcel enters the picture.

The chapter names map recognizable React topics. Chapter 05 (Let's get Hooked!) covers hooks. Chapter 08 (Let's get Classy) covers class components, which the course revisits after hooks rather than teaching them first. Chapter 09 (Optimizing our App) covers performance.

Chapter 04, titled Talk is Cheap (show me the code), carries a date of 07-01-2023. Chapter 06 (Exploring the world) and Chapter 07 (Finding the Path) were held on 14-01-2023 and 15-01-2023 respectively, meaning consecutive days. Chapter 03 dated 01-01-2023 placed a live session on New Year's Day.

Topics in the repository tags include react-redux, which suggests Redux is covered in the later chapters the README truncates. The full chapter list visible in the repository root runs from Chapter 01 through Chapter 09.

Running FoodFire locally with Parcel on port 3000

FoodFire is the food-delivery application built across all nine chapters. A live demo is deployed at https://foodfire-app.netlify.app, and Netlify deploys for individual chapters exist from Chapter 03 onwards.

Package.json at the repository root defines three scripts:

"scripts": {
  "start": "parcel index.html --port 3000",
  "build": "parcel build index.html",
  "test": "jest"
}

Starting development runs parcel index.html --port 3000, which serves the application on port 3000. Building for production runs parcel build index.html, and Parcel is listed as a dev dependency at ^2.8.2. The README describes it as a zero-configuration build tool for the web, which is why no webpack or Vite configuration file appears in the repository.

Prerequisites in the README are a basic understanding of React.js, JavaScript, HTML and CSS. No Node.js version is specified in the README or package.json. Package name is namaste-react and version is 1.1.0 according to package.json.

Dependencies in package.json: React 18.2, react-router-dom 6.7, formik and yup

Package.json version 1.1.0 lists the following runtime dependencies: react at ^18.2.0, react-dom at ^18.2.0, react-router-dom at ^6.7.0, react-icons at ^4.7.1, formik at ^2.2.9, yup at ^0.32.11, and cors at ^2.8.5. Dev dependencies are parcel at ^2.8.2 and process at ^0.11.10.

React Router 6.7 covers the routing chapters. The presence of formik and yup together indicates form validation is a topic in one of the later chapters. formik is a form state library and yup is its common schema-validation companion. react-icons at 4.7.1 provides icon components from multiple icon sets.

The cors package appearing as a runtime dependency is unusual. It belongs to a server, not a browser React app. Its presence at ^2.8.5 suggests FoodFire includes or calls a small Node.js server at some point in the course, or that the dependency was included to support the CORS workaround mentioned in the README.

No Redux package is listed in package.json, despite react-redux appearing in the repository topics. Either Redux is covered in a chapter not captured by the truncated README, or it is added in a later chapter's package.json rather than the root one.

FoodFire calls the Swiggy API, and CORS blocks it from some environments

FoodFire fetches restaurant data from the Swiggy API, which is not a public or documented third-party API. Swiggy is a food delivery service, and the course uses its endpoint as a data source for the demo app. That creates a practical problem: CORS headers on that endpoint can block requests from a local development server or a deployed domain that Swiggy does not recognize.

The README documents the workaround directly. A separate repository, FoodFire-Server, provides a proxy at https://foodfire.onrender.com. Switching to that endpoint bypasses the CORS restriction. No further configuration is described in the README.

Using an unofficial API as a teaching tool carries a risk that the endpoint changes or disappears without notice. If the Swiggy API changes its data structure or removes the endpoint, exercises in Chapters 05 and 06 (which by name involve connecting to external data) would produce empty or broken results. Checking whether the live demo at https://foodfire-app.netlify.app still loads restaurant data is the fastest way to confirm the API is still working.

Who this repository helps and where it stops being useful

Namaste-React is the closest thing to an official answer key for the Namaste React Live Course. Each chapter's Assignment.md files pose the questions, and the Theory directories hold the written answers. For a student who got stuck on an assignment or missed a session, the source code provides a working reference without requiring a replay of the lecture.

Beyond that audience, the repository's usefulness narrows. Someone learning React independently would get code without the explanations for why each decision was made. The theory files answer the course assignments rather than teaching general principles, and the notes files are external links rather than inline documentation.

As a React project to study structurally, the repository layout follows the course sequence rather than a production application architecture. Comparing App.js in Chapter 01 with the full FoodFire codebase in later chapters would show how React applications grow, but the course framing is always present. Someone wanting a standalone reference implementation of React Router, formik or hooks outside a course context would find better documented examples elsewhere.

ISC licence in package.json, unknown on GitHub, and last push on 2026-09-20

Package.json lists the licence as ISC, authored by Chetan Nada. GitHub's metadata shows the licence as unknown, because no LICENSE file is present at the repository root according to the top-level entries listed. That discrepancy is worth noting before redistributing any of the source code: the package.json declaration is one signal, but a full ISC licence text does not appear in the repository.

No GitHub releases exist. Version 1.1.0 in package.json is the only version reference in the repository. Tracking changes to the repository requires reading the git log directly.

Last push to the repository was on 2026-09-20. The repository is not archived. Chapter dates in the README run from December 2022 through January 2023, so the course sessions happened over that period, but the repository has received updates since then.

A .env file appears in the top-level repository entries alongside .gitignore. Its contents are not visible in the repository listing. Any API keys or environment configuration stored there would not be visible to someone cloning the repository, which is the correct setup but worth confirming if a chapter's code expects environment variables that are not documented.

Editorial conclusion

Namaste-React is worth cloning if you are enrolled in or have completed the Namaste React Live Course and want reference source code and notes alongside the videos. Skip it if you want a self-contained React tutorial: the repository documents a paid external course and depends on that course for explanations of why each step is taken. Before running it, confirm the Swiggy API is reachable from your network or switch the endpoint to https://foodfire.onrender.com, since the CORS issue affects the core demo of the FoodFire app.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. chetannada/Namaste-React on GitHub
2. Issues
3. Project website
4. README