JSX is a syntax extension for JavaScript that looks similar to HTML. It allows you to write HTML-like code in your JavaScript files. If you’re familiar with React, you’ll feel right at home with JSX. A basic example of JSX syntax is shown below:

const message = <h1>Hello, world!</h1>;
//              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ JSX syntax

Notice how we are not using strings to define the HTML elements. Instead, we are using a syntax that looks like HTML.

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But this is not a valid JavaScript syntax!

You are right! JSX is not a valid JavaScript syntax. It needs to be transformed into a valid JavaScript syntax before it can be executed by the JavaScript engine. This is where the transpiler comes into play. The transpiler is a tool that converts magical stuff, including the JSX syntax into the equivalent JavaScript code. Some of the most popular transpilers for JSX are Babel, TypeScript, SWC, esbuild, etc.

If you are TypeScript user, you dont even need to add anything else to your project, just use the @jsx pragma and you are good to go.

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The JSX pragma

The JSX pragma is a comment that tells the transpiler how to transform JSX into the equivalent JavaScript code. The pragma is used to define the function that will be called when the JSX syntax is encountered. The pragma is defined at the top of the file and is usually in the form of a comment.

/** @jsx JSX.createElement */
/** @jsxFrag JSX.Fragment */

The above pragma comment tells the transpiler to use the JSX.createElement function to transform the JSX syntax into the equivalent JavaScript code. The JSX.Fragment is used to wrap multiple elements in a single parent element. These functions are exported by canvacord as JSX namespace.

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TypeScript global JSX pragma

You can also set the pragma globally in your project by adding the following to your tsconfig.json file:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "jsx": "react", // Canvacord uses React-like JSX
    "jsxFactory": "JSX.createElement", // works as @jsx
    "jsxFragmentFactory": "JSX.Fragment" // works as @jsxFrag
  }
}

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Don’t want to/Can’t use JSX?

If you don’t want to use JSX or can’t use JSX in your project, you can still use Canvacord. Canvacord provides a way to create images without using JSX. You can use the Builder class to create images without using JSX. The Builder class provides a way to create images using a more traditional approach.

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Element object

You can return element object from the render method as an alternative approach to JSX.

async render() {
    return {
        type: 'h1',
        props: {
            children: 'hello, world',
        },
    };
}

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Calling JSX function

You can also call the JSX function directly to create elements.

async render() {
    return JSX.createElement('h1', {}, 'hello, world');
}

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Using JSX with Canvacord

/** @jsx JSX.createElement */
/** @jsxFrag JSX.Fragment */

import { JSX } from "canvacord";

const message = <h1>Hello, world!</h1>;