Gain insights into Redux fundamentals, explore application-based problems, and discover how to effectively manage state in React environments with this beginner's guide to state management.

This course is a beginner's gateway into the mechanics of using Redux as an application building platform. It takes a bottom-up approach, enforcing the basic aspects of Redux before incorporating them together in a creative and interactive way. It begins with a short theoretical section before moving on to application based problems. 
The course does assume that the user has a basic idea of how React works, as Redux works in the React environment. Let's dive in!

Understanding Redux: A Beginner's Guide To State Management

You must implement the "Delete Contact" feature which allows us to remove a contact's message thread from our contact list.

In the Skypey prototype below, you can see the 'X' in the top right corner of each contact. The objective is to **add functionality to this close button**.

As we've learned, there are always three steps in the world of Redux:

- create an action
- make a reducer to handle it
- dispatch the action

I advise you to first define the action type in the `action-types.js`.

I have already defined the action creator needed for this task in `User.js`. Write the implementation on your own. Make sure that your implementation only requires the user ID to make the deletion work.

One tricky thing about this exercise is that you must update the state object with new list of contacts which excludes the contact you want to delete. 
>You must not mutate the state object within the reducer. Instead, return a new copy.

As this is not a test on syntax, you can see [Immutable Update Patterns](https://redux.js.org/usage/structuring-reducers/immutable-update-patterns)
 for updating and deleting objects.

Along with dispatching the delete action, you must also set the `activeUserId` to `null` so that your main screen is rendered when you delete a contact.

Take your time and don't worry if you don't get it right the first time around. If you're stuck, my solution is available in the next lesson.

Good luck!





An optional feature in Skypey which deletes a contact from the sidebar.

Getting to know Redux (Theory)

Your First Redux Application

Understanding State Updates with Actions

Building Skypey: A More Advanced Example

Building Skypey: Designing the State Object

Building Skypey: The User Component

Building Skypey: The Empty Screen

Building Skypey: The Chat Window

Building Skypey: Header and Chat Window

Building Skypey: Messaging

The Skypey App

Exercise: Delete Contact