Why Composition Over Configuration Keeps Proving Itself in React UI Design

A software developer writing for DEV Community describes repeatedly rediscovering a core design principle while building settings interfaces in React. The pattern begins with a single modal component that switches behavior based on a string or union discriminator, which initially appears clean and reusable. As new sections are added, however, every change requires touching multiple parts of the same component, revealing tight coupling disguised as reuse. The developer resolved this by replacing the monolithic modal with self-contained components per section — ProfileSettings, BillingSettings, and so on — each owning its own logic and UI. The key takeaway is that a composition-based tree can be rearranged from outside without modifying individual pieces, whereas a config-driven component is limited to what its original author anticipated.
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