Julio Benavente
Software engineer
I ship production products with React and Next.js, think beyond the deadline, and speak up early when a decision will cost us later. Always learning, and happiest when the whole team gets stronger.
Experience
Software Engineer · Fusion 360
2024 – Present
Leading frontend for a marketing platform in TypeScript, Next.js and Tailwind CSS: the UI system, the API integrations with Redux, and the features that move the marketing funnel.
Software Engineer · Square Agency
2023 – 2024
Responsive websites and landing pages in Next.js and Tailwind CSS, built from Figma designs and tuned for performance and SEO.
Full Stack Software Engineer · Solera
2022 – 2023
Secure registration APIs in Laravel and Oracle SQL, including face and ID verification, plus a reusable React and Redux UI toolkit documented in Storybook.
Junior Software Engineer · GCC Networking
2021 – 2022
Client dashboards in React, Node.js and MongoDB, designed in Figma, that gave clients self-service access to their data and cut support requests.
Projects
Two personal projects I built for people to really use. Both are free right now.
Skills
- Frontend
- React, Next.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, Redux, RTK Query, HTML, CSS, Tailwind CSS, Material UI, Styled Components, CMS, WordPress
- Backend
- Node.js (Express.js), Laravel (PHP), MongoDB, SQL (MySQL, Oracle)
- AI
- Python, LLM APIs, agents and tool use, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, ChatGPT
- Other
- Git, Docker
Education
B.S. in Computer Science
Western Governors University
Completed 2026
M.S. in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Western Governors University
Expected 2027
Blog
You might not need useEffect: 5 patterns to delete
Most effects in React code are derived state, event handlers or data fetching in disguise. Here is how to spot them and what to write instead.
React Server Components, explained without the hype
What runs on the server, what runs in the browser, and how to draw the use client boundary so you ship less JavaScript.
React 19 forms: Actions, useActionState and useOptimistic
React 19 turned form submission into a first-class feature. Here is how Actions, useActionState and useOptimistic replace the loading and error state you used to write by hand.
Suspense and streaming in React and Next.js, explained
Suspense lets a slow part of the page wait without blocking the rest. Here is how loading.tsx, streaming, error boundaries and parallel fetching fit together, and the mistakes I see most.
React state management in 2026: how to choose without overthinking it
useState, useReducer, Context, Zustand and TanStack Query solve different problems. Here is how I pick one, where Context re-renders bite, and when a store is actually justified.
Accessible React components: focus, keyboard, live regions and motion
Most accessibility bugs in React come from five places: lost focus, mouse-only controls, silent updates, broken modals and ignored motion settings. Here are the patterns I use and the tests that catch them.
How React rendering works, and what makes a component re-render
A clear mental model of render and commit, what triggers a re-render, how reconciliation and keys work, and why index keys break.
React: how to make your app more performant
How I find a slow React app's real bottleneck, then fix it in order of impact: bundle size, long lists, images, re-renders and Core Web Vitals.
useMemo, useCallback and React.memo: when do they actually help?
Memoization only pays off when there is a measured cost. Here is what each tool does, when it is wasted, and what to try first.
What INP measures, and how to improve it in React
INP scores how fast a page responds to clicks, taps and keys. Here is what it measures and the React and browser fixes that move it.