Some links for those who are also interested in "Thinking in React" in a more conceptual way (#4 is a presentation from the same person who wrote the walkthrough):
1) React — Basic Theoretical Concepts: “A description of the conceptual model of React without implementation burden.” https://github.com/reactjs/react-basic
2) Pure UI: “A lot has been written about the merits of React as a framework. Today I’m compelled to write about the benefits of a programming model it enables and its implications to the design and creation workflow." http://rauchg.com/2015/pure-ui/
3) Removing User Interface Complexity, or Why React is Awesome: “I’m mostly concerned with the core problems of data binding and componentizing UIs. After much research and usage of the technologies mentioned above, I found React to provide the best solution.” http://jlongster.com/Removing-User-Interface-Complexity,-or-...
4) Pete Hunt: React: Rethinking best practices (youtube): “building views with JavaScript, ‘re-rendering’ your entire application when your data changes, and a lightweight implementation of the DOM and events.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7cQ3mrcKaY
5) Nothing new in React and Flux except one thing: “What is it that makes React so innovative and compelling?… The Virtual DOM allows us to convert a mutable retained mode graphics API to an immutable functional immediate mode API.” http://staltz.com/nothing-new-in-react-and-flux-except-one-t...
(I collected them to go along with something I wrote in the same vein: https://medium.com/@firasd/interface-from-data-using-react-t...)