Stacking Multiple Dialogs in React Without Hooks or Effects

Managing z-index across multiple stacked dialogs in React gets messy fast. I ran this problem through an AI tool out of curiosity and it generated this: ```jsx jsxconst DialogManager = ({ dialogs }) => { return ( <> {dialogs.map((dialog, index) => { const zIndexBackdrop = 1000 + (5 * (index + 1)); const zIndexContent = zIndexBackdrop + 2; return ( <div key={dialog.id}> <div className="modal-backdrop show" style={{ zIndex: zIndexBackdrop }} /> <div role="dialog" aria-modal="true" style={{ zIndex: zIndexContent }} > {dialog.content} </div> </div> ); })} </> ); }; ``` Functional, but it runs the `z-index` calculation on every render cycle. For a static stacking requirement, that's unnecessary execution. Styling problems should be solved in the style layer. Here's the approach I came up with using SCSS: ```scss @for $i from 1 through 6 { $zIndexBackdrop: #{1000 + (5 * $i)}; $zIndexContent: #{1000 + (5 * $i) + 2}; .modal-backdrop.show:nth-of-type(#{$i}) { z-index: $zIndexBackdrop; } div[role="dialog"][aria-modal="true"]:nth-of-type(#{$i}) { z-index: $zIndexContent; } } ``` This loop generates `z-index` rules for up to 6 dialog layers at compile time - zero runtime cost. The backdrop and content for each layer are spaced 2 units apart, with 5-unit gaps between layers to leave room for other elements if needed. A few things to know before using this: - `nth-of-type` is sensitive to DOM structure. If other elements of the same type exist in the same context, the selector can misfire. Verify your rendered DOM matches the assumption. - The ceiling of `6` is arbitrary — adjust the loop range, base value, and step size to fit your `z-index` scale. - This compiles down to plain CSS. No runtime, no state, no effect hooks. That's the point.