Setting default props is essential for creating robust React components that handle missing or undefined prop values gracefully while providing sensible fallbacks. As the creator of CoreUI, a widely used open-source UI library, I’ve implemented default props in thousands of React components to ensure reliable behavior, backward compatibility, and excellent developer experience in enterprise component libraries. From my expertise, the most modern approach is to use ES6 default parameters in function components. This method provides clear, readable code with TypeScript support while eliminating the need for runtime checks and additional component properties.