Hooks are a relatively recent addition to React. They represent a major shift in the way we use state, lifecycle and other React concepts within components. In this article, we will dive into the motivations behind React Hooks, explore the different built-in hooks, and learn how to re-use functionality by creating our own custom hooks.

 in use on the web today, clearly ahead of competitors such as Angular and Vue. I believe that React's simplicity is the main reason for its popularity. It abstracts away having to deal with DOM elements and provides a simple and lightweight API to rapidly build single-page apps.

However, there have been some aspects of React which were slightly confusing and difficult to use. One of the main complaints over the years has been that to use React features such as state and lifecycle methods, you had to use class-based components rather than function-based ones. We will dive deeper into these issues further in this article.

To address these issues and provide a means to use React features in function-based components, the React team has introduced 

It has been just over a year since Hooks were released in React 16.8, and they generated a lot of buzz at the time - every React dev was gushing about how things were so easy now with React Hooks! 🤓

I was fortunate enough to be able to work on many greenfield projects in the past year, so I could start using Hooks right away and not have to deal with any of the shortcomings and confusion of class-based components anymore. It was only when I encountered massive class-based components 'in the wild' in legacy applications, did I realise how hooks simplify things and truly encourage cleaner code. ✨

 are just functions that when called from a function-based component, allow it to "hook into" certain React features. This is a game-changer, as it lets you build advanced features using function-based components, which are simpler and easier to reason about.

There are various built-in hooks provided by React. 

 are the two most used ones. We will learn about these and other built-in hooks in upcoming sections.

Since hooks behave just like any other JavaScript function, you can also define your own hooks to reuse functionality across components within your app.

There are, however, some rules to follow when using hooks.

Some of the main pain points when using class-based components are:

Whenever you create a class-based component, it has to inherit from 

. This means that if you want to add a constructor with some logic to execute at instantiation time, you will always have to call 

import React from "react";

export class Textbox extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    // Some instantiation logic here
  }
}

 keyword works in JavaScript, event handlers are required to be specifically bound to the current context. 🤯This further increases the amount of boilerplate needed.

import React from "react";

export class Textbox extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = { text: "foo" };
    this.onTextChange = this.onChangeText.bind(this);
  }

  onChangeText() {        
    this.setState({ text: "bar" });
  }
}

An alternative to this is to use arrow functions(introduced in ES6), which will have access to their bounding scope. That, however, is just one more thing to keep in mind.

 property is always an object and can not be any other primitive. This means that whenever you need to update a single value in your state,  the 

 call will merge the new value with the current state object. This makes it difficult to separate concerns and to potentially extract reusable code.

In this example, we have two related properties 

 object. If they could be separated, any logic around handling name changes could potentially be extracted out. However, this is not possible with a class-based component.

import React from "react";

export class Name extends React.Component {
  constructor() {
    super();
    this.state = {
      color: "blue",
      firstName: "Mary",
      lastName: "Poppins"
    };
  }

  getFullname() {
    return `${this.state.firstName} ${this.state.lastName}`;
  }

  render() {
      return (
          <div style={{ background: this.state.color }}>
              <h3>{this.getFullname()}</h3>
          </div>
      )
  }
}

As a consequence of how class-based components work, the only way to trigger code on state changes is via lifecycle methods such as 

 component keeps the page title in sync with the counter value.

To accomplish this, we've had to repeat the same code in 

 (to set the page title when the component loads), and in 

(to set the page title each time the counter is incremented). If we wanted to reset the title when the 

 is removed from the screen, we would have had to repeat the code in 

import React from "react";

export class Counter extends React.Component {
  constructor() {
    super()
    this.state = {
      counter: 0
    }
    this.handleIncrement = this.handleIncrement.bind(this)
  }
  
  componentDidMount() {
    document.title = this.state.counter;
  }

  componentDidUpdate() {
    document.title = this.state.counter;
  }
  
  handleIncrement() {
    this.setState({
      counter: this.state.counter += 1
    })
  }
  
  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <div>{this.state.counter}</div>
        <button onClick={this.handleIncrement}>+</button>
     </div>
    ) 
  }
}

Now that we have understood all these pitfalls, let us explore how React Hooks provide solutions to the above problems.

 hook provides a means for function-based components to maintain state.

This state does not necessarily have to be an object - the 

 hook supports any primitive so you can use numbers, strings, booleans or arrays as well.

Here is a simple example of how to use it. It uses the 

 component we have seen in the previous section, now converted to be function-based.

import React, { useState } from "react";

const Name = () => {
  const [name, setName] = useState({first: "Mary", last: "Poppins"});
  const [color, setColor] = useState("blue");
  
  const getFullName = () => {
    return `${name.first} ${name.last}`;
  }

  return (
    <div style={{ background: color }}>
      <h3>{getFullName()}</h3>
    </div>
  );
}

The different state variables have now been decoupled and can be managed independently. The 

 component will re-render whenever the values of the state variables change.

 hook can be used to trigger side effects in function-based components. Earlier in the article, we saw how class-based components use lifecycle methods to allow for reacting to state changes. Let us now see how this can be done in a much more simplified way using a combination of the 

import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react";

export const Counter = () => {
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0);
  
  useEffect(() => {
    document.title = counter;
  }, [counter])
  
  return (
      <div>
        <div>{counter}</div>
        <button onClick={() => setCounter(counter + 1)}>+</button>
     </div>
    ) 
  
};

 hook we have used here takes two parameters:

In the example, the effect is triggered each time the value of the 

 variable changes. It sets the document title to the current counter value.

This handles two scenarios - the initial load scenario covered by 

, and the subsequent update scenario covered by 

 can optionally return another 'clean up' function, which can be used to provide 

 useEffect(() => {
    document.title = counter;
   
   return () => document.title = "Reset Title";
  }, [counter])

If we wanted to perform an action just on initial load, we can use the 

 hook with an empty dependency array, like so:

useEffect(() => {
    document.title = "My Custom Title";
  }, [])

Due to the asynchronous nature of state changes, it can not always be guaranteed that any functions declared within a component will have the most up-to-date values of state variables. This manifests most commonly when using an event handler to update the state, when the new state is based on the previous value. In the example below, the 

 function may not always have the newest value for the 

import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react";

export const Counter = () => {
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0);
  
  useEffect(() => {
    document.title = counter;
  }, [counter])
  
  const incrementCounter = () => {
	setCounter(counter + 1)
  }
  
  return (
      <div>
        <div>{counter}</div>
        <button onClick={incrementCounter}>+</button>
     </div>
    ) 
  
};

When declaring a function that depends on variables outside of it, we can make use of the 

 hook. This will make sure that the function is updated each time any of the variables it depends on changes.

import React, { useState, useEffect, useCallback } from "react";

export const Counter = () => {
  const [counter, setCounter] = useState(0);
  
  useEffect(() => {
    document.title = counter;
  }, [counter])
  
  const incrementCounter = useCallback(() => {
	setCounter(counter + 1)
  }, [counter])
  
  return (
      <div>
        <div>{counter}</div>
        <button onClick={incrementCounter}>+</button>
     </div>
    ) 
  
};

 API provides an easy way to create global state that can be accessed by components anywhere in the tree. This can be used to implement features such as theming. Let us consider a simple example to understand this better.

const theme = {
  font: "Helvetica Neue",
  foregroundColor: "#1f2027",
  backgroundColor: "#ffc000"
};

export const ThemeContext = React.createContext(theme);

import { ThemeContext } from "./ThemeContext";

const theme = {
  font: "Helvetica Neue",
  foregroundColor: "blue",
  backgroundColor: "yellow"
};

function App() {
  return (
    <ThemeContext.Provider value={colors}>
      <Home />
    </ThemeContext.Provider>
  );
}

We would then consume the value in our components using a 

 tag which provides the value as a render prop.

<ThemeContext.Consumer>
    {
      theme =>
        <div
          style={{color: theme.foregroundColor, backgroundColor: theme.backgroundColor}}>
    	  ...
  	    </div>
    }
  </ThemeContext.Consumer>

There are a couple of downsides to this approach.

import React, { useContext } from "react";
import { ThemeContext } from "./ThemeContext";

export const MyComponent = () => {
  const theme = useContext(ThemeContext);
  
  return (
  <div style={{color: theme.foregroundColor, backgroundColor: theme.backgroundColor}}
  )
}

This also automatically subscribes the component to changes in 

, which means the component will re-render each time 

Earlier in the article, we discussed the problem of monolithic state with class-based components, and how the 

 hook solves that problem. However, there are situations where different pieces of state are interlinked, and it does make sense to have them in an object. For these use cases, we can use the 

 hook. This hook takes a reducer function, and an optional 

 function, and returns a state object and a dispatch function. The dispatch function can then be used to trigger actions which will update the state object.

To understand this better, let us go back to the 

. It now also displays a message based on the counter value.

import React, { useReducer } from "react";

const reducer = (state, action) => {
  switch(action.type) {
    case 'increment':
      return {
        ...state,
        counter: state.counter + 1,
        message: state.counter < 5 ? 'You have clicked a few times' : 'You have clicked many times'
      }
    default:
    	return state;
  }
}

export const Counter = () => {
  const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(
    reducer,
    {
      counter: 0,
      message: 'You have not clicked yet'
    }
  );
  
  useEffect(() => {
    document.title = state.counter;
  }, [state.counter])
  
  return (
    <div>
      <div>{state.counter}</div>
      <button onClick={() => dispatch({type: 'increment'})}>+</button>
      <div>{state.message}</div>
   </div>
  );   
};

This is a very simple example but in the real world, you could have much larger components with complex state and transitions. By using the 

 hook, you can effectively separate the stateful logic from the presentation logic. The reducer is a pure function and therefore is easily testable with unit tests.

 hook is used to create a mutable ref object, whose 

 property will store the initial value passed into the hook. This object will persist across re-renders.

s is for accessing child nodes in the component.

In this example, we use a ref to focus the text box on render.

import React, { useState, useRef, useEffect } from "react";

const AutoFocusInput = () => {
  const [text, setText] = useState('Text');
  const inputRef = useRef(null);
  
  useEffect(() => {
    if (inputRef.current) {
      inputRef.current.focus();
    }
  }, [inputRef])
  
  return (
    <input
      type="text"
      placeholder="Text"
      value={text}
      ref={inputRef} />
  );
}

As we have discovered through the article, hooks are just like any other JavaScript function, albeit with a few ground rules. This means that we can also define our own hooks to encapsulate and reuse logic between components. Within the body of a hook function, you can call other hooks to use their functionality as well.

 hook that can be used to make HTTP calls.

import { useState, useEffect } from "react";

export function useFetch(url) {
  const [data, setData] = useState([]);

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch(url)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(data => setData(data));
  }, []);

  return data;
}

If you're using an API that needs an auth token passed in, you could extend the 

 headers to each request, thereby saving you the hassle of having to do that on every fetch.

import { useState, useEffect, useContext } from "react";
import AuthContext from "./AuthContext";

export function useFetch(url) {
  const [data, setData] = useState([]);
  const { authToken } = useContext(AuthContext);

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch(url, {
        method: 'GET',
        withCredentials: true,
        credentials: 'include',
        headers: {
            'Authorization': `bearer ${authToken}`,
            'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        })
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(data => setData(data));
  }, []);

  return data;
}

Another common use case is for setting up and cleaning up event listeners.

In this article, we have learnt about React Hooks in detail.

We understood the differences between class-based and function-based components and explored the pain points of using class-based components - lots of boilerplate code, monolithic state and the inability to watch for changes outside of lifecycle methods.

We have learnt how to use the various built-in hooks with examples:

In addition, we have also learnt how to create custom hooks to encapsulate and reuse functionality. We have seen how this can be useful through the examples - 

React Hooks have been one of the most important tools in my toolbox ever since their release. I hope this article has made it easier for you to understand them and made them a useful tool for you as well! 💪Happy coding! 🚀

 in the React docs is a great starting point for your React Hooks journey.

Learn

The newline Guide to Building Your First GraphQL Server with Node and TypeScript

Teach

Amelia Wattenberger

Author of Fullstack D3

Community

Free Tools

Understanding React Hooks

Tags

Responses (0)

Free AI Career Tools

AI Job Listings

ATS Resume Checker

Startup Perks

Masterclasses

Tutorials

Fullstack React with TypeScript