Introduction to React Hooks

React is a library for creating front end views. It has a big ecosystem of libraries that work with it. Also, we can use it to enhance existing apps.

In this article, we’ll look at how to use React hooks to make function components smarter.

Hooks are introduced with React 16.8.

We can use hooks to make function components keep and change dynamic states.

For example, we can write the following code to add a hook to our app:

In the code above, we have the React.useState hook with the default 0 passed in. It returns an array with the state, which we called count , and a function to set the state, which is called setCount .

Then in the onClick handler of the button, we can the setCount function to update the count.

Other packages like React DOM also has to be updated to 16.8 or later.

React Native since 0.59 also supports hooks.

Hooks are completely opt-in. They coexist with class components. Therefore, we don’t have to change any existing code. They’re also completely interoperable with class components.

Class components will be available in the future. They also don’t replace our knowledge of existing React concepts.

We can use gooks to reuse stateful logic without creating higher-order components or doing other things to change our component hierarchy.

Complex components have many methods which are lifecycle hooks and also our own user-defined functions.

They all have a mix of unrelated logic. This makes it too easy to introduce bugs and inconsistencies.

Related posts:

This poem was inspired by letters of Henry V111’s wives in the book Letters of the Queens of England 1100–1457 (Crawford, 1994) and IdeaStream No.51. Thanks as always for the words to Xavier Van…

The canvases of Cy Twombly now sell in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars, but that doesn’t make them easy to understand, appreciate, enjoy, or like. The content of these canvases can seem…