React is set up in a way that the component view will change whenever it detects a state change. Internally, we are just changing the state from yellow to blue. Now we are setting the color in the JSX with a style tag. A state is like a simple property like a count value, or a color.
- React Redux implements many performance optimizations internally so that your own connected component only re-renders when it actually needs to.
- In addition, both the context API and the useReducer hook are generally easier to understand and work with than Redux.
- We will also pass the setColor method from App to Header as a prop.
- We will use it to simplify the complex state management of membership and authentication flows.
- React Context is crafted for the purpose of sharing data globally within a tree of React components.
Redux shines when dealing with complex, global state that needs to be shared across multiple components. If your application has a centralized state that affects multiple parts of the UI, Redux is an excellent choice. For example, to share data among siblings in React, a state has to live in the parent component.
How to install React Redux?
Redux DevTools makes it easy to take advantage of all Redux has to offer. This might look overwhelming, but in most cases, you won’t need to create your own middleware because the Redux community has already made many of them available. If you feel middleware is required, you will appreciate its capacity to enable great work with the best abstraction. In this example, the ThemeContext is created with a default value of ‘light’. The App component provides a new value for the context, which is then consumed by the Component through the useContext hook.
As we mentioned earlier, Redux is a standalone library that can be used with different JavaScript frameworks including Angular, Inferno, Vue, Preact, React, etc. This method takes a state parameter and then allows us to update it. We are going to install them using the yarn package manager.
Benefits of using Redux
It proves useful when certain parts of your application state need to be accessible throughout the entire component tree. Having initiated with a local state, you may encounter scenarios where child components require access to this state. You can effortlessly transmit the state to child components by passing it down as props when needed. The dashboard includes a set of widgets and provides users a lot of options to customize them. A user will adjust widgets according to their needs and the app state will change based on the user input.
But when it comes to sharing the state between components on the same level, Redux is the inevitable option. There are several benefits to using the React context API and the useReducer hook as alternatives to Redux for managing state in a React application. After hooking up our app with Redux, we can easily change the color of the component by clicking a button just like in the previous example.
Redux FAQ: General
When we open the app, we can see all the features of Redux Toolkit. Instead of storing the state locally, it puts everything globally in one place. So all the state stays outside of the presentation layer. It’s important to render modals at the root, but keeping their states in Redux isn’t necessary. A better approach, in this case, would be to create a Portal for the modals and handle their state only where they are being toggled. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.
They do not require the same level of setup or boilerplate code, and they are more closely integrated with the React ecosystem. This can make it easier for developers to learn and use these alternatives, especially if they are new to state management in React. This code sets up a store with an initial state and a reducer function that handles increment and decrement actions. While this example is fairly simple, the amount of boilerplate code can quickly become overwhelming in a larger application with a more complex state. However, if a state needs to be shared with a lot of components that belong to different parts of the app structure, the data flow gets more complex.
Series: React, Redux, and API’s. Part One: React Only
The React context API is a way to pass data through the component tree without the need for props drilling. It allows components to access data that is provided by a parent component higher up in the tree, without the need to pass the data down through props at every level. This can be useful for managing data that is needed by many components in the application, such as the authenticated user or the application’s theme. While Redux can be a useful tool for managing the state of a complex React application, it is not always necessary and there are alternative options available.
Redux was initially created by Dan Abramov and Andrew Clark in 2015 to simplify the state management in React apps built at Facebook. Now it’s an independent library that can be used in all sorts of JavaScript apps built with different frameworks (Angular, Vue, and others). Even in 2022 and onward, Redux is here to stay and remain popular among developers. Redux is still popular for helping developers build consistent user interfaces and cope with complex logic for app state management. PocketBase is a performant Go-based tool that comes with essential features like user auth, file uploads, access control rules, and more. Yes, it’s possible to write a complete application using nothing but a framework.
For example, consider a e-commerce website with a shopping cart. The cart’s state needs to be accessible from multiple components, such as the navigation bar, product pages, and checkout. Redux helps you manage this complex state in a predictable and maintainable way. As you can see in the example above, the component does not need to provide any state or method for its children components to share data among themselves. Everything is handled by Redux, which greatly simplifies the app and makes it easier to maintain.
Moreover, this library automatically does some store performance optimization. For example, it ensures that your app components rerender in response to the what is redux and why it matters state change only when it’s needed. React Redux is a library that handles the interaction logic between your app components and the global store in Redux.
Though overtime this is much better than reacts state management which can progressively grow complex within stateful components quickly. What to learn can be an overwhelming question for a JavaScript developer. It helps to narrow the range of options by learning one thing at a time and focusing on problems you find in your work. If you do not have problems with state management, you might find the benefits of Redux harder to understand. Some UI libraries (like React) have their own state management system. If you are using one of these libraries, especially if you are just learning to use them, we encourage you to learn the capabilities of that built-in system first.