Mastering Infinite Loading in React: A Step-by-Step Guide
Infinite loading is a popular pattern in ecommerce applications that allows users to seamlessly browse through products without having to wait for page reloads. In this article, we’ll explore how to create a super-powered infinite loading Hook for React that can be easily adapted to other contexts.
Creating a Hook for Infinite Scroll
Our Hook will manage the items visible on the page, including products, blog posts, and list items. We’ll use React Router as a dependency, assuming it’s prevalent across most React applications.
To start, we’ll create a function that loads the next page of items. This function will accept a page number variable and return an array of items corresponding to that page number.
Loading Data in Two Directions
What if a user visits a URL with a page number directly? We need to provide a way to load previous pages, which can be done using a “Load Previous” button. We’ll refactor our Hook to track the lowest page loaded and the highest page loaded, ensuring that we don’t load duplicate pages.
Perceived Performance
Perceived performance is the notion of how fast an application feels. We can make our infinite loading Hook feel instant by pre-fetching the next page of items even before the user requests them. This technique works exceptionally well with manually triggered “Load More” buttons.
Automatic Infinite Loading
The most performant way to implement infinite loading is to use the Intersection Observer API. We’ll use an existing React Hook, react-cool-inview, to detect when the “Load More” button is in the viewport and automatically trigger the action.
Infinite Loading Options
We’ll expand our infinite loading Hook with three options: manual loading, partial infinite loading, and infinite infinite loading. Manual loading requires the user to click a “Load More” button, while infinite infinite loading automatically loads pages as the user scrolls. Partial infinite loading is a mix of both, stopping automatic loading after a predefined maximum.
Final Thoughts
We’ve covered the process of creating an infinite loading Hook with special extra features. Feel free to play around with the code and use it as a starting point for your own infinite loading Hook. Remember to consider the user’s experience and adapt the Hook to your project’s needs.