The Rise of Hooks: A Game-Changer for React Components
Hooks burst onto the scene with React 16.8, promising to revolutionize the way we write React components. Now that the dust has settled, it’s clear that Hooks have become an integral part of the React ecosystem. But have they lived up to their lofty goals?
The Problem with Class Components
Class components have long been plagued by issues with composability. The logic contained in lifecycle events like componentDidMount is notoriously difficult to reshare, leading to awkward patterns like higher-order components and renderProps. These patterns are rife with edge cases, making them a nightmare to work with.
The Power of Hooks
Hooks, on the other hand, offer a clean and elegant solution to these problems. By isolating cross-cutting concerns and making them composable, Hooks have simplified the way we write React components. Library packages like react-router and react-redux have benefited greatly from Hooks, boasting cleaner and simpler APIs.
A Night-and-Day Difference
Take, for example, the old-school connect API from react-redux. The code is bloated and repetitive, with annoying type annotations for mapStateToProps and mapDispatchToProps. Refactoring this code to use Hooks yields a much cleaner and more maintainable result.
The Dark Side of Hooks
However, Hooks are not without their pitfalls. The dependency array, a crucial part of the useEffect Hook, can lead to infinite loops and unexpected behavior. This is because React compares the current dependency array with the previous one using the Object.is method, which checks for reference equality rather than value equality.
The Pitfalls of Pitfalls
Creating an arrow function inline that ends up in the dependency array can also lead to trouble. The solution is to use more Hooks, such as useRef, useMemo, or useCallback. But this can lead to a confusing and awkward codebase.
The Ugly Truth
I recently published a React Hook called react-abortable-fetch, and wrapping the runner function in a combination of useRef, useCallback, and useMemo was a frustrating experience. The resulting dependency array was large and difficult to maintain.
Execution Order Matters
Hooks need to run in the same order each time, as stated in the “Rules of Hooks”. This means avoiding calling Hooks inside loops, conditions, or nested functions. However, it’s common to return a function from a Hook that can be executed out of the Hooks order.
The Verdict
Despite their pitfalls, Hooks have simplified the way we write React components. They require less code than their predecessors, making them a compelling choice. However, manually managing the dependency graph and memoizing in all the right places can be challenging.
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