mirror of
https://github.com/LukeHagar/unicorn-utterances.git
synced 2025-12-09 21:07:49 +00:00
Finalize migration from talk slides to article
This commit is contained in:
Corbin Crutchley
@@ -10,23 +10,21 @@
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}
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---
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# What is a React Ref?
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Programming terminology can be rather confusing. The first time I'd heard about "React Refs", it was in the context of [getting a reference to a DOM node](#dom-ref). However, with the introduction of hooks, the `useRef` hook has expanded the definition of "refs".
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- Two distinct things
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- A "useRef" hook for mutable data properties
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- Can be only used in functional components
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- Does the same thing as "class instance variables" in class components
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- A method of referencing DOM Elements
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- Handled with "useRef" hook in functional components
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- Use "React.createRef" for class components
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Today, we'll be walking through two definitions of refs:
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- A [mutable data property](#use-ref-mutate) to persist data across renders
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- A [reference to DOM elements](#dom-ref)
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# Mutable Data Storage
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We'll also be exploring additional functionality to each of those two defintions, such as [component refs](#forward-ref), [adding more properties to a ref](#use-imperative-handle), and even exploring [common code gotchas associated with using `useRef`](#refs-in-use-effect).
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- Exposed by "useRef" hook
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- Utilizes "current" property to store data
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- Utilizes "pass-by-reference"
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> As most of this content relies on the `useRef` hook, we'll be using functional components for all of our examples. However, there are APIs such as [`React.createRef`](https://reactjs.org/docs/refs-and-the-dom.html#creating-refs) and [class instance variables](https://www.seanmcp.com/articles/storing-data-in-state-vs-class-variable/) that can be used to recreate `React.useRef` functionality with classes.
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# Mutable Data Storage {#use-ref-mutate}
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While `useState` is the most commonly known hook for data storage, it's not the only one on the block. React's `useRef` hook functions differently from `useState`, but they're both used for persisting data across renders.
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```jsx
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const ref = React.useRef();
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@@ -34,6 +32,18 @@ const ref = React.useRef();
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ref.current = "Hello!";
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```
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In this example, `ref.current` will contain `"Hello!"` after the intial render. The returned value from `useRef` is an object that contains a single key: `current`.
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If you were to run the following code:
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```jsx
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const ref = React.useRef();
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console.log(ref)
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```
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You'd find a `{current: undefined}` printed to the console. This is the shape of all React Refs. If you look at the TypeScript definition for the hooks, you'll see something like this:
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```typescript
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// React.d.ts
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@@ -44,6 +54,10 @@ interface MutableRefObject {
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function useRef(): MutableRefObject;
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```
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Why does `useRef` rely on storing data inside of a `current` property? It's so that you can utilize JavaScript's "pass-by-reference" functionality in order to avoid renders.
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Now, you might think that the `useRef` hook is implemented something like the following:
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```jsx
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// This is NOT how it's implemented
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function useRef(initial) {
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@@ -66,15 +80,22 @@ function useRef(initial) {
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}
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```
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- Don't cause re-renders on data change
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However, that's not the case. [To quote Dan Apromov](https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/14387#issuecomment-493676850):
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https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/14387#issuecomment-493676850 (screenshot this comment)
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> ... `useRef` works more like this:
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>
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> ```jsx
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> function useRef(initialValue) {
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> const [ref, ignored] = useState({ current: initialValue })
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> return ref
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> }
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> ```
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- Useful for non-rendered data
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- EG: Timers, animations
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Because of this implementation, when you mutate the `current` value it will not cause a re-render.
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Thanks to the lack of rendering on data storage, it's particularly useful for storing data that you need to keep a reference to, but don't need to render on-screen. One such example of this would be a timer:
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```jsx
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const dataRef = React.useRef();
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@@ -92,14 +113,13 @@ https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/14387#issuecomment-493676850 (screensho
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}, [dataRef]);
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```
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<iframe src="https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-data?ctl=1&embed=1" style="width:100%; height:500px; border:0; border-radius: 4px; overflow:hidden;" sandbox="allow-modals allow-forms allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe>
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-data
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# Visual Timer with Refs {#visual-timers}
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# Visual Timer with Refs
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While there are usages for timers without rendered values, what were to happen if we made the timer render a value in state?
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- Use timer to set state
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- Assign timer to ref
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- Render the timer value
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Let's take the example from before, but inside of the `setInterval`, we update a `useState` that contains a number to add one to it's state.
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```jsx
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const dataRef = React.useRef();
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@@ -123,10 +143,13 @@ https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-data
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);
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-buggy-code
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Now, we'd expect to see the timer update from `1` to `2` (and beyond) as the timer continues to render. However, if we look at the app while it runs, we'll see some behavior we might not expect:
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- Closures can get stale
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- Solved by "passing by reference"*
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<iframe src="https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-buggy-code?ctl=1&embed=1" style="width:100%; height:500px; border:0; border-radius: 4px; overflow:hidden;" sandbox="allow-modals allow-forms allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe>
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This is because [the closure](https://whatthefuck.is/closure) that's passed to the `setInterval` has grown stale. This is a common problem when using React Hooks. While there's a simple solution hidden in `useState`'s API, let's solve this problem using mutations and `useRef`.
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Because `useRef` relies on passing by reference and mutating that reference, if we simply introduce a second `useRef` and mutate it on every render to match the `useState` value, we can work around the limitations with the stale closure.
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```jsx
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const dataRef = React.useRef();
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@@ -148,11 +171,30 @@ https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-buggy-code
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}, [dataRef]);
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-fixed-code
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<iframe src="https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-mutable-fixed-code?ctl=1&embed=1" style="width:100%; height:500px; border:0; border-radius: 4px; overflow:hidden;" sandbox="allow-modals allow-forms allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe>
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> * I would not solve it this way in production. `useState` accepts a callback which...
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> * I would not solve it this way in production. `useState` accepts a callback which you can use as an alternative (much more recommended) route:
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>
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> ```jsx
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> const dataRef = React.useRef();
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>
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> const [timerVal, setTimerVal] = React.useState(0);
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>
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> const clearTimer = () => {
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> clearInterval(dataRef.current);
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> };
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>
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> React.useEffect(() => {
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> dataRef.current = setInterval(() => {
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> setTimerVal(tVal => tVal + 1);
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> }, 500);
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>
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> return () => clearInterval(dataRef.current);
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> }, [dataRef]);
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> ```
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> We're simply using a `useRef` to outline one of the important properties about refs: mutation.
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# DOM Element References
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# DOM Element References {#dom-ref}
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- Stored using "ref" attribute
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- HTMLDivElement stored in "current"
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@@ -204,7 +246,7 @@ Ref attribute accepts functional API
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-effect-style-callback
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# Component References
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# Component References {#forward-ref}
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- Can pass "ref" to components
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- Property must not be called "ref"*
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@@ -277,4 +319,266 @@ const App = () => {
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);
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-effect-style-forward-ref
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-effect-style-forward-ref
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# Add Data to Ref {#use-imperative-handle}
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```jsx
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import React from "react";
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import "./style.css";
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const Container = React.forwardRef(({children}, ref) => {
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return <div ref={ref} tabIndex="1">
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{children}
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</div>
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})
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export default function App() {
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const elRef = React.useRef();
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React.useEffect(() => {
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elRef.current.focus();
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}, [elRef])
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return (
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<Container ref={elRef}>
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<h1>Hello StackBlitz!</h1>
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<p>Start editing to see some magic happen :)</p>
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</Container>
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);
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}
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-imperative-handle-demo-pre
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- useImperativeHandle hook allows properties to be added to ref
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- Can be used in combination with forwardRef
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- Only properties returned in second param are set to ref
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```jsx
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import React from "react";
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import "./style.css";
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const Container = React.forwardRef(({children}, ref) => {
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const divRef = React.useRef();
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React.useImperativeHandle(ref, () => ({
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focus: () => {
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divRef.current.focus();
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console.log("I have now focused");
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}
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}))
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return <div ref={divRef} tabIndex="1">
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{children}
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</div>
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})
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export default function App() {
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const elRef = React.useRef();
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React.useEffect(() => {
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elRef.current.focus();
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}, [elRef])
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return (
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<Container ref={elRef}>
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<h1>Hello StackBlitz!</h1>
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<p>Start editing to see some magic happen :)</p>
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</Container>
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);
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}
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-imperative-handle-demo-post
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> Be cautious about using this in production. It breaks unidirectional data binding
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```jsx
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React.useEffect(() => {
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elRef.current.konami();
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}, [elRef])
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-imperative-handle-demo-useful
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# React Refs in `useEffect ` {#refs-in-use-effect}
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- `useEffect` only does the array check on re-render
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- Ref's current property set doesn't trigger a re-render
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```jsx
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export default function App() {
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const elRef = React.useRef();
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React.useEffect(() => {
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elRef.current.style.background = "lightblue";
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}, [elRef]);
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return (
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<div ref={elRef}>
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<h1>Hello StackBlitz!</h1>
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<p>Start editing to see some magic happen :)</p>
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</div>
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);
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}
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-effect-style
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However, what happens when you make the `div` render happen _after_ the initial render. What do you think will happen here?
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```jsx
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export default function App() {
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const elRef = React.useRef();
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const [shouldRender, setRender] = React.useState(false);
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React.useEffect(() => {
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if (!elRef.current) return;
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elRef.current.style.background = 'lightblue';
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}, [elRef.current])
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React.useEffect(() => {
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setTimeout(() => {
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setRender(true);
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}, 100);
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}, []);
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return !shouldRender ? null : (
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<div ref={elRef}>
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<h1>Hello StackBlitz!</h1>
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<p>Start editing to see some magic happen :)</p>
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</div>
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);
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}
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-effect-bug-effect
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```jsx
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const [minus, setMinus] = React.useState(0);
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const ref = React.useRef(0);
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const addState = () => {
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setMinus(minus + 1);
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};
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const addRef = () => {
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ref.current = ref.current + 1;
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};
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React.useEffect(() => {
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console.log(`ref.current:`, ref.current);
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}, [ref.current]);
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React.useEffect(() => {
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console.log(`minus:`, minus);
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}, [minus]);
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-not-updating
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Here are some comments from Dan Apromov, of the React Core team:
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https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/14387#issuecomment-503616820
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https://twitter.com/dan_abramov/status/1093497348913803265
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https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/14387#issuecomment-493677168
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But what does Dan mean by "callback ref"?
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# Callback Refs {#callback-refs}
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- Remember, "ref" property accepts a function to access the node
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- Because it's not using "useEffect", code can execute in proper timing
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```jsx
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const elRefCB = React.useCallback(node => {
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if (node !== null) {
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node.style.background = "lightblue";
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}
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}, []);
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return !shouldRender ? null : (
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<div ref={elRefCB}>
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<h1>Hello StackBlitz!</h1>
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<p>Start editing to see some magic happen :)</p>
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</div>
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);
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-callback-styling
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- Can still keep a traditional "useRef" reference
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```jsx
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const elRef = React.useRef();
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console.log("I am rendering");
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const elRefCB = React.useCallback(node => {
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if (node !== null) {
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node.style.background = "lightblue";
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elRef.current = node;
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}
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}, []);
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React.useEffect(() => {
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console.log(elRef.current);
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}, [elRef, shouldRender]);
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-callback-and-effect
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# `useState` Refs {#usestate-refs}
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- Combining useState and Callback Refs
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- Will trigger a re-render
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- Works in useEffect
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```jsx
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const [elRef, setElRef] = React.useState();
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console.log('I am rendering');
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const elRefCB = React.useCallback(node => {
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if (node !== null) {
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setElRef(node);
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}
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}, []);
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React.useEffect(() => {
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console.log(elRef);
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}, [elRef])
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-callback-and-use-state
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- Can be used to impact reference using useEffect instead of inside of callback
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```jsx
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const [elNode, setElNode] = React.useState();
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const elRefCB = React.useCallback(node => {
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if (node !== null) {
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setElNode(node);
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}
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}, []);
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React.useEffect(() => {
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if (!elNode) return;
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elNode.style.background = 'lightblue';
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}, [elNode])
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```
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https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-use-ref-callback-and-state-effect
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# Conclusion
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user