React Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
-
What are the main features of Reselect library?
Let's see the main features of Reselect library,
- Selectors can compute derived data, allowing Redux to store the minimal possible state.
- Selectors are efficient. A selector is not recomputed unless one of its arguments changes.
- Selectors are composable. They can be used as input to other selectors.
-
Give an example of Reselect usage?
Let's take calculations and different amounts of a shipment order with the simplified usage of Reselect:
import { createSelector } from "reselect";
const shopItemsSelector = (state) => state.shop.items;
const taxPercentSelector = (state) => state.shop.taxPercent;
const subtotalSelector = createSelector(shopItemsSelector, (items) =>
items.reduce((acc, item) => acc + item.value, 0)
);
const taxSelector = createSelector(
subtotalSelector,
taxPercentSelector,
(subtotal, taxPercent) => subtotal * (taxPercent / 100)
);
export const totalSelector = createSelector(
subtotalSelector,
taxSelector,
(subtotal, tax) => ({ total: subtotal + tax })
);
let exampleState = {
shop: {
taxPercent: 8,
items: [
{ name: "apple", value: 1.2 },
{ name: "orange", value: 0.95 },
],
},
};
console.log(subtotalSelector(exampleState)); // 2.15
console.log(taxSelector(exampleState)); // 0.172
console.log(totalSelector(exampleState)); // { total: 2.322 }
-
Does the statics object work with ES6 classes in React?
No,
statics
only works withReact.createClass()
:someComponent = React.createClass({
statics: {
someMethod: function () {
// ..
},
},
});But you can write statics inside ES6+ classes as below,
class Component extends React.Component {
static propTypes = {
// ...
};
static someMethod() {
// ...
}
}or writing them outside class as below,
class Component extends React.Component {
....
}
Component.propTypes = {...}
Component.someMethod = function(){....}
-
Can Redux only be used with React?
Redux can be used as a data store for any UI layer. The most common usage is with React and React Native, but there are bindings available for Angular, Angular 2, Vue, Mithril, and more. Redux simply provides a subscription mechanism which can be used by any other code.
-
Do you need to have a particular build tool to use Redux?
Redux is originally written in ES6 and transpiled for production into ES5 with Webpack and Babel. You should be able to use it regardless of your JavaScript build process. Redux also offers a UMD build that can be used directly without any build process at all.
-
How Redux Form
initialValues
get updated from state?You need to add
enableReinitialize : true
setting.const InitializeFromStateForm = reduxForm({
form: "initializeFromState",
enableReinitialize: true,
})(UserEdit);If your
initialValues
prop gets updated, your form will update too.
-
How React PropTypes allow different types for one prop?
You can use
oneOfType()
method ofPropTypes
.For example, the height property can be defined with either
string
ornumber
type as below:Component.propTypes = {
size: PropTypes.oneOfType([PropTypes.string, PropTypes.number]),
};
-
Can I import an SVG file as react component?
You can import SVG directly as component instead of loading it as a file. This feature is available with
react-scripts@2.0.0
and higher.import { ReactComponent as Logo } from "./logo.svg";
const App = () => (
<div>
{/* Logo is an actual react component */}
<Logo />
</div>
);Note: Don't forget about the curly braces in the import.
-
Why are inline ref callbacks or functions not recommended?
If the ref callback is defined as an inline function, it will get called twice during updates, first with null and then again with the DOM element. This is because a new instance of the function is created with each render, so React needs to clear the old ref and set up the new one.
class UserForm extends Component {
handleSubmit = () => {
console.log("Input Value is: ", this.input.value);
};
render() {
return (
<form onSubmit={this.handleSubmit}>
<input type="text" ref={(input) => (this.input = input)} /> //
Access DOM input in handle submit
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
);
}
}But our expectation is for the ref callback to get called once, when the component mounts. One quick fix is to use the ES7 class property syntax to define the function
class UserForm extends Component {
handleSubmit = () => {
console.log("Input Value is: ", this.input.value);
};
setSearchInput = (input) => {
this.input = input;
};
render() {
return (
<form onSubmit={this.handleSubmit}>
<input type="text" ref={this.setSearchInput} /> // Access DOM input
in handle submit
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
);
}
}Note: In React v16.3, ⬆ Back to Top
-
What is render hijacking in react?
The concept of render hijacking is the ability to control what a component will output from another component. It means that you decorate your component by wrapping it into a Higher-Order component. By wrapping, you can inject additional props or make other changes, which can cause changing logic of rendering. It does not actually enable hijacking, but by using HOC you make your component behave differently.
-
What are HOC factory implementations?
There are two main ways of implementing HOCs in React.
- Props Proxy (PP) and
- Inheritance Inversion (II).
But they follow different approaches for manipulating the WrappedComponent.
Props Proxy
In this approach, the render method of the HOC returns a React Element of the type of the WrappedComponent. We also pass through the props that the HOC receives, hence the name Props Proxy.
function ppHOC(WrappedComponent) {
return class PP extends React.Component {
render() {
return <WrappedComponent {...this.props} />;
}
};
}Inheritance Inversion
In this approach, the returned HOC class (Enhancer) extends the WrappedComponent. It is called Inheritance Inversion because instead of the WrappedComponent extending some Enhancer class, it is passively extended by the Enhancer. In this way the relationship between them seems inverse.
function iiHOC(WrappedComponent) {
return class Enhancer extends WrappedComponent {
render() {
return super.render();
}
};
}
-
How to pass numbers to React component?
You should be passing the numbers via curly braces() where as strings in quotes
React.render(
<User age={30} department={"IT"} />,
document.getElementById("container")
);
-
Do I need to keep all my state into Redux? Should I ever use react internal state?
It is up to the developer's decision, i.e., it is developer's job to determine what kinds of state make up your application, and where each piece of state should live. Some users prefer to keep every single piece of data in Redux, to maintain a fully serializable and controlled version of their application at all times. Others prefer to keep non-critical or UI state, such as “is this dropdown currently open”, inside a component's internal state.
Below are the thumb rules to determine what kind of data should be put into Redux
- Do other parts of the application care about this data?
- Do you need to be able to create further derived data based on this original data?
- Is the same data being used to drive multiple components?
- Is there value to you in being able to restore this state to a given point in time (ie, time travel debugging)?
- Do you want to cache the data (i.e, use what's in state if it's already there instead of re-requesting it)?
-
What is the purpose of registerServiceWorker in React?
React creates a service worker for you without any configuration by default. The service worker is a web API that helps you cache your assets and other files so that when the user is offline or on a slow network, he/she can still see results on the screen, as such, it helps you build a better user experience, that's what you should know about service worker for now. It's all about adding offline capabilities to your site.
import React from "react";
import ReactDOM from "react-dom";
import App from "./App";
import registerServiceWorker from "./registerServiceWorker";
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById("root"));
registerServiceWorker();
-
What is React memo function?
Class components can be restricted from re-rendering when their input props are the same using PureComponent or shouldComponentUpdate. Now you can do the same with function components by wrapping them in React.memo.
const MyComponent = React.memo(function MyComponent(props) {
/* only rerenders if props change */
});
-
What is React lazy function?
The
React.lazy
function lets you render a dynamic import as a regular component. It will automatically load the bundle containing theOtherComponent
when the component gets rendered. This must return a Promise which resolves to a module with a default export containing a React component.const OtherComponent = React.lazy(() => import("./OtherComponent"));
function MyComponent() {
return (
<div>
<OtherComponent />
</div>
);
}Note:
React.lazy
andSuspense
is not yet available for server-side rendering. If you want to do code-splitting in a server rendered app, we still recommend React Loadable.
-
How to prevent unnecessary updates using setState?
You can compare the current value of the state with an existing state value and decide whether to rerender the page or not. If the values are the same then you need to return null to stop re-rendering otherwise return the latest state value.
For example, the user profile information is conditionally rendered as follows,
getUserProfile = (user) => {
const latestAddress = user.address;
this.setState((state) => {
if (state.address === latestAddress) {
return null;
} else {
return { title: latestAddress };
}
});
};
-
How do you render Array, Strings and Numbers in React 16 Version?
Arrays: Unlike older releases, you don't need to make sure render method return a single element in React16. You are able to return multiple sibling elements without a wrapping element by returning an array.
For example, let us take the below list of developers,
const ReactJSDevs = () => {
return [
<li key="1">John</li>,
<li key="2">Jackie</li>,
<li key="3">Jordan</li>,
];
};You can also merge this array of items in another array component.
const JSDevs = () => {
return (
<ul>
<li>Brad</li>
<li>Brodge</li>
<ReactJSDevs />
<li>Brandon</li>
</ul>
);
};Strings and Numbers: You can also return string and number type from the render method.
render() {
return 'Welcome to ReactJS questions';
}
// Number
render() {
return 2018;
}
-
How to use class field declarations syntax in React classes?
React Class Components can be made much more concise using the class field declarations. You can initialize the local state without using the constructor and declare class methods by using arrow functions without the extra need to bind them.
Let's take a counter example to demonstrate class field declarations for state without using constructor and methods without binding,
class Counter extends Component {
state = { value: 0 };
handleIncrement = () => {
this.setState((prevState) => ({
value: prevState.value + 1,
}));
};
handleDecrement = () => {
this.setState((prevState) => ({
value: prevState.value - 1,
}));
};
render() {
return (
<div>
{this.state.value}
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement}>+</button>
<button onClick={this.handleDecrement}>-</button>
</div>
);
}
}
-
What are hooks?
Hooks is a special JavaScript function that allows you use state and other React features without writing a class. This pattern has been introduced as a new feature in React 16.8 and helped to isolate the stateful logic from the components.
Let's see an example of useState hook:
import { useState } from "react";
function Example() {
// Declare a new state variable, which we'll call "count"
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<>
<p>You clicked {count} times</p>
<button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Click me</button>
</>
);
}Note: Hooks can be used inside an existing function component without rewriting the component.
-
What rules need to be followed for hooks?
You need to follow two rules in order to use hooks,
- Call Hooks only at the top level of your react functions: You shouldn’t call Hooks inside loops, conditions, or nested functions. This will ensure that Hooks are called in the same order each time a component renders and it preserves the state of Hooks between multiple useState and useEffect calls.
- Call Hooks from React Functions only: You shouldn’t call Hooks from regular JavaScript functions. Instead, you should call them from either function components or custom hooks.
The eslint plugin named eslint-plugin-react-hooks can be used to enforce these two rules.
-
How to ensure hooks followed the rules in your project?
React team released an ESLint plugin called eslint-plugin-react-hooks that enforces these two rules. You can add this plugin to your project using the below command,
npm install eslint-plugin-react-hooks@next
And apply the below config in your ESLint config file,
// Your ESLint configuration
{
"plugins": [
// ...
"react-hooks"
],
"rules": {
// ...
"react-hooks/rules-of-hooks": "error"
}
}For example, the linter enforce proper naming convention for hooks. If you rename your custom hooks which as prefix "use" to something else then linter won't allow you to call built-in hooks such as useState, useEffect etc inside of your custom hook anymore.
Note: This plugin is intended to use in Create React App by default.
-
What are the differences between Flux and Redux?
Below are the major differences between Flux and Redux
Flux Redux State is mutable State is immutable The Store contains both state and change logic The Store and change logic are separate There are multiple stores exist There is only one store exist All the stores are disconnected and flat Single store with hierarchical reducers It has a singleton dispatcher There is no concept of dispatcher React components subscribe to the store Container components uses connect function
-
What are the benefits of React Router V4?
Below are the main benefits of React Router V4 module,
- In React Router v4(version 4), the API is completely about components. A router can be visualized as a single component(
<BrowserRouter>
) which wraps specific child router components(<Route>
). - You don't need to manually set history. The router module will take care history by wrapping routes with
<BrowserRouter>
component. - The application size is reduced by adding only the specific router module(Web, core, or native)
- In React Router v4(version 4), the API is completely about components. A router can be visualized as a single component(
-
Can you describe about componentDidCatch lifecycle method signature?
The componentDidCatch lifecycle method is invoked after an error has been thrown by a descendant component. The method receives two parameters,
- error: - The error object which was thrown
- info: - An object with a componentStack key contains the information about which component threw the error.
The method structure would be as follows
componentDidCatch(error, info);
-
In which scenarios error boundaries do not catch errors?
Below are the cases in which error boundaries doesn't work,
- Inside Event handlers
- Asynchronous code using setTimeout or requestAnimationFrame callbacks
- During Server side rendering
- When errors thrown in the error boundary code itself
-
Why do you not need error boundaries for event handlers?
Error boundaries do not catch errors inside event handlers.
React doesn’t need error boundaries to recover from errors in event handlers. Unlike the render method and lifecycle methods, the event handlers don’t happen during rendering. So if they throw, React still knows what to display on the screen.
If you need to catch an error inside an event handler, use the regular JavaScript try / catch statement:
class MyComponent extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = { error: null };
this.handleClick = this.handleClick.bind(this);
}
handleClick() {
try {
// Do something that could throw
} catch (error) {
this.setState({ error });
}
}
render() {
if (this.state.error) {
return <h1>Caught an error.</h1>;
}
return <button onClick={this.handleClick}>Click Me</button>;
}
}Note that the above example is demonstrating regular JavaScript behavior and doesn’t use error boundaries.
-
What is the difference between try catch block and error boundaries?
Try catch block works with imperative code whereas error boundaries are meant for declarative code to render on the screen.
For example, the try catch block used for below imperative code
try {
showButton();
} catch (error) {
// ...
}Whereas error boundaries wrap declarative code as below,
<ErrorBoundary>
<MyComponent />
</ErrorBoundary>So if an error occurs in a componentDidUpdate method caused by a setState somewhere deep in the tree, it will still correctly propagate to the closest error boundary.
-
What is the behavior of uncaught errors in react 16?
In React 16, errors that were not caught by any error boundary will result in unmounting of the whole React component tree. The reason behind this decision is that it is worse to leave corrupted UI in place than to completely remove it. For example, it is worse for a payments app to display a wrong amount than to render nothing.
-
What is the proper placement for error boundaries?
The granularity of error boundaries usage is up to the developer based on project needs. You can follow either of these approaches,- You can wrap top-level route components to display a generic error message for the entire application.
- You can also wrap individual components in an error boundary to protect them from crashing the rest of the application.
-
What is the benefit of component stack trace from error boundary?
Apart from error messages and javascript stack, React16 will display the component stack trace with file names and line numbers using error boundary concept.
For example, BuggyCounter component displays the component stack trace as below,
-
What is the required method to be defined for a class component?
Therender()
method is the only required method in a class component. i.e, All methods other than render method are optional for a class component.
-
What are the possible return types of render method?
Below are the list of following types used and return from render method,
- ```React elements: Elements that instruct React to render a DOM node. It includes html elements such as
<div/>
and user defined elements. - Arrays and fragments: Return multiple elements to render as Arrays and Fragments to wrap multiple elements
- Portals: Render children into a different DOM subtree.
- String and numbers: Render both Strings and Numbers as text nodes in the DOM
- Booleans or null: Doesn't render anything but these types are used to conditionally render content.
- ```React elements: Elements that instruct React to render a DOM node. It includes html elements such as
-
What is the main purpose of constructor?
The constructor is mainly used for two purposes,
- To initialize local state by assigning object to this.state
- For binding event handler methods to the instance For example, the below code covers both the above cases,
constructor(props) {
super(props);
// Don't call this.setState() here!
this.state = { counter: 0 };
this.handleClick = this.handleClick.bind(this);
}
-
Is it mandatory to define constructor for React component?
No, it is not mandatory. i.e, If you don’t initialize state and you don’t bind methods, you don’t need to implement a constructor for your React component.
-
What are default props?
The defaultProps can be defined as a property on the component to set the default values for the props. These default props are used when props not supplied(i.e., undefined props), but not for null props. That means, If you provide null value then it remains null value.
For example, let us create color default prop for the button component,
function MyButton {
// ...
}
MyButton.defaultProps = {
color: "red",
};If
props.color
is not provided then it will set the default value to 'red'. i.e, Whenever you try to access the color prop it uses the default valuerender() {
return <MyButton /> ; // props.color will contain red value
}
-
Why should not call setState in componentWillUnmount?
You should not callsetState()
incomponentWillUnmount()
because once a component instance is unmounted, it will never be mounted again.
-
What is the purpose of getDerivedStateFromError?
This lifecycle method is invoked after an error has been thrown by a descendant component. It receives the error that was thrown as a parameter and should return a value to update state.
The signature of the lifecycle method is as follows,
static getDerivedStateFromError(error)
Let us take error boundary use case with the above lifecycle method for demonstration purpose,
class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = { hasError: false };
}
static getDerivedStateFromError(error) {
// Update state so the next render will show the fallback UI.
return { hasError: true };
}
render() {
if (this.state.hasError) {
// You can render any custom fallback UI
return <h1>Something went wrong.</h1>;
}
return this.props.children;
}
}
-
What is the methods order when component re-rendered?
An update can be caused by changes to props or state. The below methods are called in the following order when a component is being re-rendered.
- static getDerivedStateFromProps()
- shouldComponentUpdate()
- render()
- getSnapshotBeforeUpdate()
- componentDidUpdate()
-
What are the methods invoked during error handling?
Below methods are called when there is an error during rendering, in a lifecycle method, or in the constructor of any child component.
- static getDerivedStateFromError()
- componentDidCatch()
-
What is the purpose of displayName class property?
The displayName string is used in debugging messages. Usually, you don’t need to set it explicitly because it’s inferred from the name of the function or class that defines the component. You might want to set it explicitly if you want to display a different name for debugging purposes or when you create a higher-order component.
For example, To ease debugging, choose a display name that communicates that it’s the result of a withSubscription HOC.
function withSubscription(WrappedComponent) {
class WithSubscription extends React.Component {
/* ... */
}
WithSubscription.displayName = `WithSubscription(${getDisplayName(
WrappedComponent
)})`;
return WithSubscription;
}
function getDisplayName(WrappedComponent) {
return (
WrappedComponent.displayName || WrappedComponent.name || "Component"
);
}
-
What is the browser support for react applications?
React supports all popular browsers, including Internet Explorer 9 and above, although some polyfills are required for older browsers such as IE 9 and IE 10. If you use es5-shim and es5-sham polyfill then it even support old browsers that doesn't support ES5 methods.
-
What is the purpose of unmountComponentAtNode method?
This method is available from react-dom package and it removes a mounted React component from the DOM and clean up its event handlers and state. If no component was mounted in the container, calling this function does nothing. Returns true if a component was unmounted and false if there was no component to unmount.
The method signature would be as follows,
ReactDOM.unmountComponentAtNode(container);
-
What is code-splitting?
Code-Splitting is a feature supported by bundlers like Webpack and Browserify which can create multiple bundles that can be dynamically loaded at runtime. The react project supports code splitting via dynamic import() feature.
For example, in the below code snippets, it will make moduleA.js and all its unique dependencies as a separate chunk that only loads after the user clicks the 'Load' button. moduleA.js
const moduleA = "Hello";
export { moduleA };App.js
import React, { Component } from "react";
class App extends Component {
handleClick = () => {
import("./moduleA")
.then(({ moduleA }) => {
// Use moduleA
})
.catch((err) => {
// Handle failure
});
};
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.handleClick}>Load</button>
</div>
);
}
}
export default App;