ReactJS useRef Hook

The useRef Hook lets you store a mutable value that persists across component renders. It is commonly used to access DOM elements or keep values without causing re-renders.

Returns an object with a .current property to hold any value
Updating .current does not trigger a re-render
Useful for DOM access, timers, and storing previous values

Syntax

const refContainer = useRef(initialValue);

Implementing the useRef hook

The useRef hook is used to access DOM elements and persist values across renders without triggering re-renders.

1. Accessing the DOM using the useRef hook

A ref created with useRef is attached to the textarea, allowing the click handler to access the DOM element and programmatically set focus.

import React, { Fragment, useRef } from 'react';

function App() {
    const focusPoint = useRef(null);
    const onClickHandler = () => {
        focusPoint.current.value =
            "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog";
        focusPoint.current.focus();
    };
    return (
        <Fragment>
            <div>
                <button onClick={onClickHandler}>
                    ACTION
                </button>
            </div>
            <label>
                Click on the action button to
                focus and populate the text.
            </label><br />
            <textarea ref={focusPoint} />
        </Fragment>
    );
};
export default App;

• useRef creates a reference to focusPoint, which allows direct manipulation of the DOM element.

• Clicking the "ACTION" button triggers onClickHandler, which sets text in the textarea and focuses it.

• (<>...</>) is used to group multiple elements without adding extra wrappers in the DOM.