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Nadim Chowdhury
Nadim Chowdhury

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FlatList & SectionList in React Native

In React Native, FlatList and SectionList are components provided by the React Native framework for efficiently rendering lists of data. They are optimized for performance and memory usage, especially when dealing with large datasets.

  1. FlatList:
    • FlatList is used to render a scrollable list of data. It is suitable for long lists of data where the number of items might change over time.
    • It is a versatile component that efficiently renders only the items that are currently on the screen, recycling and reusing components as the user scrolls through the list.
    • It is commonly used when you have a simple list of items and don't need to organize them into sections.

Example of using FlatList:

   import React from 'react';
   import { FlatList, Text, View } from 'react-native';

   const MyFlatList = () => {
     const data = [
       { key: 'item1', text: 'Item 1' },
       { key: 'item2', text: 'Item 2' },
       // ... more items
     ];

     return (
       <FlatList
         data={data}
         renderItem={({ item }) => <Text>{item.text}</Text>}
       />
     );
   };

   export default MyFlatList;
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  1. SectionList:
    • SectionList is similar to FlatList but is designed to render lists with sections. Each section can have its own header and contains an array of items.
    • It is useful when your data can be logically grouped into sections, and each section has its own header.
    • Like FlatList, SectionList also efficiently renders only the items that are currently on the screen.

Example of using SectionList:

   import React from 'react';
   import { SectionList, Text, View } from 'react-native';

   const MySectionList = () => {
     const data = [
       {
         title: 'Section 1',
         data: [{ key: 'item1', text: 'Item 1' }, { key: 'item2', text: 'Item 2' }],
       },
       {
         title: 'Section 2',
         data: [{ key: 'item3', text: 'Item 3' }, { key: 'item4', text: 'Item 4' }],
       },
       // ... more sections
     ];

     return (
       <SectionList
         sections={data}
         renderSectionHeader={({ section: { title } }) => <Text>{title}</Text>}
         renderItem={({ item }) => <Text>{item.text}</Text>}
       />
     );
   };

   export default MySectionList;
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Both FlatList and SectionList take advantage of the VirtualizedList abstraction to efficiently manage the rendering of items and sections, providing a smooth scrolling experience in React Native applications.

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