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Ricardo Maia
Ricardo Maia

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When using hooks, context or props ReactJs?

In React, , 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭, and 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 are fundamental tools for managing state, sharing data, and creating dynamic components. Each has a specific purpose, and understanding when to use each is essential for developing efficient and well-structured applications. Here's an overview of when to use 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 or 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬:

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬

  • 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥: Use 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 when you need to pass data or functions from a parent component to a child. This is ideal for 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 (top-down), where the parent controls the data and the children only display or interact with that data.
  • 𝘙𝘦𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴: Use props when creating generic components that can be reused with different data. For example, a button component might accept props like label, onClick, and type to customize its appearance and functionality.

𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬:

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𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬

  • 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵: Use 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 like useState to manage 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 state within a component. This is useful when the state doesn't need to be shared across multiple components.
  • 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴: Use useEffect to handle side effects, such as API calls, subscriptions, or update operations that need to happen after the component renders.
  • 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴: Use useMemo and useCallback to optimize rendering by memoizing values or functions that only need to be recalculated when certain dependencies change.

𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬:

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𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭

  • 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Use 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 when you need to share 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 across multiple components that aren't directly related (without passing props through multiple levels). This is useful for themes, user authentication, language settings, etc.
  • 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨: If you're passing props through many component levels (props drilling), the 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘈𝘗𝘐 can help simplify this by allowing components to access data directly, regardless of their depth in the component tree.
  • 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴: While Context is great for simple global states like themes and authentication, if the global state becomes too complex, it may be better to use a state management library like Redux.

𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭:

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𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡:

  • 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬:

    • When passing data from a parent to a child component.
    • When data communication is unidirectional, and children don't need to share information with each other.
    • When there's no need to share state between unrelated components.
  • 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬:

    • For managing state and lifecycle within functional components.
    • When the state and effects are limited to a single component or a set of components.
  • 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭:

    • To 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 or data across components that don't have a direct parent-child relationship.
    • To avoid 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, when you need to share data across many levels in the component hierarchy.
    • In cases like managing themes (light/dark), authentication, or global settings.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭:
You can also combine 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 with 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭. For example, using the 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 Hook to consume data from a 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 inside a functional component. This simplifies access to global data without needing class components.

𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭:

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By following these guidelines, you can create more efficient, scalable React applications.

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