Frontend Development: React Custom Hook

In this article, we will delve into the concept of custom hooks in React. Custom hooks allow you to extract component logic into reusable functions. In essence, they're JavaScript functions that can use other hooks. They allow us to write DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) code and promote code reusability.

Creating a Custom Hook

A custom hook is a normal function with a twist: it should start with the word "use", and it can call other hooks. Let's create a custom hook for handling input fields.

import { useState } from 'react';

function useInput(initialValue) {
  const [value, setValue] = useState(initialValue);

  function handleChange(event) {
    setValue(event.target.value);
  }

  return { value, onChange: handleChange };
}

Using the Custom Hook

Now, we can use this useInput hook in any functional component to handle text inputs easily.

import React from 'react';
import useInput from './useInput';

function InputComponent() {
  const name = useInput('');

  return (
    <div>
      <input {...name} type="text" />
    </div>
  );
}

Here, we are spreading the returned object from useInput to an input element. This way, the value of the input field is linked with the state inside our custom hook and updates every time the input changes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating and using custom hooks is an effective way to abstract component logic, reuse code across multiple components, and keep our React code DRY. As custom hooks are just JavaScript functions, they can be as simple or complex as needed, leading to more modular and easier to maintain codebases.