Ultimate Guide to React Hooks: Everything You Need to Know

🧠 Introduction

React Hooks revolutionized how developers write components in React. They allow you to use state and other React features without writing a class.

In this guide, we’ll explore all the essential hooks, how they work, and when to use them effectively.

🔁 What Are Hooks?

Hooks are functions introduced in React 16.8 that let you “hook into” React features from functional components.

const MyComponent = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
};

📌 Common React Hooks

1. useState

Manages state in a functional component.

const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

2. useEffect

Runs side effects (like API calls or subscriptions).

useEffect(() => {
  fetchData();
}, []);

3. useContext

Accesses global values provided via React Context.

4. useRef

Accesses DOM nodes or persists values across renders.

5. useReducer

An alternative to useState for more complex state logic.

🧪 Custom Hooks

You can create your own hooks to reuse logic across components:

function useWindowWidth() {
  const [width, setWidth] = useState(window.innerWidth);

  useEffect(() => {
    const handleResize = () => setWidth(window.innerWidth);
    window.addEventListener('resize', handleResize);
    return () => window.removeEventListener('resize', handleResize);
  }, []);

  return width;
}

🧠 When to Use Hooks?

To manage state in a functional component
To share logic across components
To simplify component structure without classes

❗️ Best Practices

Do not use hooks inside loops or conditionals
Always prefix custom hooks with use
Extract complex logic into reusable custom hooks

🏁 Conclusion

React Hooks make your code simpler, more reusable, and easier to test. If you’re still using class components, it’s time to move forward!

💡 Read the official React Hooks documentation for deeper insights.

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