Custom React JS Hooks: The Game Changer in React Development

React is the most used framework accounting for 40.58% across the globe. The accelerated usage made businesses hire react developers and leverage top react UI frameworks to build stable, scalable, and elegant applications. When businesses want to enhance applications with more functionalities or features, they need to install a new library with hooks to get the feature integrated. React provide many built-in hooks that facilitate using and interacting with the state in functional components.

Common Built-in hooks are useState, useEffect, useContext, etc. that serve as building blocks for managing state, performing side effects, and handling context in functional components. Developers can directly use built-in hooks in their functional components without any additional setup or configuration. That’s great!

However, some libraries don’t come with hooks which makes it difficult to create functionality for specific use cases. That’s where Custom React.JS hooks- the user-defined functions are created by developers to encapsulate reusable logic and stateful behavior. Custom hooks abstract complex logic and state management from components, promoting code reusability and modularity. They can be used to encapsulate any logic, state, or side effects that are shared across multiple components.

Custom hooks enable the building of powerful, modular, and scalable functional components in React. Let’s understand in detail about custom hooks, the benefits of using them, and how to incorporate functionality with custom hooks.

What is a custom React.JS hook?

The React custom hooks are essentially reusable functions that enable adding functionality using a third-party library with no hook. Custom hooks are created to address specific use cases and promote code reusability, readability, and maintainability. They follow a naming convention that starts with the prefix ‘use’, which helps React recognize them as hooks.

Custom hooks are a powerful feature introduced in React 16.8, alongside built-in hooks like useState and useEffect. They help in making the component code cleaner and more focused on rendering logic and UI concerns. Popular has also used custom hooks in some or another way to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and users’ preferences.

Benefits of using React.JS hooks

Before custom hooks were created, developers had to use class components to manage state and lifecycle methods, making code organization and reuse, which was more challenging. Custom hooks provide a way to overcome these limitations and a range of benefits that we will discuss in the next section.

Code Reusability

Custom hooks enable developers to extract common logic and behavior from components, making it easier to reuse across different parts of the application. By creating a custom hook, the same logic can be shared among multiple components, reducing code duplication and promoting cleaner code.

Abstraction of Complexity

Hooks allow abstracting complex logic and state management away from components. This simplifies the component code and makes it easier to understand by focusing solely on rendering logic and UI concerns.

Improved Readability

By encapsulating logic within custom hooks, component code becomes more focused and easier to read. This separation of concerns improves code maintainability and makes it easier for other developers to understand and collaborate on the project.

Simplified Testing

Isolating logic into custom hooks facilitates unit testing as hooks can be tested independently of components. This makes testing more straightforward and reduces the complexity of testing components that use hooks.

Stateful Logic in Functional Components

Before hooks, stateful logic could only be used in class components. Custom hooks enable functional components to have their stateful behavior, eliminating the need for class components in many cases.

Better Separation of Concerns

Custom hooks allow developers to separate concerns effectively by grouping related logic into reusable hooks. This promotes a more modular and organized codebase, where each custom hook encapsulates a specific functionality or behavior.

Enabling Composition

Custom hooks can be composed together to build more complex logic and behavior. This enables developers to combine multiple hooks to achieve powerful and flexible functionality within a component.

Promoting a Functional Approach

Custom hooks align with React’s philosophy of embracing functional programming. By moving away from class components and embracing functional components, developers can benefit from improved performance and simplicity.

Sharing Logic Across Components

Custom hooks can be shared across components within the same project or even across different projects. This facilitates code sharing and promotes consistency in the way certain functionalities are implemented.

Enabling Customization

Custom hooks can accept parameters, making them customizable for different use cases. This allows developers to create hooks that can be tailored to specific scenarios and requirements.

How to build React.JS hooks?

Creating a custom hook in React is a straightforward process. Let’s go through the steps to create and use a custom React.JS hook in detail:

• Find out the logic to extract: Figure out the logic such as API call, state management, or functionality that you want to extract into a custom hook. Logic extraction enables logic reusing for various components.
• Create a file: A JS file needs to be created for a custom hook wherein the naming conventions would help in clearly understanding that it’s a custom hook.
• Start the Hook Name with “use”: Custom hooks must start with the prefix “use” to ensure that React treats them as hooks and apply hook rules. Also, state variables, logic, or helper functions are defined in the newly created function.
• Return Values or Functions: The custom hook should return the data or functions that components will use to interact with the logic.
• Hook signature defining: Dependencies are defined that the custom hook requires to know the input and output it provides. It helps components use custom hooks to access data easily.
• Implement the Hook Logic: Write the logic and stateful behavior you want the custom hook to encapsulate. You can use built-in hooks like useState, useEffect, etc., inside the custom hook to handle state and side effects.
• Custom hook export: It’s time to export a custom hook from the file so that it can be imported and reused across different components of the React application.

By following these steps, you can create custom React.JS hooks and utilize them in multiple functional components throughout your application. Custom hooks promote code reusability, enhance code organization, and simplify the management of complex logic and stateful behavior in functional components.

10 best practices to follow for custom hook creation

Before developing a react.js application, businesses should know why and where to use react.js for website development. Similarly, when creating custom hooks in React, it’s essential to follow best practices to ensure their effectiveness, maintainability, and compatibility with React’s rules and conventions. Here are some best practices to consider while creating custom hooks:

• Start with “use” Prefix: Always start the name of your custom hook with the prefix “use.” This is a naming convention in React that distinguishes custom hooks from regular functions and helps React enforce hook rules.
• Encapsulate Reusable Logic: Custom hooks should encapsulate a specific piece of logic or stateful behavior that can be reused across multiple components. Keep the custom hook focused on a single responsibility to improve reusability.
• Follow Hook Rules: Custom hooks should adhere to the rules of hooks in React. This means you should not call hooks conditionally or inside loops and should only use them at the top level of functional components.
• Avoid Using Hooks in Nested Functions: Custom hooks should not be called within nested functions or callbacks. Instead, call them directly within the functional component’s body.
• Decide on Dependencies for useEffect: If your custom hook uses useEffect, be mindful of its dependencies to avoid unnecessary re-renders and potential bugs. Make sure to include all necessary dependencies in the dependency array to ensure the effect runs when expected.
• Return Values or Functions: The custom hook returns the data/functions that components across the application are used for interacting with the logic. Choose a clear and descriptive object structure for the return value to make it easy for developers to understand how to use the hook.
• Document the Hook: Provide clear and comprehensive documentation for your custom hook. Include information about its purpose, input parameters, return values, and any potential side effects.
• Unit Test the Hook: Write unit tests for your custom hook to ensure its functionality is correct and that it handles various scenarios appropriately.
• Consider Performance: Be mindful of performance implications when creating custom hooks. Avoid unnecessary re-renders or computations and strive to create hooks that are efficient and performant.
• Avoid Business Logic: Custom hooks should primarily handle reusable logic and stateful behavior. Avoid including business logic specific to a particular application domain, as this can reduce the hook’s reusability.

Conclusion

Custom React.JS hooks are a powerful feature that can be utilized in various real-world scenarios to encapsulate and share reusable logic across components. The real-world examples of custom React.JS hooks demonstrate their versatility and usefulness in real-world scenarios. It proves that custom hooks are reliable to consider for creating cleaner and reusable code in the minimum time.

The comprehensive guide describes extensively custom hooks, when to use them, the benefits that business applications receive, and how to build custom hooks followed by the practices. Dig deeper to ensure a more modular, reusable, and maintainable codebase. Still, if you need assistance, get connected with React.JS experts to resolve your query and maximize the results using custom hooks.

Ketan Chavda

With in-depth knowledge in International Business Management and Information Technology, he can effectively craft business enhancement strategies and can skillfully untangle technical complexities. This has laid the path for him as the Co-Founder and MD of Prismetric . Writing about the new age technology and sharing his thoughts on the continuously evolving business trends keep him content.