Higher-Order Components

A higher-order component (HOC) is an advanced technique in React for reusing component logic. HOCs are not part of the React API, per se. They are a pattern that emerges from React’s compositional nature.

Definition

Higher Order Component (HOC): an abstraction over a component. When given a component (and perhaps some other parameters), they return a new component.

From the perspective of the JavaScript language:

  • a higher-order component is a function that takes a component and returns a new component.
const EnhancedComponent = higherOrderComponent(WrappedComponent);

Simple HOC

  1. Here is a simple example of a higher-order component (HOC). Paste the code below in main.js
The `wrapper` function is the higher-order function or more specificlaly component in the code below.
```js
function Inner(props) {
return <span>Inner</span>;
}
function wrapper(Inner, value) {
function Outer(props) {
return (
<div>
<h3>Outer</h3>
<Inner {...props} /> <em>{value}</em>
</div>
);
}
return Outer;
}
const Outer = wrapper(Inner, 'Peace');
function App() {
return <Outer />;
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('root'));

Composition vs. HOCs

  1. To better understand when to use HOCs it is helpful to compare them to using composition with components. Paste the code below in main.js to see how composition can be used to combine components.
function Inner(props) {
return <span>Inner</span>;
}
function Peace(props) {
return <span>Peace</span>;
}
function Calm(props) {
return <span>Calm</span>;
}
function Self(props) {
return <span>Self</span>;
}
function EarInfection(props) {
return <span>Ear Infection</span>;
}
function App() {
return (
<div>
<Inner /> <Peace />
<br />
<Inner /> <Calm />
<br />
<Inner /> <Self />
<br />
<Inner /> <EarInfection />
</div>
);
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('root'));

The downside of this approach is that a new component needs to get created for each suffix. This is not a problem in the example above because the components are simple (one line) but as components become more complex this can become more onerous.

  1. Using a Higher-order component (function)

The wrapper function is the higher-order function or more specifically higher-order component in the code below.

function Inner(props) {
return <span>Inner</span>;
}
function wrapper(Inner, value) {
function Outer(props) {
return (
<div>
<Inner {...props} /> <em>{value}</em>
</div>
);
}
return Outer;
}
const InnerPeace = wrapper(Inner, 'Peace');
const InnerCalm = wrapper(Inner, 'Calm');
const InnerSelf = wrapper(Inner, 'Self');
const InnerEarInfection = wrapper(Inner, 'Ear Infection');
function App() {
return (
<div>
<InnerPeace />
<InnerCalm />
<InnerSelf />
<InnerEarInfection />
</div>
);
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('root'));

Another Example

function Greet(props) {
return <span>Hi</span>;
}
function withName(Greet, name) {
function Wrapper(props) {
return (
<div>
<Greet {...props} /> <em>{name}</em>
</div>
);
}
return Wrapper;
}
const GreetWithName = withName(Greet, 'Riya');
function App() {
return <GreetWithName />;
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('root'));

Use Cases

Cross-Cutting Concerns

  • When you have the need to share the state or behavior that one component encapsulates to other components that need that same state
  • Repeated Logic
    • Render table, given data in an Array
    • Show tooltip on hover of multiple components
  • Adding additional props
  • Decorating
  • You can often get the same reuse out of your code using any of the following techniques
    • Higher-Order Components
    • Render Props
    • Custom Hooks

Conventions

Reference

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