React Router

Multi-Page vs Single Page

Apps

Server Side Rendering (SSR)

The source of what you see on the screen comes directly from your browser "reading" plain old HTML and CSS files.

Client Side Rendering (CSR)

What you on the screen is dynamically generated inside of your JavaScript code.

Client
(You)

Server

(Website / App)

Asks for HTML, CSS, JS

Returns HTML, CSS, JS

HTML

Product Content

CSS

JavaScript

/product/8ce7

HTML

Checkout Form

HTML

CSS

JavaScript

/checkout/8ce7

HTML

Success Message

HTML

CSS

JavaScript

/checkout/success

Google

link

link

form submission

With multi-page applications, which use server side rendering, every time a user navigates to a new page:

  • all HTML, CSS, JavaScript and any other content is loaded (or reloaded from the browser's cache)
  • state is forgotten and must be retrieved

Google

link

Product Content

JavaScript

HTML

CSS

Checkout Form

Success Message

link

form submission

Single Page Application

A single page, with all the HTML, is loaded once and only once. Everything is rendered with client side rendering.

Instead of navigating to a new "page", the application swaps different React components on the screen.

Single Page Application (SPA)

Most of your view is generated by JavaScript!

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="/vite.svg" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Vite + React + TS</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="root"></div>
    <script type="module" src="/src/main.tsx"></script>
  </body>
</html>

MPA

SPA

vs

Easier to build and debug rich, interactive, and complex user interfaces (UI).

Better suited for static content and simple user interfaces (UI).

Quicker to load the first page and static assets, but slower when navigating to a new page.

Slower to load the first page and static assets, but much faster when navigating to a new screen.

Can easily be indexed by search search engines for better SEO.

Without SSR, it is much harder for search engines to index your site.

Next.js

A hybrid solution that is both a multiple page and a single page app. Has the benefits of server side rendering (faster initial page loads and better SEO) and client side rendering (interactive UI).

Routing

with React Router

Routing

navigation through URLs

Event occurs

e.g. user clicks on a link, submits a forms, or types a URL in the address bar

URL changes

Application displays different content on the screen

Anatomy of a URL

https://mysite.com/checkout/success
https:// protocol
mysite.com user friendly name for your entire website
/checkout/success the path to the page or what you see on the screen

React Router

library that maps a URL to a React component

/product/8ce7

 		 Product.jsx
/checkout/8ce7

 		 Checkout.jsx
/checkout/success

 		 CheckoutSuccess.jsx

Product Content

Checkout Form

Success Message

link

form submission

CodeSandbox: https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-7i9qzs?file=src%2Fcomponents%2FApp%2FApp.tsx

https://mysite.com

Step 1: Install React Router

npm install react-router-dom

Step 2: Import and use BrowserRouter in your router in main.jsx / main.tsx file

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
import App from './App.tsx';
import './index.css';
// Add line below
import { BrowserRouter } from 'react-router-dom';

ReactDOM.createRoot(document.getElementById('root')!).render(
  <React.StrictMode>
    {/* Put App inside BrowserRouter */}
    <BrowserRouter>
      <App />
    </BrowserRouter>
  </React.StrictMode>
);

Step 3: Setup your router in App.jsx / App.tsx (or a high level component)

import { Routes, Route } from "react-router-dom";
// Import components used as "element" below ...

function App() {
  return <>
    <Menu >{/* Or any content that stays on every page */}
      <Routes>
        <Route path="/checkout/success" element={<CheckoutSuccess />} />
        <Route path="/product/:productId" element={<Product />} />
      </Routes>
    </Menu>
  <>
}

See more on path matching: https://github.com/pillarjs/path-to-regexp

Exact match

https://mysite.com/checkout/success

        <Route path="/checkout/success" element={<CheckoutSuccess />} />

Relative match using a placeholder for an id, key or data https://mysite.com/product/8ce7

        <Route path="/product/:productId" element={<Product />} />

Retrieving parameters

import { useParams } from "react-router-dom";

function Product(props) {
  const { productId } = useParams();
  // Make AJAX request or do whatever you need with the productId
  // ...
}
<Route path="/product/:productId" component={Product} />

In App.jsx (or other high level component):

In the React Component:

https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-7i9qzs?file=src%2Fcomponents%2FApp%2FApp.tsx

File Not Found Page

import { Routes, Route } from "react-router-dom";
// Import components used as "element" below ...

function App() {
  return <>
    <Menu >
      <Routes>
        <Route path="/checkout/success" element={<CheckoutSuccess />} />
        <Route path="/product/:productId" element={<Product />} />
        {/* For any other path, this shows a 404 "File Not Found" error */}
        <Route path="*" element={<NotFound />} />
      </Routes>
    </Menu>
  <>
}

        {/* For any other path, this shows a 404 "File Not Found" error */}
        <Route path="*" element={<NotFound />} />

Navigate to a new URL with a router redirect

React Router's Navigate 

import { Routes, Route, Navigate } from "react-router-dom";
import Home from "./Components/Home";

function App() {
  return (
    <Routes>
      <Route path="/home" element={<Home />} />
      {/* If the url does not match anything, change the URL to /home  */}
      <Route path="*" element={<Navigate replace to="/home" />} />
    </Routes>
  );
}
      {/* If the url does not match anything, change the URL to /home  */}
      <Route path="*" element={<Navigate replace to="/home" />} />

Navigation and History

with React Router

Navigate to a new URL with links

React Router's Link 

import { Link } from "react-router-dom";
// Or you can use <NavLink> to add the CSS "active" class to your navigation

function Nav() {
  return (
    <Link to="/new/url">Now Playing</Link>
  );
}

export default Nav;

This will navigate a new URL without refreshing the page and loosing all of your state.

Navigate to a new URL without links

React Router's useNavigate hook

// Or useNavigate with React Router v6
import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";

function MyComponent() {
  const navigate = useNavigate();
  
  // e.g. go to new URL after submitting a form
  const handleForm = (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    // ... code ...
    navigate("/to/some/new/url");
  };
}
import { useState, FormEvent, ChangeEvent } from "react";
import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";

type LoginProps = {
  setIsLoggedIn: Function
};

function Login({ setIsLoggedIn }: LoginProps) {
  const [username, setUsername] = useState("");
  const [password, setPassword] = useState("");

  const navigate = useNavigate();

  const handleSubmit = (e: FormEvent) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    
    // You would want to make an AJAX request to check if the username and password is valid here.
    // If it is valid:
    setIsLoggedIn(true);
    
    // If the credentials are valid, redirect to the LoggedIn screen
    navigate("/logged-in");
  };

  return (
    <>
      <h1>Login</h1>
      <form method="POST" onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
        <label htmlFor="username">
          Username
        </label>
        <input
          onChange={(e: ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => setUsername(e.target.value)}
          value={username}
        />
        <label htmlFor="password">
          Password
        </label>
        <input
          onChange={(e: ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => setPassword(e.target.value)}
          value={password}
        />
        <button type="submit">Login</button>
      </form>
    </>
  );
}

export default Login;

↓ Scroll down

https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-wmxbkx?file=src%2Fcomponents%2FLogin.tsx

Browser History

A list of web sites that you have visited recently. You can navigate through history with your browser's back and forward buttons.

Example of loosing state when navigating through history and refreshing the page:

https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-sxixnc?file=src%2Fcomponents%2FFaq%2FFaq.tsx

Browser History

A list of web sites that you have visited recently. You can navigate through history with your browser's back and forward buttons.

Example of loosing state when navigating through history and refreshing the page:

https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-sxixnc?file=src%2Fcomponents%2FFaq%2FFaq.tsx

Search or Query Parameters

State that you can put in a URL as key-value pairs.

Anatomy of a URL

https://mysite.com/search?page=1&query=react%20router
https:// protocol
mysite.com user friendly name for your website
/search the path to page / screen
? separates rest of URL from search or query parameters
page=1
query=react		 key-value pair in search parameters
(escape spaces with %20)
& separates key-value pairs

WARNING!

Do not put any credentials, session tokens, user information,  personal information, or anything else that is sensitive in URLs and history.

Preserve state

by putting state in search params

import { useSearchParams } from "react-router-dom";

function MyComponent() {
  const [searchParams, setSearchParams] = useSearchParams();

Get state

const page = searchParams.get("page");

Type check state

const page = searchParams.has("page"); // true or false

https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-sxixnc?file=src%2Fcomponents%2FReviews%2FReviews.tsx

Set state

searchParams.set("page", page);

// This let's React know there was a change,
// so that everything will re-render:
setSearchParams(searchParams);

React Router

By Jamal Taylor

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React Router

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