Updating the Screen: React Documentation Introduction

Introduction

This article covers the following tech skills:

Welcome to the React documentation! This lab will give you an introduction to updating the screen.

Updating the Screen

The React project have already been provided in the VM. In general, you only need to add code to App.js.

Please use the following command to install the dependencies:

npm i

Often, you’ll want your component to “remember” some information and display it. For example, maybe you want to count the number of times a button is clicked. To do this, add state to your component.

First, import useState from React:

import { useState } from "react";

Now you can declare a state variable inside your component:

function MyButton() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  // ...

You’ll get two things from useState: the current state (count), and the function that lets you update it (setCount). You can give them any names, but the convention is to write [something, setSomething].

The first time the button is displayed, count will be 0 because you passed 0 to useState(). When you want to change state, call setCount() and pass the new value to it. Clicking this button will increment the counter:

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

  function handleClick() {
    setCount(count + 1);
  }

  return <button onClick={handleClick}>Clicked {count} times</button>;
}

React will call your component function again. This time, count will be 1. Then it will be 2. And so on.

If you render the same component multiple times, each will get its own state. Click each button separately:

// App.js
import { useState } from "react";

export default function MyApp() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Counters that update separately</h1>
      <MyButton />
      <MyButton />
    </div>
  );
}

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

  function handleClick() {
    setCount(count + 1);
  }

  return <button onClick={handleClick}>Clicked {count} times</button>;
}

Notice how each button “remembers” its own count state and doesn’t affect other buttons.

To run the project, use the following command. Then, you can refresh the Web 8080 Tab to preview the web page.

npm start

Summary

Congratulations! You have completed the Updating the Screen lab. You can practice more labs in LabEx to improve your skills.

🚀 Practice Now: Updating the Screen

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