React is one of the most used programming platforms used at present. It is a full-scale library of JavaScript-based files and library functions developed at the hands of Facebook developers. You can easily design different types of software products, from applications to websites, in a snap.
Thanks to its hybrid nature, you don’t have to involve too many codes. A single codebase is enough to make the software operable on different platforms. This is one of the major benefits of React that will help you enhance your programming skills by several notches.
React 18- the current and most advanced version
Recently, React declared the launch of the upgraded version 18, loaded with several state-of-the-art features that will help you develop outstanding software products. This new programming language version is dependent on the concept of concurrent rendering. With the sole aim of making coding and implementation easier for developers, React is loaded with myriad features.
These new features will enable developers to implement advanced programming concepts in APIs, from automatic batching to rendering APIs.
New and upgraded features of React 18
Before learning about upgrading React 17 to React 18, let’s briefly look at all the new and upgraded features you can use in this new version. You can easily make the best out of this programming platform, thanks to these new features you won’t find in other programming features. Here’s a brief summary of complete information on how to become a React Mastering that you don’t want to miss out.
Concurrent rendering APIs
With the help of concurrent rendering APIs, the developers can work on different code functions without hampering the user inputs or impacting the production works until code deployment is complete. If you have an existing code base, add the new concurrent features within the StrictMode.
In this case, the changes reflected will only be restricted to the development environment. No further change will be observed in this case. It further helps reduce efforts for debugging, logging additional warnings, and invoking idempotent functions twice a time.
Automatic batching
When your React code base has multiple states of being updated, running them individually in a queued form slows down the overall function. The program won’t be able to produce results faster, which is why you can now use the automatic batching concept of React 18.
It is one of the ground-breaking updates that has proven to be most beneficial for all developers. Thanks to this new feature, you can group all these states into a single re-render element. It won’t affect the code performance or introduce discrepancies in the code output. Thanks to the concept of automatic batching, you can create batches in the following events also:
- setTimeOut
- Promises
- Native event handling components
Transitions
When multiple updates need to be sent through render in React, the earlier versions couldn’t decipher which one to process first. This is where the addition of transitions comes into play. With this feature, React can differentiate between priority-based and non-priority-based updates sent through the render.
Some examples of urgent transitions concern typing, pressing keys, clicking, and so on. These indicate interactive messages and hence, need to be processed much faster. The main reason for the inclusion of this new feature was to enable the users to change UI from one view to the other.
Suspense
Once you combine the Suspense feature with transition API, you can get the best out of React 18 new upgrades. This is one of the main reasons developers have expressed their preferences for the same. Once you suspend a transition in process, React will immediately take action and abstract the already-viewed contents on the screen.
How to update to React 18?
To upgrade your website or developed application to match the new dimensions of React 18, you should follow the below-mentioned steps.
- It would help if you upgraded React package, named package.json.
- Next, upgrade all type definitions like “@types/react”: “^18.0.0” and “@types/react-dom” : “^18.0.0”
- Check the lock files, both yarn.lock and package-json.lock.
- These lock files need only @types/react and @types/react-dom packages. Any other packages won’t work with this new version.
These are the final steps you need to process to complete the upgrade of React 17 to React 18. One of the main issues you may find after the upgrade is compilation error due to the presence of child components.
This is because React 18 won’t call rendering from children automatically. To avoid errors, add a new property for children that will function during a render call. Once done, your software product codebase will give the necessary outcomes.
Conclusion
While updating React 17 to React 18 has given the developers added leverage, you should ensure the overall upgrade process is done properly, and that all packages are updated accordingly. Also, check client and server rendering APIs since they need to be changed accordingly.
