A guide on separating logic from UI using React components by Esmat Ibrahim on Codementor

React is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It allows developers to create reusable UI components that can be easily managed and updated. However, as applications grow in complexity, it becomes important to separate the logic from the UI to improve code maintainability and reusability. In this article, we will explore a guide on separating logic from UI using React components.

Why separate logic from UI?

Separating logic from UI has several benefits. It improves code organization, making it easier to understand and maintain. It also promotes reusability, as logic can be reused across different UI components. Additionally, separating logic from UI allows for easier testing, as the logic can be tested independently of the UI.

Creating reusable components

The first step in separating logic from UI is to create reusable components. React components are the building blocks of a React application. They encapsulate both the UI and the logic associated with it. To create a reusable component, we need to identify the logic that can be separated from the UI.

For example, let’s say we have a component that displays a list of items. The logic for fetching the list of items from an API can be separated from the UI. We can create a separate component responsible for fetching the data and pass it as a prop to the UI component.

Managing state

State management is an important aspect of separating logic from UI. State represents the data that changes over time in a React component. By managing state separately, we can decouple the logic from the UI.

React provides several ways to manage state, such as using the useState hook or using a state management library like Redux. When separating logic from UI, it’s important to identify which parts of the state should be managed by the logic component and which parts should be managed by the UI component.

For example, in our list component example, the logic component can manage the state related to fetching and updating the list of items, while the UI component can manage the state related to displaying the list.

Passing data and callbacks as props

To separate logic from UI, we need to pass data and callbacks as props between components. Data props are used to pass data from the logic component to the UI component, while callback props are used to pass functions from the UI component to the logic component.

For example, in our list component example, the logic component can pass the fetched list of items as a data prop to the UI component. The UI component can then render the list based on the data prop. Similarly, the UI component can pass a callback prop to the logic component to handle user interactions, such as adding or deleting items from the list.

Testing the logic component

Separating logic from UI also makes testing easier. Since the logic component is responsible for handling the business logic, it can be tested independently of the UI component.

To test the logic component, we can write unit tests that cover different scenarios and edge cases. We can mock any dependencies, such as API calls, to isolate the logic component during testing.

Conclusion

Separating logic from UI is an important practice in React development. It improves code maintainability, reusability, and testability. By creating reusable components, managing state separately, passing data and callbacks as props, and testing the logic component independently, we can achieve a clean separation of concerns in our React applications.

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