Building Dynamic User Interfaces with React and React-Router

React is a well-known JavaScript library used to create dynamic and interactive user interfaces. React-Router is a library used in React applications to handle client-side routing. We will learn how to use React-Router to create dynamic user interfaces…


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Kauna Hassan

React is a well-known JavaScript library used to create dynamic and interactive user interfaces. React-Router is a library used in React applications to handle client-side routing. We will learn how to use React-Router to create dynamic user interfaces, including handling nested routes, authentication, and page transitions, in this article.

Prerequisites

Before delving into the details of React-Router, it's important to first understand React and JavaScript. If you're new to React, read the official React documentation or enroll in a React course. Knowledge of HTML and CSS is also advantageous.

Setting up React-Router

To begin using React-Router, we must first install it. You can install it with npm, the Node.js package manager.

npm install react-router-dom

Once installed, we can use the following line to import React-Router into our code:

import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route, Switch } from 'react-router-dom';

Creating Routes

Routes are the foundation of React-Router. They are in charge of mapping URLs to components. React-Router includes a number of route-creation components. Route, Switch, and Link are the most commonly used.

A route component is used to specify a path. It requires two parameters: path and component. path is the URL that should be matched by the route. When the URL matches the path, component is the React component that should be rendered.

<Route path="/about" component={About} />

A Switch component wraps multiple Route components. Only the first Route that matches the current URL is rendered. This prevents more than one component from being rendered at the same time.

<Switch>
  <Route path="/" exact component={Home} />
  <Route path="/about" component={About} />
  <Route path="/contact" component={Contact} />
</Switch>

The link component is used to create links to various routes. It requires only one parameter: to, which is the URL to which the link should point.

<Link to="/about">About</Link>

Handling Nested Routes

Routes that are rendered within another route are referred to as nested routes. They come in handy when creating complex user interfaces. React-Router makes handling nested routes simple and intuitive.

To create nested routes, we must first define the parent and child routes. Within the parent route, the child routes should be defined. To render the child routes, we can use the render prop.

<Route path="/products" render={() => (
  <div>
    <h1>Products</h1>
    <Route path="/products/:id" component={Product} />
  </div>
)} />

We defined a parent route /products and a child route /products/:id in the preceding example. The :id parameter stands in for the product ID. When a user navigates to /products/123, the Product component with the ID 123 is rendered.

Authentication Management

Web applications frequently include authentication. Using the Redirect component, React-Router handles authentication. The Redirect component is used to redirect users to another page based on specific conditions.

import { Redirect } from 'react-router-dom';

function PrivateRoute({ component: Component, authenticated, ...rest }) {
  return (
    <Route {...rest} render={(props) => (
      authenticated === true
        ? <Component {...props} />
        : <Redirect to='/login' />
    )} />
  )
}

In the preceding example, we defined a PrivateRoute component with three props: component, authenticated, and rest. component denotes the React component to be rendered. authenticated is a boolean value indicating whether or not the user has been authenticated. rest is a container for any additional props.

The Route render prop is used to render the component depending on the authentication status. The Component is rendered if the user is authenticated. If the user is not authenticated, the Redirect component redirects the user to the login page.

Page Transitions

Page transitions are animations that happen when a user switches between pages. The react-transition-group library is used by React-Router to handle page transitions.

npm install react-transition-group

After installing the react-transition-group library, we can import the TransitionGroup and CSSTransition components.

import { TransitionGroup, CSSTransition } from 'react-transition-group';


To enable page transitions, we can wrap our Switch component in the TransitionGroup component. The CSSTransition component is used to define the animation.

<TransitionGroup>
  <CSSTransition key={location.key} classNames="fade" timeout={300}>
    <Switch location={location}>
      <Route path="/" exact component={Home} />
      <Route path="/about" component={About} />
      <Route path="/contact" component={Contact} />
    </Switch>
  </CSSTransition>
</TransitionGroup>


In the preceding example, we wrapped our Switch component in a TransitionGroup component. CSSTransition's key prop is set to location.key to ensure that the animation is triggered when the location changes. To define the animation, the classNames prop is set to fade. The timeout prop is set to 300 milliseconds to specify the duration of the animation.

Conclusion

React-Router is a robust library that handles client-side routing in React applications. In this article, we have learned how to use React-Router to create dynamic user interfaces, including handling nested routes, authentication, and page transitions. We also used cutting-edge technology and examples to demonstrate the concepts. You can use React-Router to create a unified user experience and improve the overall usability of your application.


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Kauna Hassan


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Kauna Hassan | Sciencx (2023-02-25T16:04:15+00:00) Building Dynamic User Interfaces with React and React-Router. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2023/02/25/building-dynamic-user-interfaces-with-react-and-react-router/

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