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Quick Start

We explain how to use createContainer, which is very similar to how to use bare React Context for global state.

Let's try a minimal example from scratch.

Create a new app​

Use create-react-app to create a new app.

npx create-react-app my-app # Add --template typescript for TypeScript

Run the app.

cd my-app
npm start # Or yarn start

Create a global state with pure React​

Now, we create a global state that contains a number and a string.

Create a new file ./src/store.js. (./src/store.tsx for TypeScript)

import React, { createContext, useState, useContext } from 'react';

const initialState = {
  count: 0,
  text: 'hello',
};

const useMyState = () => useState(initialState);

const MyContext = createContext(null);

export const useSharedState = () => {
  const value = useContext(MyContext);
  if (value === null) throw new Error('Please add SharedStateProvider');
  return value;
};

export const SharedStateProvider = ({ children }) => (
  <MyContext.Provider value={useMyState()}>{children}</MyContext.Provider>
);

Create a new file ./src/Counter.js. (./src/Counter.tsx for TypeScript)

import React from 'react';

import { useSharedState } from './store';

const Counter = () => {
  const [state, setState] = useSharedState();
  const increment = () => {
    setState((prev) => ({ ...prev, count: prev.count + 1 }));
  };
  return (
    <div>
      {state.count}
      <button onClick={increment}>+1</button>
    </div>
  );
};

export default Counter;

Create a new file ./src/TextBox.js. (./src/TextBox.tsx for TypeScript)

import React from 'react';

import { useSharedState } from './store';

const TextBox = () => {
  const [state, setState] = useSharedState();
  const setText = (text) => {
    setState((prev) => ({ ...prev, text }));
  };
  return (
    <div>
      {state.text}
      <input value={state.text} onChange={(e) => setText(e.target.value)} />
    </div>
  );
};

export default TextBox;

Finally, modify the file ./src/App.js. (./src/App.tsx for TypeScript)

import React from 'react';
import logo from './logo.svg';
import './App.css';

import { SharedStateProvider } from './store';
import Counter from './Counter';
import TextBox from './TextBox';

const App = () => (
  <SharedStateProvider>
    <div className="App">
      <header className="App-header">
        <Counter />
        <TextBox />
        <img src={logo} className="App-logo" alt="logo" />
      </header>
    </div>
  </SharedStateProvider>
);

export default App;

Check the running app again and see how the counter and the text box work.

Performance issue with pure React​

Our app works totally fine. But if a shared state becomes very big, we may experience a drop in performance. This is because all components that use the shared state will re-render even if only a small part of the shared state is changed.

React Tracked solves this issue without efforts.

Note: In pure React, it's recommended to split context into pieces. Check out this or that for more information.

Install React Tracked​

It's time to try React Tracked. Let's install the library.

npm install react-tracked # Or yarn add react-tracked

Use React Tracked instead of bare context​

It's very simple. Modify the file ./src/store.js. (./src/store.tsx for TypeScript)

import { useState } from 'react';
import { createContainer } from 'react-tracked';

const initialState = {
  count: 0,
  text: 'hello',
};

const useMyState = () => useState(initialState);

export const { Provider: SharedStateProvider, useTracked: useSharedState } =
  createContainer(useMyState);

That's it. Check the running app and see it works as before.

How can we see the difference? You could add console.log in render (which is technically a side effect), or add {Math.random()} in JSX which is easier.

For example, modify the Counter component like this.

const Counter = () => {
  const [state, setState] = useSharedState();
  const increment = () => {
    setState((prev) => ({ ...prev, count: prev.count + 1 }));
  };
  return (
    <div>
      {state.count}
      <button onClick={increment}>+1</button>
      {Math.random()}
    </div>
  );
};

With this, try both pure React version and React Tracked version.

In the React Tracked version, the random number only changes when clicking the increment button. It won't change when typing in the text box.