Using Immer in server-side rendering (SSR) applications

28 Sep 2023

Server-Side Rendering (SSR) is a popular technique used in web development to improve the performance and SEO of a website. It allows the server to render the HTML content of a web page before sending it to the client, reducing the time it takes for the page to load.

When working with SSR, it’s important to handle state management in a way that allows seamless integration with both the server and client environments. One library that can help achieve this is Immer.

What is Immer?

Immer is a library for handling immutable state updates in JavaScript applications. It provides a simple and intuitive API for working with immutable data structures, making it easier to manage state changes without mutating the original data.

Benefits of Using Immer in SSR Applications

When it comes to server-side rendering, Immer offers a few benefits that can streamline your development process:

Immutable State Updates: Immer allows you to update state in a way that maintains immutability. This is important in SSR applications to ensure that the server-rendered HTML matches the content rendered on the client. With Immer, you can modify nested objects and arrays in a seamless and efficient manner.
Reduced Boilerplate: Immer simplifies the process of managing immutable state updates by automatically handling the creation of draft objects. These drafts can be manipulated as if they were mutable, and Immer takes care of creating the updated immutable copies.
Improved Performance: Immer employs a technique called structural sharing, which means that it only creates new objects when changes are made. This allows for efficient updates to large and complex data structures, reducing the performance impact of state updates in SSR applications.

Using Immer in SSR Applications

To use Immer in a server-side rendering application, you’ll need to follow these steps:

Install Immer: Start by installing Immer as a dependency in your project. You can do this using npm or yarn.
```
npm install immer
```
or
```
yarn add immer
```
Import Immer: Once installed, import Immer into your codebase.
```
import produce from 'immer';
```
Use Immer to Update State: In your SSR application, when you need to update the state, use the produce function provided by Immer. This function takes a base state and a mutator function, which describes the modifications you want to make to the state.
```
 const updatedState = produce(baseState, (draftState) => {
   // Modify draftState as if it were mutable
   draftState.someProperty = 'Updated value';
 });
```
The produce function returns a new state object with the modifications applied. Note that the original baseState remains unchanged.
Rendering the HTML: With the updated state, proceed to render the HTML content required for server-side rendering. The state changes made with Immer will be reflected in the rendered HTML.

Conclusion

Immer is a powerful library for handling immutable state updates in JavaScript applications, and it can be particularly useful in server-side rendering scenarios. By using Immer, you can simplify the management of state updates, reduce boilerplate code, and improve the performance of your SSR applications. Give it a try and see how it simplifies your development process!

#Programming #WebDevelopment