Managing global state in React applications can be a challenging task. While there are several libraries available, such as Redux or MobX, sometimes you may want to create a custom hook to handle global state in a more simplified and tailored manner. In this blog post, we will walk through the process of creating a custom useGlobalState hook in React.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Setting up the Project
• Creating the useGlobalState Hook
• Using the useGlobalState Hook
• Conclusion

Introduction

Global state refers to any state that needs to be accessed by multiple components in a React application. In contrast to local component state, global state allows you to share data across different components without manually passing props down the component tree.

Setting up the Project

Before creating our custom hook, let’s set up a new React project using Create React App.

First, make sure you have Node.js and npm installed. Then, open your terminal and run the following command:

npx create-react-app global-state-app

This will create a new directory called global-state-app with a basic React project structure.

Creating the useGlobalState Hook

In the project directory, navigate to the src folder and create a new file called useGlobalState.js.

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

const useGlobalState = () => {
  const [state, setState] = useState({});

  useEffect(() => {
    // Place any initialization logic here
  }, []);

  const setGlobalState = (newState) => {
    setState((prevState) => ({
      ...prevState,
      ...newState
    }));
  };

  return [state, setGlobalState];
};

export default useGlobalState;

In this custom hook, we use the useState hook to initialize the global state and the useEffect hook to perform any necessary initialization when the hook is first used.

The setGlobalState function allows us to update the global state by merging the new state with the previous state.

Using the useGlobalState Hook

Now that we have our custom useGlobalState hook, let’s demonstrate how we can use it in a React component.

In src/App.js, replace the existing code with the following:

import React from 'react';
import useGlobalState from './useGlobalState';

const App = () => {
  const [state, setState] = useGlobalState();

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Global State App</h1>
      <p>Global State: {JSON.stringify(state)}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setState({ count: state.count ? state.count + 1 : 1 })}>
        Increment
      </button>
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

In this example, we import and use our useGlobalState hook in the App component. We display the current global state as a JSON string and provide a button to increment the count property in the state.

Now, if you start the development server by running npm start, you should be able to see the Global State App with the initial state displayed.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we learned about managing global state in a React application and created a custom useGlobalState hook to handle it. With a simple function call, we can easily access and update the global state across different components.

Remember, creating a custom hook allows you to tailor the behavior of the global state management based on your specific needs. So, go ahead and experiment with it in your next React project!

#react #globalstate