React Suspense is a feature introduced in React 16.6 that allows developers to suspend rendering components while waiting for asynchronous data to load. Suspense with data fetching can greatly improve the user experience by enabling real-time updates without blocking the UI.

In this blog post, we will explore how to use Suspense in React to implement real-time data updates in a React application.

Table of Contents

• Introduction to React Suspense
• Fetching Real-time Data
• Using Suspense with Data Fetching
• Displaying Real-time Data
• Conclusion

Introduction to React Suspense

React Suspense is a feature that allows components to “suspend” rendering and show fallback content while waiting for data to load. It provides a declarative way to handle asynchronous operations and simplify the codebase.

Fetching Real-time Data

To implement real-time data updates, we first need a data source that provides real-time data. This can be achieved using technologies like WebSockets or server-sent events (SSE). For the purpose of this example, let’s assume we have a WebSocket connection that continuously pushes updates to the client.

Using Suspense with Data Fetching

To fetch real-time data, we can create a custom hook that handles the data fetching logic using the WebSocket connection.

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

const useRealTimeData = () => {
  const [data, setData] = useState(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    const ws = new WebSocket('ws://example.com');

    ws.onmessage = (event) => {
      setData(JSON.parse(event.data));
    };

    return () => {
      ws.close();
    };
  }, []);

  return data;
};

export default useRealTimeData;

The useRealTimeData hook sets up a WebSocket connection and updates the data state whenever a new message is received. It cleans up the WebSocket connection on component unmount.

Displaying Real-time Data

Now that we have the real-time data fetching logic in place, we can use it in our components. We’ll use Suspense and SuspenseList from React to handle the loading and error states.

import { Suspense, SuspenseList } from 'react';
import useRealTimeData from './useRealTimeData';

const App = () => {
  const data = useRealTimeData();

  if (!data) {
    return null; // or show a loading spinner
  }

  return (
    <Suspense fallback={<LoadingSpinner />}>
      <SuspenseList revealOrder="forwards">
        <DataComponent1 data={data} />
        <DataComponent2 data={data} />
      </SuspenseList>
    </Suspense>
  );
};

export default App;

In the above example, we use Suspense and SuspenseList to suspend rendering until the real-time data is available. The fallback prop of Suspense is used to display a loading spinner or any other fallback content while waiting for the data.

Conclusion

React Suspense with real-time data fetching can greatly enhance the user experience by allowing components to suspend rendering until the data is available. By using Suspense and a custom data fetching hook, we can easily implement real-time data updates in a React application.

Stay tuned for more React tips and tricks!

#react #realtime