Using suspense with real-time forms in React applications

16 Oct 2023

In React applications, handling real-time updates in forms can be a challenge. Without the proper approach, updating form fields can result in a sluggish and unresponsive user interface. However, with the introduction of React Suspense, managing real-time forms becomes much more streamlined and efficient.

What is React Suspense?

React Suspense is a feature introduced in React 16.6 that allows components to “suspend” rendering while they are waiting for some asynchronous data to load. This enables a smoother user experience by preventing the application from becoming unresponsive during data fetching or updating.

Real-Time Forms with React Suspense

To leverage React Suspense for real-time forms, we can follow these steps:

1. Design the Form Component

First, design your form component as you typically would, with the desired input fields and their corresponding event handlers.

import React, { useState } from 'react';

const MyForm = () => {
  const [name, setName] = useState('');
  const [email, setEmail] = useState('');

  const handleNameChange = (event) => {
    setName(event.target.value);
  };

  const handleEmailChange = (event) => {
    setEmail(event.target.value);
  };

  return (
    <form>
      <input type="text" value={name} onChange={handleNameChange} />
      <input type="email" value={email} onChange={handleEmailChange} />
      <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </form>
  );
};

export default MyForm;

2. Wrap Suspense Around the Form Component

Next, wrap the form component with the Suspense component from react package. This will allow us to specify a fallback UI to show while the form is updating.

import React, { Suspense } from 'react';

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>My Awesome App</h1>
      <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
        <MyForm />
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

3. Use Suspense for Real-Time Updates

To enable real-time updates, we can use React Suspense’s startTransition function to schedule a non-blocking state update. This ensures that the form updates are performed independently, without blocking the rendering of the rest of the application.

import React, { useState, startTransition } from 'react';

const MyForm = () => {
  const [name, setName] = useState('');
  const [email, setEmail] = useState('');

  const handleNameChange = (event) => {
    startTransition(() => setName(event.target.value));
  };

  const handleEmailChange = (event) => {
    startTransition(() => setEmail(event.target.value));
  };

  return (
    <form>
      <input type="text" value={name} onChange={handleNameChange} />
      <input type="email" value={email} onChange={handleEmailChange} />
      <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </form>
  );
};

export default MyForm;

4. Handle Asynchronous Data Fetching

If your real-time form requires asynchronous data fetching, you can use React Suspense with React.lazy and React.Suspense for each component. This will allow you to render a fallback UI while waiting for the data to be fetched.

import React, { useState, startTransition } from 'react';

const MyForm = () => {
  const [name, setName] = useState('');
  const [email, setEmail] = useState('');

  const handleNameChange = (event) => {
    startTransition(() => setName(event.target.value));
  };

  const handleEmailChange = (event) => {
    startTransition(() => setEmail(event.target.value));
  };

  return (
    <form>
      <input type="text" value={name} onChange={handleNameChange} />
      <input type="email" value={email} onChange={handleEmailChange} />
      <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </form>
  );
};

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>My Awesome App</h1>
      <React.Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
        <React.lazy(() => import('./MyForm')) />
      </React.Suspense>
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

Conclusion

By harnessing the power of React Suspense, handling real-time updates in forms becomes much more responsive and efficient. The ability to suspend rendering while waiting for data to load or update ensures a smoother user experience, without compromising the performance of the application. So, give React Suspense a try in your next React application and see the benefits it brings to your real-time forms!