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author | Matt A. Tobin <mattatobin@localhost.localdomain> | 2018-02-02 04:16:08 -0500 |
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committer | Matt A. Tobin <mattatobin@localhost.localdomain> | 2018-02-02 04:16:08 -0500 |
commit | 5f8de423f190bbb79a62f804151bc24824fa32d8 (patch) | |
tree | 10027f336435511475e392454359edea8e25895d /devtools/docs/redux.md | |
parent | 49ee0794b5d912db1f95dce6eb52d781dc210db5 (diff) | |
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diff --git a/devtools/docs/redux.md b/devtools/docs/redux.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5aab53caf --- /dev/null +++ b/devtools/docs/redux.md @@ -0,0 +1,160 @@ + +We use [Redux](https://github.com/reactjs/redux) to manage application +state. The [docs](http://redux.js.org/) do a good job explaining the +concepts, so go read them. + +# Quick Intro + +Just like the [React introduction](react.html), this is a quick +introduction to redux, focusing on how it fits into React and why we +chose it. + +One of the core problems that React does not address is managing +state. In the React intro, we talked about data flowing down and +events flowing up. Conceptually this is nice, but you quickly run into +awkward situations in large apps. + +Let's look at an example. Say you have a page with a tabbed interface. +Here, `Tab1` is managing a list of items, so naturally it uses local +state. `Tab2` renders different stuff. + +```js +const Tab1 = React.createClass({ + getInitialState: function() { + return { items: [] }; + }, + + handleAddItem: function(item) { + this.setState({ items: [...this.state.items, item]}); + }, + + render: function() { + /* ... Renders the items and button to add new item ... */ + } +}); + +const Tab2 = React.createClass({ + render: function() { + /* ... Renders other data ... */ + } +}); + +// Assume `Tab1` and `Tab2` are wrapped with a factory when importing +const Tabs = React.createClass({ + render: function() { + return div( + { className: 'tabs' }, + // ... Render the tab buttons ... + Tab1(), + Tab2() + ); + } +}); +``` + +What happens when `Tab2` needs the list of items though? This scenario +comes up all time: components that aren't directly related need access +to the same state. A small change would be to move the `items` state +up to the `Tabs` component, and pass it down to both `Tab1` and `Tab2`. + +But now `Tabs` has to implement the `handleAddItem` method to add an +item because it's managing that state. This quickly gets ugly as the +end result is the root component ends up with a ton of state and +methods to manage it: a [god +component](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_object) is born. + +Additionally, how do we know what data each tab needs? We end up +passing *all* the state down because we don't know. This is not a +modular solution: one object managing the state and every component +receiving the entire state is like using tons of global variables. + +## Evolution of Flux + +Facebook addressed this with the +[flux](https://facebook.github.io/flux/) architecture, which takes the +state out of the components and into a "store". Redux is the latest +evolution of this idea and solves a lot of problems previous flux +libraries had (read it's documentation for more info). + +Because the state exists outside the component tree, any component can +read from it. Additionally, **state is updated with +[actions](http://redux.js.org/docs/basics/Actions.html)** that any +component can fire. We have [guidelines](redux-guidelines) for where +to read/write state, but it completely solves the problem described +above. Both `Tab1` and `Tab2` would be listening for changes in the +`item` state, and `Tab1` would fire actions to change it. + +With redux, **state is managed modularly with +[reducers](http://redux.js.org/docs/basics/Reducers.html)** but tied +together into a single object. This means a single JS object +represents most* of your state. It may sound crazy at first, but think +of it as an object with references to many pieces of state; that's all +it is. + +This makes it very easy to test, debug, and generally think about. You +can log your entire state to the console and inspect it. You can even +dump in old states and "replay" to see how the UI changed over time. + +I said "most*" because it's perfectly fine to use both component local +state and redux. Be aware that any debugging tools will not see local +state at all though. It should only be used for transient state; we'll +talk more about that in the guidelines. + +## Immutability + +Another important concept is immutability. In large apps, mutating +state makes it very hard to track what changed when. It's very easy to +run into situations where something changes out from under you, and +the UI is rendered with invalid data. + +Redux enforces the state to be updated immutably. That means you +always return new state. It doesn't mean you do a deep copy of the +state each time: when you need to change some part of the tree you +only need to create new objects to replace the ones your changing (and +walk up to the root to create a new root). Unchanged subtrees will +reference the same objects. + +This removes a whole class of errors, almost like Rust removing a +whole class of memory errors by enforcing ownership. + +## Order of Execution + +One of best things about React is that **rendering is synchronous**. That +means when you render a component, given some data, it will fully +render in the same tick. If you want the UI to change over time, you +have to change the *data* and rerender, instead of arbitrary UI +mutations. + +The reason this is desired is because if you build the UI around +promises or event emitters, updating the UI becomes very brittle +because anything can happen at any time. The state might be updated in +the middle of rendering it, maybe because you resolved a few promises +which made your rendering code run a few ticks later. + +Redux embraces the synchronous execution semantics as well. What this +means is that everything happens in a very controlled way. When +updating state through an action, all reducers are run and a new state +is synchronously generated. At that point, the new state is handed off +to React and synchronously rendered. + +Updating and rendering happen in two phases, so the UI will *always* +represent consistent state. The state can never be in the middle of +updating when rendering. + +What about asynchronous work? That's where +[middleware](http://redux.js.org/docs/advanced/Middleware.html) come +in. At this point you should probably go study our code, but +middleware allows you to dispatch special actions that indicate +asynchronous work. The middleware will catch these actions and do +something async, dispatching "raw" actions along the way (it's common +to emit a START, DONE, and ERROR action). + +**Ultimately there are 3 "phases" or level of abstraction**: the async +layer talks to the network and may dispatch actions, actions are +synchronously pumped through reducers to generate state, and state is +rendered with react. + +## Next + +Read the [Redux Guidelines](redux-guidelines.md) next to learn how to +write React code specifically for the devtools.
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