In the example above, the active user component will change each time a user performs the action of signing into their account. This example is, therefore, an ideal situation for a reducer. Redux can be confusing for beginner React developers to understand. There are a lot of concepts you need to know to use it properly, like reducers, actions, store, pure functions, immutability, and much more.

That’s why many people start using Redux as an alternative. As you can see, for every action dispatched to the store, the store gets changed. So we’re able to see the different values of the state in the console. With only one source of truth present (the store), you’ve got little problems with syncing your current state with https://deveducation.com/ actions and other parts of the application. In React (and other frameworks as well), communication between two components that don’t have a parent-child relationship is discouraged. React advises that if you must do this, you can build your global event system following Flux’s pattern — and that’s where Redux comes in.

When (and when not) to use Redux

It just takes in a tech prop and applies some fancy CSS. There’s an index.js entry file that renders an component to the DOM. The React app we’ll be working with has been bootstrapped with create-react-app.

Exercises are good, but you also need to watch me build a bigger application. This is where we wrap things up by building Skypey, a sweet messaging app kinda like what does redux do a Skype clone. There’s got to be a more sane approach tailored towards beginners. If you’re a humanoid developer, you certainly wouldn’t have issues with this.

An introduction to Redux

Take a look at the list below for a summary of what you stand to gain by using Redux for state management. When using Redux with React, states will no longer need to be lifted up. This makes it easier for you to trace which action causes any change.

This emphasizes the significance of a store enabling the users to keep their state safe and sound. For your action WITHDRAW_MONEY, you interact with the cashier…yeah??? This means if you want your money, your action needs to be passed through the cashier. When you are dispatching an action, it passes through the Reducer (cashier).

We’ll then compose them to form the chatWindowcomponent. Now, the ChatWindow component is rendered with the right activeUserId set. This file has the sole responsibility of keeping the action type constants. Also, the action payload will be the user_id of the user to be set as active. The type field is compulsory, while you can call payload anything you like.

The reducer in Redux is a normal, pure function that takes care of the various possible values of state using the switch case syntax. But that means several things need to be taken care of — most importantly, keeping the state immutable. Now imagine what happens when a state has to be shared between components that are far apart in the component tree. This makes the state difficult to maintain and less predictable.

• Redux has strict guidelines about how code should be organized; this further ensures a predictable outcome which makes code easier to maintain.
• The Bank Vault keeps money, the Redux store keeps the application state object.
• If you just walk into the bank and roam about, no one’s going to just give you money.
• As a reminder, upon downloading the Ebook, you’ll find instructions on how to get the accompanying code files, exercise files, and exercise solutions as well.