Summary

The undefined website discusses the potential of Preact/Signals as a more intuitive and performant alternative to React's state management using hooks.

Abstract

Preact/Signals is gaining popularity as a state management library that promises to simplify frontend development by replacing React hooks with a more straightforward approach. This library offers optimal updates for better app performance and a reduced learning curve. The website provides code examples comparing traditional React state management with useState and useEffect to the Preact/Signals approach using signal and effect. It also demonstrates how Preact/Signals can eliminate the need for useContext by directly using signals for context sharing. The article encourages readers to explore Preact/Signals, offering links to GitHub, documentation, and code demos, and invites them to follow the author on Medium and LinkedIn for more insights.

Opinions

The author believes that Preact/Signals could potentially replace React hooks, suggesting a future where developers might not need useState.
The article expresses that Preact/Signals can lead to improved app performance due to its ability to handle optimal updates.
It is implied that Preact/Signals simplifies the learning process for new developers by reducing the complexity associated with React's hooks.
The author is optimistic about the benefits of Preact/Signals, encouraging the audience to invest time in learning about it.
By providing multiple code examples and demos, the author conveys a strong endorsement for Preact/Signals as a practical and beneficial tool for developers.
The call to action for clapping, following, and reaching out on social media suggests that the author values community engagement and feedback on their content.

Signals — Future of React State Management

Source: https://github.com/preactjs/signals

Preact/Signals is a library which is getting more popular. It shifts frontend development towards a more intuitive way of handling state.

This is a powerful library which could possibly replace React hooks (Imagine your code without useState!). It reduces your learning curve. ⏳ App performance could also be optimized, because they have a way to do optimal updates! ⚡

Therefore, it worth to invest some time looking into

👀 Github: https://github.com/preactjs/signals

👀 Documentation: https://preactjs.com/blog/introducing-signals/

Code example

To help you start, here is a brief introduction with some working code example.

❌ useState()

import { useState } from 'react';

function App() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0) /* useState to be removed */
  return (
    <>
      <h1>Counter</h1>
      <div className="card">
        <button onClick={() => setCount((count) => count + 1)}>
          count is {count}
        </button>
      </div>
    </>
  )
}

✅ useSignals()

import { signal } from '@preact/signals-react';
const count = signal(0); /* Declare a signal with initial value 0 */

function App() {
  /* No more useState */
  return (
    <>
      <h1>Counter</h1>
      <div className="card">
        {/* Update signal directly */}
        <button onClick={() => (count.value += 1)}>
          count is {count}
        </button>
      </div>
    </>
  );
}

Code Demo: https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-72syht?file=src%2FApp.tsx

❌ useEffect()

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

function App() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  /* useEffect to be removed */
  useEffect(() => {
    console.log("count is updated to: " + count);
  }, [count]);

  return (
    <>
      <h1>Counter</h1>
      <div className="card">
        <button onClick={() => setCount((count) => count + 1)}>
          count is {count}
        </button>
      </div>
    </>
  );
}

export default App;

✅ effect()

import { signal, effect } from '@preact/signals-react';
const count = signal(0); 

function App() {

  /* effect, no dependancy array is needed */
  effect(() => {
    console.log("count is updated to: " + count);
  })

  return (
    <>
      <h1>Counter</h1>
      <div className="card">
        <button onClick={() => (count.value += 1)}>
          count is {count}
        </button>
      </div>
    </>
  );
}

Code Demo: https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-p2xqch?file=src%2FApp.tsx

❌ useContext()

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

const Counter = React.createContext(0);

const Header = () => {
  /* useContext to be removed */
  const counter = useContext(Counter);
  return <div> Count: {counter} </div>;
};

function App() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return (
    <>
      {/* Context Provider to be removed */}
      <Counter.Provider value={count}>
        <Header />
        <h1>Counter</h1>
        <div className="card">
          <button onClick={() => setCount((prev: number) => prev + 1)}>
            Add Item
          </button>
        </div>
      </Counter.Provider>
    </>
  );
}

✅ Just use Signal! 😎

import { signal } from '@preact/signals-react';
const count = signal(0);

const Header = () => {
  return <div> Count: {count} </div>;
};

function App() {
  return (
    <>
      <Header />
      <h1>Counter</h1>
      <div className="card">
        <button onClick={() => count.value++}>Add Item</button>
      </div>
    </>
  );
}

Code Example: https://stackblitz.com/edit/vitejs-vite-15gnv5?file=src%2FApp.tsx

If you like this article, please give a clap 👏 and follow me on medium, so I could create more of these articles 🙂

I hope this article gives you some insight to start with. Happy coding! 👨‍💻

You can also reach me on Linkedin.

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