What is The Need for State Management in React?

State in React

We have seen in the earlier Shows in this roadmap about what state in React is. While it is okay to have the mental model for state while learning about it theoretically, but when working with large-scale, real-life application, there arises the need to share state. Because of that, there is also a need to store the state in a central location so that there is a single source of truth. And that is where state management libraries come into the picture.

The need for state management

As a React application grows in size and complexity, managing the state of the application can become increasingly difficult. There are several issues that can arise when trying to manage state in a large React app:

• Duplication of state: Different parts of the app may need to store the same data, which can lead to duplication of state. This can make it hard to keep the data in sync, because changes to the data in one part of the app may not be reflected in other parts of the app.
• State scattered throughout the app: As the app grows, it can be hard to keep track of where all the state is stored. This can make it difficult to understand how the app works and to debug issues that may arise.
• Complex interactions between components: As the number of components in the app increases, the interactions between them can become more complex. This can make it hard to understand how the different parts of the app fit together and to trace the flow of data through the app.

Solution to state management

To address these issues, developers often use state management libraries such as Redux or MobX. These libraries provide a central place to store the state of the app, making it easier to manage the state of a large and complex application. They also provide tools for organizing the state and for handling complex interactions between components, which can make the app easier to understand and debug.

We might all be familiar with the most famous state management solution for React which is Redux (created by Dan Abramov). But, at present, there are several methodologies that are available for state management and we will look into some of those in this series.

References