The ref is used to return a reference to the element. Refs should be avoided in most cases, however, they can be useful when we need DOM measurements or to add methods to the components.

Using Refs

The following example shows how to use refs to clear the input field. ClearInput function searches for element with ref = “myInput” value, resets the state, and adds focus to it after the button is clicked.
App.jsx

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';

class App extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);

this.state = {
data: ''
}
this.updateState = this.updateState.bind(this);
this.clearInput = this.clearInput.bind(this);
};
updateState(e) {
this.setState({data: e.target.value});
}
clearInput() {
this.setState({data: ''});
ReactDOM.findDOMNode(this.refs.myInput).focus();
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<input value = {this.state.data} onChange = {this.updateState} 
ref = "myInput"></input>
<button onClick = {this.clearInput}>CLEAR</button>
<h4>{this.state.data}</h4>
</div>
);
}
}
export default App;

main.js

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import App from './App.jsx';

ReactDOM.render(<App/>, document.getElementById('app'));

Once the button is clicked, the input will be cleared and focused.

ReactJS – Keys

React keys are useful when working with dynamically created components or when your lists are altered by the users. Setting the key value will keep your components uniquely identified after the change.

Using Keys

Let’s dynamically create Content elements with unique index (i). The map function will create three elements from our data array. Since the key value needs to be unique for every element, we will assign i as a key for each created element.
App.jsx

import React from 'react';

class App extends React.Component {
constructor() {
super();

this.state = {
data:[
{
component: 'First...',
id: 1
},
{
component: 'Second...',
id: 2
},
{
component: 'Third...',
id: 3
}
]
}
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<div>
{this.state.data.map((dynamicComponent, i) => <Content 
key = {i} componentData = {dynamicComponent}/>)}
</div>
</div>
);
}
}
class Content extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<div>
<div>{this.props.componentData.component}</div>
<div>{this.props.componentData.id}</div>
</div>
);
}
}
export default App;

main.js

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import App from './App.jsx';

ReactDOM.render(<App/>, document.getElementById('app'));

We will get the following result for the Key values of each element.

If we add or remove some elements in the future or change the order of the dynamically created elements, React will use the key values to keep track of each element.
So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Using Refs and Keys in ReactJS’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in React JS and Front-End Development. If you wish to learn React JS and build a career in Front-End Development domain, then check out our interactive, React.js with Redux Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period.

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Introduction to Web Development and React.js
• Fundamentals of React
• Building Blocks of Web Application Development
• Single-page and Multi-page Applications
• Different Client-side Technologies
• MVC Architecture
• Introduction to React
• Installation of React
• JSX and its use case
• DOM
• Virtual DOM and its working
• ECMAScript
• Difference between ES5 and ES6
• NPM Modules

Components, JSX & Props
• React Elements
• Render Function
• Components
• Class Component
• Thinking In Components
• What Is JSX
• JSX Expressions
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• Functional Components

React State Management using Redux
• Need of Redux
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• More about react-redux package
React & Redux
• The React Redux Node Package
• Provider Component
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React Hooks
• Caveat of JavaScript classes.
• Functional components and React hooks
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• useState() hook
• How to write useState() hook when state variable is an array of objects
• useEffect() hook
• Fetch API data using useEffect() hook
• useContext() hook
• Rules to write React hooks
• Additional hooks
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Fetch Data using GraphQL
• What is GraphQL?
• Cons of Rest API
• Pros of GraphQL
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• GraphQL datatypes
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• Schemas
• GraphiQL tool
• Express framework
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• Build a GraphQL API
• Apollo client
• NPM libraries to build client side of GraphQL
• How to setup Apollo client

React Application Testing and Deployment
• Define Jest
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Introduction to React Native
• What is React Native
• Use of JSX elements With React Native
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React with Redux Projects

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