history

What is history?

The history package is a JavaScript library that lets you manage session history anywhere JavaScript runs. It provides a minimal API that lets you manage the history stack, navigate, and persist state between sessions. It is commonly used in conjunction with libraries like React Router but can be used standalone as well.

What are history's main functionalities?

Manage session history

This feature allows you to create a history object and manipulate the browser's session history by pushing new entries onto the history stack.

const { createBrowserHistory } = require('history');
const history = createBrowserHistory();
history.push('/home', { some: 'state' });

Navigate programmatically

This feature enables you to navigate through the history stack programmatically, either going back or forward.

history.go(-1); // Go back one entry in the history stack
history.goForward(); // Go forward one entry in the history stack

Listen for changes to the current location

This feature allows you to listen for changes in the current location, which is useful for reacting to navigation events.

const unlisten = history.listen((location, action) => {
  console.log(action, location.pathname, location.state);
});
// To stop listening
unlisten();

Persist state between sessions

This feature allows you to push state onto the history stack and access it later, which is useful for persisting information across sessions without using local storage or cookies.

history.push('/location', { user: '12345' });
// The state can be accessed later
const location = history.location;
const state = location.state; // { user: '12345' }

Other packages similar to history

react-router

React Router is a collection of navigational components that compose declaratively with your application. It provides bindings to the history library, making it easier to use with React applications. It is more feature-rich and tailored specifically for React, compared to the more general-purpose history package.

vue-router

Vue Router is the official router for Vue.js. It deeply integrates with Vue.js core to make building Single Page Applications with Vue.js a breeze. It provides similar functionalities for managing navigation and history in Vue applications, analogous to what history does for more general JavaScript applications.

reach-router

Reach Router is a small, simple router for React that borrows from the ideas of the history package. It provides easy route definition and navigation but has been officially replaced by React Router as of version 6.

navigo

Navigo is a simple vanilla JavaScript router with a similar API to history. It provides a powerful router with a small footprint that does not necessarily rely on the history API provided by the browser.