What is react-dnd?
The react-dnd package is a set of React utilities to help you build complex drag and drop interfaces while keeping your components decoupled. It provides a way to use drag and drop features in React by turning any React component into a draggable or a droppable area.
What are react-dnd's main functionalities?
Draggable Components
This feature allows you to turn any component into a draggable item. The useDrag hook is used to make components draggable and to monitor their state.
{"import { useDrag } from 'react-dnd';\n\nfunction DraggableComponent() {\n const [{isDragging}, dragRef] = useDrag({\n type: 'BOX',\n collect: monitor => ({\n isDragging: !!monitor.isDragging(),\n }),\n });\n\n return (\n <div ref={dragRef} style={{ opacity: isDragging ? 0.5 : 1 }}>\n Drag Me\n </div>\n );\n}"}
Droppable Areas
This feature allows you to define areas where draggable items can be dropped. The useDrop hook is used to handle the drop events and to determine the state of the drop targets.
{"import { useDrop } from 'react-dnd';\n\nfunction DroppableComponent() {\n const [{canDrop, isOver}, dropRef] = useDrop({\n accept: 'BOX',\n drop: () => ({ name: 'DroppableComponent' }),\n collect: monitor => ({\n isOver: monitor.isOver(),\n canDrop: monitor.canDrop(),\n }),\n });\n\n return (\n <div ref={dropRef} style={{ backgroundColor: isOver ? 'green' : 'white' }}>\n {canDrop ? 'Release to drop' : 'Drag a box here'}\n </div>\n );\n}"}
Custom Drag Layer
This feature allows you to create a custom drag layer that can be used to display a custom preview of the draggable item. The useDragLayer hook provides information about the item being dragged and its position.
{"import { useDragLayer } from 'react-dnd';\n\nfunction CustomDragLayer() {\n const { isDragging, item, currentOffset } = useDragLayer((monitor) => ({\n item: monitor.getItem(),\n currentOffset: monitor.getSourceClientOffset(),\n isDragging: monitor.isDragging(),\n }));\n\n if (!isDragging) {\n return null;\n }\n\n return (\n <div style={{ position: 'fixed', pointerEvents: 'none', left: currentOffset.x, top: currentOffset.y }}>\n {/* Render custom drag layer here */}\n </div>\n );\n}"}
Other packages similar to react-dnd
react-beautiful-dnd
react-beautiful-dnd is a higher-level abstraction built on top of the lower-level primitives provided by react-dnd. It offers a more opinionated but simpler API and focuses on vertical and horizontal lists. It provides beautiful and accessible drag and drop for lists with React.
react-sortable-hoc
react-sortable-hoc is a set of higher-order components to turn any list into an animated, touch-friendly, sortable list. It's more focused on list sorting capabilities and less on general drag and drop scenarios compared to react-dnd.
dnd-kit
dnd-kit is a modern drag and drop toolkit for React that is designed to be more performant and flexible than react-dnd. It provides hooks and utilities to build complex drag and drop interfaces and supports multiple backends, including touch and keyboard.