react-router-dom

What is react-router-dom?

The react-router-dom package is a popular library for handling routing in React web applications. It allows developers to implement dynamic routing in a web app, which is not possible with static routing. With react-router-dom, you can define routes, navigate between them, handle parameters and query strings, and manage the history stack, among other things.

What are react-router-dom's main functionalities?

Basic Routing

This code demonstrates how to set up basic routing in a React application using react-router-dom. It uses the BrowserRouter, Route, and Switch components to define routes for different components in the app.

import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route, Switch } from 'react-router-dom';

function App() {
  return (
    <Router>
      <Switch>
        <Route exact path='/' component={Home} />
        <Route path='/about' component={About} />
        <Route path='/contact' component={Contact} />
      </Switch>
    </Router>
  );
}

Link Navigation

This code snippet shows how to use the Link component to create navigation links that allow users to click through different routes without causing a page reload.

import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';

function Navbar() {
  return (
    <nav>
      <Link to='/'>Home</Link>
      <Link to='/about'>About</Link>
      <Link to='/contact'>Contact</Link>
    </nav>
  );
}

Route Parameters

This example demonstrates how to handle dynamic routes using route parameters. The useParams hook is used to access the parameters of the current route.

import { Route, useParams } from 'react-router-dom';

function User() {
  let { userId } = useParams();
  return <h2>User ID: {userId}</h2>;
}

function Users() {
  return (
    <Route path='/users/:userId' component={User} />
  );
}

Programmatic Navigation

This code shows how to navigate programmatically using the useHistory hook. It allows you to push a new entry onto the history stack, mimicking the behavior of a navigation action.

import { useHistory } from 'react-router-dom';

function HomeButton() {
  let history = useHistory();

  function handleClick() {
    history.push('/home');
  }

  return (
    <button type='button' onClick={handleClick}>
      Go home
    </button>
  );
}

Other packages similar to react-router-dom

reach-router

Reach Router is another routing library for React with a more straightforward, accessible approach compared to react-router-dom. It automatically manages focus for accessibility, and routing is more component-based. However, as of my knowledge cutoff in 2023, Reach Router has been officially merged with React Router, and the team recommends using React Router for new projects.

wouter

Wouter is a minimalist routing library for React and Preact that does not rely on the context API. It offers a simpler API and smaller bundle size compared to react-router-dom, making it a good choice for smaller projects or when you want to keep your project lightweight.

navi

Navi is a JavaScript library for declaratively mapping URLs to asynchronous content. It's designed to work with React and allows for lazy-loading routes, which can help improve performance in large applications. Navi provides a different approach to routing by focusing on content-first routing, which can be beneficial for certain types of applications.

README

React Router DOM

The react-router-dom package contains bindings for using React Router in web applications. Please see the Getting Started guide for more information on how to get started with React Router.

Changelog

v6.8.0

Date: 2023-01-26

Minor Changes

Support absolute URLs in <Link to>. If the URL is for the current origin, it will still do a client-side navigation. If the URL is for a different origin then it will do a fresh document request for the new origin. (#9900)

<Link to="https://neworigin.com/some/path">    {/* Document request */}
<Link to="//neworigin.com/some/path">          {/* Document request */}
<Link to="https://www.currentorigin.com/path"> {/* Client-side navigation */}

Patch Changes

• Fixes 2 separate issues for revalidating fetcher shouldRevalidate calls (#9948)
  • The shouldRevalidate function was only being called for explicit revalidation scenarios (after a mutation, manual useRevalidator call, or an X-Remix-Revalidate header used for cookie setting in Remix). It was not properly being called on implicit revalidation scenarios that also apply to navigation loader revalidation, such as a change in search params or clicking a link for the page we're already on. It's now correctly called in those additional scenarios.
  • The parameters being passed were incorrect and inconsistent with one another since the current*/next* parameters reflected the static fetcher.load URL (and thus were identical). Instead, they should have reflected the navigation that triggered the revalidation (as the form* parameters did). These parameters now correctly reflect the triggering navigation.
• Fix bug with search params removal via useSearchParams (#9969)
• Respect preventScrollReset on <fetcher.Form> (#9963)
• Fix navigation for hash routers on manual URL changes (#9980)
• Use pagehide instead of beforeunload for <ScrollRestoration>. This has better cross-browser support, specifically on Mobile Safari. (#9945)
• Do not short circuit on hash change only mutation submissions (#9944)
• Remove instanceof check from isRouteErrorResponse to avoid bundling issues on the server (#9930)
• Detect when a defer call only contains critical data and remove the AbortController (#9965)
• Send the name as the value when url-encoding File FormData entries (#9867)
• react-router-dom-v5-compat - Fix SSR useLayoutEffect console.error when using CompatRouter (#9820)

Full Changelog: v6.7.0...v6.8.0