How to choose
State Manager for React?

As your project expands in size and complexity, you may face some issues that need to be addressed effectively. Some of the major challenges that you might face include excessive component re-renders and the management of extensive data that must be saved and shared across multiple components and pages.

In the initial stages, it may seem tempting to rely only on React Context to fulfill your data storage needs. However, as your application’s store structures become more complex and the task of maintaining and developing it grows intimidating, you might find that React Context alone falls short. It becomes evident that an alternative solution is needed.

Initially, you might question whether it’s possible not to use data storage within the app and rely exclusively on data fetched from endpoints. However, this approach may not be possible, especially when certain interactive components heavily rely on stored data. Without this stored data, interactive components could trigger an excessive number of endpoint calls, potentially leading to a significant slowdown of your site or even causing it to freeze.

If you can avoid using the state manager/storing data on the frontend or reduce its size, it’s better to do so, as all of it comes with a cost.

Note

From this moment, your critical concern becomes the selection and implementation of the right state manager. You find yourself at a crossroads, searching for a solution that can reduce issues of component re-renders, simplify the state structure, speed up development and maintenance of your application’s states.

Comparasion

Let’s explore various state managers and provide brief overviews of what you should consider when choosing the right one for your project. This will give you a better understanding of use cases.

React Context is a built-in tool in React for passing data to child components. It offers the advantage of not requiring additional libraries to use. It’s best suited for managing a small number of app states, particularly those that are local and frequently updated. However, it may face performance issues when the state experiences frequent updates, potentially causing components to display outdated values before updates are completed. In some cases, it can be used along with Redux or similar libraries for smaller apps with infrequent state updates.

Redux is a library designed to manage global, frequently changing states. It may be a suitable choice due to its compact package size. However, it demands writing a significant amount of code in the Redux store, which can be challenging to maintain and scale in the future. Consider using Redux when dealing with a small app where package size is crucial, and there are only a few global states that interact with a limited number of components and frequently change.

This library is built on top of Redux and simplifies the code required for managing the store. It offers better understandability compared to plain Redux and is well-suited for projects involving interactions across multiple components with frequent state updates. Redux Toolkit provides better scalability and, in some cases, has better performance than React Context. It is particularly suitable for medium-sized apps.

Zustand is a compact and fast state manager solution that relies on simplified flux principles. It matches different project sizes and requires less code than previous options. Zustand excels in handling scalability and complexity, making it ideal for medium and larger projects. It simplifies the use of advanced options, such as async stores, and provides greater flexibility in managing multiple stores and defining customized folder structures.

While not a state manager itself, Immer is a package that simplifies working with immutable data structures. It is invaluable for handling data structures in state managers and can be used with React State, React Context, Redux reducers (including Redux Toolkit), and Zustand. Immer simplifies working with nested objects and allows direct assignment of new values to variables within deeply nested objects without creating unnecessary copies.

Conclusion

While the above information provides guidance, it’s important to understand that selecting the right state manager often involves some trial and error. It’s always better to plan which state manager could be used and be good for your project in the future. But if you are not sure, there is no need to overcomplicate your app, you always can start with an easier and smaller solution such as React Context or not store data at all.

I hope that in the end of this exploration, you have equipped with a comprehensive understanding of how to select the ideal state manager for your project, that not only reduces the issues you’ve faced but also lays the foundation for an efficient, maintainable, and extensible codebase.

How to choose State Manager for React?

Comparasion

Conclusion

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Any questions?

How to choose
State Manager for React?