When should I add Redux to a React app?

Question

I\'m currently learning React and I am trying to figure out how to use it with Redux for building a mobile app. I\'m kind of confused on how the two are related/usable toget

Answer 1

Firstly, you don't need to add Redux to your application if you don't need it! Simple, so don't force yourself to include it in your project if you don't need it at all! But that doesn't mean Redux is no good, it's really helpful in large applications, so read on ...

Redux is a state management for your React application, think about Redux like a local store which track of your state as you go, you can access the state in any page and route you want, also compare to Flux, you only have one store, means one source of truth...

Look at this image to understand what Redux does first at a glance:

Also this's how Redux introduce itself:

Redux is a predictable state container for JavaScript apps.

It helps you write applications that behave consistently, run in different environments (client, server, and native), and are easy to test. On top of that, it provides a great developer experience, such as live code editing combined with a time traveling debugger.

You can use Redux together with React, or with any other view library. It is tiny (2kB, including dependencies).

Also as per documentation, there are Three Principles for Redux as below:

1. Single source of truth

2. State is read-only

3. Changes are made with pure functions

So basically when you need to a single store to keep track of anything you like in your application, then Redux is handy, you can access it anywhere in your app, in any route... simply using store.getState();

Also using the middleware Redux, you can do manage the state much better, there a list of handy components and middleware on official page of Redux!

Simply if your application gonna be big, with many components, states and routing try to implements Redux from start! It will help you on the way for sure!