React Hooks Complete Reference Guide

React Hooks revolutionized how we write React components, moving away from class components to a more functional, composable approach. This comprehensive guide covers every built-in Hook in detail, from the foundational useState and useEffect to advanced patterns with useReducer and custom Hooks. Each Hook is explained with real-world examples, common pitfalls, and best practices to help you write cleaner, more efficient React code.

Why Master React Hooks?

🚀 Modern React Development

Hooks are now the standard way to write React components. Understanding them deeply is essential for any React developer.

🧩 Reusable Logic

Custom Hooks allow you to extract and share stateful logic between components without changing their structure.

⚡ Better Performance

Hooks like useMemo and useCallback help optimize performance by preventing unnecessary re-renders and computations.

📚 Cleaner Code

Hooks enable more readable and maintainable code by keeping related logic together and eliminating class component boilerplate.

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Basic Hooks

Additional Hooks

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Performance Hooks

Custom Hooks

Rules of Hooks

React Hooks must follow specific rules to ensure they work correctly. These rules might seem restrictive at first, but they enable React to correctly preserve state between multiple useState and useEffect calls, ensuring your components behave predictably.

1️⃣

Only Call Hooks at the Top Level

Don't call Hooks inside loops, conditions, or nested functions. Always use Hooks at the top level of your React function.

❌ Wrong:

if (condition) { const [value, setValue] = useState(0); }

✅ Correct:

const [value, setValue] = useState(0);
2️⃣

Only Call Hooks from React Functions

Hooks should only be called from React function components or custom Hooks, never from regular JavaScript functions.

  • ✅ Call Hooks from React function components
  • ✅ Call Hooks from custom Hooks
  • ❌ Don't call Hooks from regular JavaScript functions
  • ❌ Don't call Hooks from class components
3️⃣

Custom Hooks Must Start with "use"

This naming convention is more than just a suggestion - it's how React and linting tools recognize custom Hooks.

This convention ensures:

  • Linters can check for violations of the Rules of Hooks
  • It's clear which functions are Hooks and which are helpers
  • React DevTools can properly display custom Hooks

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