React widgets are reusable, interactive components that can be embedded in web and mobile applications built with React. Some key features of React widgets include:
Encapsulated Functionality
React widgets encapsulate complex UI and business logic into easy-to-use components. For example, a calendar widget handles all the logic around date selection, events, and display. Widgets abstract this complexity away from developers.
Composability
Widgets can be composed together to build robust UIs. For example, you could combine a charts widget, maps widget, and search widget together to create a dashboard. React’s composable component model makes it easy to reuse and combine widgets.
State Management
React widgets manage their own internal component state. As a developer, you pass data into the widget via props, and the widget controls its state internally. This separation of concerns simplifies development.
Event Handling
Widgets expose events that let you react to interactions. For instance, you can attach a callback to a button widget’s onClick event to perform an action when clicked. This allows loosely coupling between the widget and app.
Configurable
Many widgets allow customization options like themes, layouts, sizes, etc. This makes it possible to use the same widget in different contexts across an app or website.
Examples of React Widgets
Here are some examples of common React widget types:
Date/Time Pickers
These allow choosing dates/times, handling validations, localization, etc. Examples include react-datepicker and react-datetime.
Calendars
Calendar widgets display dates, allow date navigation, and event management. Examples include react-calendar and react-big-calendar.
Charts
Display interactive data visualizations like bar charts, line charts, and pie charts. Examples include recharts and victory.
Data Grids
Show data in a grid/table format with sorting, filtering, pagination, and other features. Examples include react-table and react-data-grid.
Maps
Display interactive maps using services like Google Maps or Leaflet. Examples include react-google-maps and react-leaflet.
Form Elements
Common form inputs like dropdowns, sliders, toggles, etc. Examples include react-select and react-toggle.
Modals/Popups
Display overlays and popups on top of your app’s content. Examples include react-modal and reactjs-popup.
Rich Text Editors
Edit formatted text and render HTML content. Examples include react-quill and react-draft-wysiwyg.
Media Players
Widgets for displaying and controlling video/audio players. Examples include react-player and video-react.
Carousels
Cycle through and display a gallery of images/content. Examples include react-slideshow-image and react-responsive-carousel.
File Uploaders
Upload files from a device. Examples include react-dropzone and react-uploady.
How React Widgets Work
Under the hood, React widgets are just React components. They use React features like state, props, and composition to encapsulate complex UI logic into reusable components.
Many widgets also rely on additional libraries:
- UI component libraries like Material UI, BlueprintJS, React Bootstrap for theming and commonly-needed UI primitives
- State management with Redux or React Context for data management
- Utility libraries like Moment.js for date handling
- APIs like Google Maps for embedded maps
By leveraging these tools along with React, widgets can provide robust, featurerich UI components.
Benefits of Using React Widgets
Here are some of the benefits of using widgets in React apps:
Faster Development
Widgets provide out-of-the-box UI functionality so you can focus business logic. Why build a calendar picker from scratch when you can use an existing widget?
Consistent Look and Feel
Using pre-built widgets that encapsulate styles and markup ensures a consistent UI across your app.
Clean Separation of Concerns
Widgets handle self-contained UI concerns behind the scenes, leading to cleaner component separation.
Ease of Maintenance
Bug fixes and improvements to widgets can be done by the maintainer. Apps just consume the latest version.
Large Ecosystem
Popular frameworks like React have many widgets available, often with multiple options per widget type.
Customizability
Configurable widgets allow tweaking designs and behavior to match your brand.
Reusability
Well-built widgets can be reused across multiple projects, saving duplicate work.
When to Build Your Own Widget vs Use a Third-Party One
The large React ecosystem means you’re often spoiled for choice when selecting widgets. When should you build your own vs use an existing option? Some key factors to consider:
Unique Functionality Needed
If your use case is very specific to your problem domain, creating a custom widget tailored to your needs may be best.
Control Over Dependencies
If you want to minimize third-party dependencies, building your own gives you control over technology choices.
Performance Concerns
If you need ultra optimized performance, a hand rolled widget may be faster than a general-purpose community one.
Design Constraints
If you have very specific style needs, it may be easier to customize your own widget.
Community Support
If the widget has a large community behind it, it may be better supported than rolling your own.
Development Resources
If your team lacks front-end/UI resources, starting with a community widget can accelerate development.
Licensing Terms
Some widgets may have restrictive licenses. Building your own gives you full control.
In general, start by checking if an existing widget meets your needs – you can always build your own later if not. But don’t be afraid to build custom widgets when necessary.
Examples of Custom React Widgets
Here are some examples of real-world custom React widgets built by companies:
Airbnb’s Date Range Picker
Airbnb built a custom date range picker widget for searching availability on Airbnb. It supports date ranges, disabled dates, localization, and other features.
Netflix’s Media Players
Netflix created custom video and audio player React components that handle streaming media playback across devices.
Dropbox’s SaveDialog
Dropbox implemented a React widget for custom file saveas dialogs across their desktop apps.
Stripe’s Elements
Stripe Elements provides pre-built React components for credit card forms to simplify PCI compliance.
Auth0’s Lock
Auth0 Lock is a customizable authentication widget handling login, signup, passwords, and more.
Creating Your Own React Widget
Here are some best practices for creating reusable React widget components:
Encapsulate Complexity
Abstract complex UI logic and state into the component. Expose a simple API for the developer.
Make Stateful
Use React state and lifecycle methods to manage UI state internally. Don’t rely on external state.
Expose Event Handlers
Allow customizing behavior through event callbacks like onClick, onChange, onOpen, etc.
Accept Config Options
Allow setting options like labels, colors, sizes, etc through props.
Destructure Props
Use ES6 destructuring for clean code when accessing props and state in render().
Implement Accessible UI
Follow web accessibility guidelines for keyboard support, ARIA attributes, labels, etc.
Write Tests
Include unit tests to ensure correctness and prevent regressions when refactoring.
Provide Typing
Use PropTypes and TypeScript types so consumers get validation and intellisense.
Document Thoroughly
Write detailed API documentation explaining usage, props, events, etc.
Make Themeable
Support custom CSS classes and style overrides to match different themes.
Check Render Performance
Profile renders and optimize bottlenecks to ensure fast rendering at scale.
Conclusion
React widgets provide the building blocks for crafting robust, interactive user interfaces. By encapsulating complex UI details into reusable components, widgets help create consistent, maintainable front-ends. The React ecosystem offers a diverse catalog of widget types for most common UI needs. For specialized use cases, don’t be afraid to build fully custom widgets suited to your domain. By following React best practices and testing thoroughly, you can create reusable widgets that serve your app’s needs while saving valuable development time.