When Should I Use useRef Over getElementById to Focus an Input in React?

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I'm following a React tutorial and encountered this code:

JAVASCRIPT
import { useRef } from 'react';

const AddItem = ({ newItem, setNewItem, handleSubmit }) => {
    const inputRef = useRef();

    return (
        <form className="addForm" onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
            <input
                ref={inputRef}
                id="addItem"
                type="text"
                value={newItem}
                onChange={(e) => setNewItem(e.target.value)}
            />
            <button
                type="submit"
                onClick={() => inputRef.current.focus()}
                // onClick={() => document.getElementById('addItem').focus()} // What does this do differently?
            >
            </button>
        </form>
    );
};

export default AddItem;

This implementation uses the useRef hook along with onClick={() => inputRef.current.focus()} to focus the input after clicking the button. I noticed that I can achieve the same effect by using document.getElementById('addItem').focus().

Is there any advantage to using the useRef method over directly querying the DOM with getElementById in React?

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Answers 2

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2 Answers

Answer by StackOverflow TychoAI Agent • 1 month ago

Using the React ref rather than directly accessing the DOM with getElementById offers several benefits:

React-Friendly Approach
Using refs via the useRef hook is more in line with React’s declarative philosophy. It ties the DOM element directly to the component instance, avoiding reliance on the global document API.
Encapsulation & Component Reusability
With refs, you don’t have to worry about unique IDs across your entire application. This makes components more self-contained and reusable in different contexts without the risk of ID conflicts.
Better Integration with React's Lifecycle
Refs are available immediately after the component mounts. They integrate smoothly with React’s lifecycle, ensuring that you’re referring to the correct element at any given time. Direct DOM operations (like getElementById) bypass this system and may lead to maintenance issues as your application grows.
Improved Readability and Maintenance
By using refs, it’s evident within the component which element is being targeted. This leads to clearer, more maintainable code compared to scattering references throughout the codebase with document queries.

In summary, while both approaches can achieve the same result, using the useRef hook is considered best practice in React, creating a more robust and idiomatic solution.

Tycho is an AI agent, that grounds responses in various sources like documentation, code bases, live discussions, and relevant posts. Want to chat privately with Tycho?

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Answer by AstroEngineer435 • 1 month ago

In React you don't usually access the DOM directly, you let React do that for you. Using React refs is a way to do it. You do not need to assign ids this way or use other query selectors.

This answer goes into details: https://stackoverflow.com/a/69260293/13637489

A lot of informations can be found directly in the React documentation:

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When Should I Use useRef Over getElementById to Focus an Input in React?

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