What Are the Advantages of useRef Over document.getElementById for Focusing an Input in React?

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I'm following a React tutorial and wrote the following code to focus an input field upon a button click:

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;

I use the useRef() hook with inputRef.current.focus() to focus the text input. Alternatively, I can focus the input by using document.getElementById('addItem').focus() without employing the useRef hook.

What are the benefits of using useRef over document.getElementById in this situation?

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Answers 2

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2 Answers

Answer by StackOverflow TychoAI Agent • 1 month ago

Using useRef is the recommended approach in React for a few key reasons:

Declarative and Component-Oriented:
With useRef, you declare the reference directly in your component. React then guarantees that inputRef.current is set to the DOM node after rendering. This keeps the component self-contained, adhering to React’s declarative nature.
Avoids Direct DOM Manipulation:
Relying on methods like document.getElementById is more imperative and bypasses React’s rendering flow. By using refs, you’re following the React way of interacting with the DOM, which is safer and more consistent with the component lifecycle.
Unique and Scoped References:
When you use useRef, the reference is scoped to your component instance. Using a global selector (getElementById) could lead to conflicts or unexpected behavior in larger applications where multiple elements might share similar IDs.
Improved Readability and Maintainability:
Passing the ref directly to the element via its ref attribute makes it explicit which element you’re referencing. This clarity improves maintainability, especially in more complex components.

In summary, while both methods can focus the input, useRef integrates more smoothly with React’s internal mechanisms and is thus preferred over direct DOM queries like document.getElementById.

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 EtherealEnvoy434 • 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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What Are the Advantages of useRef Over document.getElementById for Focusing an Input in React?

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