Learn React Hooks: useRef - Simply Explained!

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In this video we will learn about React hooks, starting with useRef. This powerful React hook will allow you to store and manipulate values that are not needed for rendering. You will learn the difference between useRef and useState, when to use which, and how useRef works under the hood. We will use refs to handle values without triggering re-rendering, and we will also look at how refs can be used to manipulate HTML elements, as well as how they are used in 3rd party libraries.
In this new React world, hooks are here to stay, so it's best to learn them! In this tutorial I demonstrate the useRef React hook, and I explain it very simply and in a way that is easy to understand. Enjoy!

[@cosdensolutions]

Hey everyone! I just launched 🚀 Project React, which is a course that teaches you React by building a real-world project. It goes way beyond what you see in these videos and walks you through step-by-step on how to build a big and complex application with React! You can check it out here: cosden.solutions/project-react

[@davidkurniawan1358]

This is the reason why it's hard to understand about useRef. It's so confusing but you help me to make it easier to understand. GREAT JOB!!!

[@Engr.SharoonHoney]

That's amazing explanation of useRef on whole KZbin. Thanks sir 👍

[@Pernicuz]

These guides are incredible. You made me understand clearly in 3 videos what my teacher couldnt in 3 days

[@TheGr33k13]

Great job! Your videos have been really clear and provide straight forward examples even explaining some of the gotchas of react

[@cosdensolutions]

Really glad you're enjoying them!

[@SK-fq2yz]

Thank you very much. It really is the last useRef video i would ever need.

[@haciendadad]

I really like this description, it made sense. I am a new sub and opted to be notified of all your videos. You seems like this is a good example of the new gen of code videos.

[@cosdensolutions]

I really appreciate that!

[@syuo5051]

Many thanks for this clear explanation. 💗💗

[@psychobuddha5379]

I was bit suspicious when you said we will not need another video for this but you were right. Really nice explanation, I finally understand the usage of refs.

[@cosdensolutions]

Happy to hear it!

[@ZahidHussain-hj2dk]

Best useref tutorial.....highly recommended

[@zambidzhelov6734]

This is the best useRef tutorial . Thansk !

[@vishalupadhayay6391]

Nice video and appreciate the time and effort that you put into developing quality content.

[@cheiguerabdelwehab6802]

Thank you so much, this video helped me in my interview, specially the re-rendering part

[@erickchavez4551]

I think I'm starting to get this hook. Easy to follow examples 👍. Also, it's great that you use the dark mode, my eyes appreciate it.

[@cosdensolutions]

You're welcome ☺️

[@lhommeunknown3985]

Great video man, really clear explanations !

[@vesa95]

Love this series!!! 🤗

[@a_maxed_out_handle_of_30_chars]

wow, simple and to the point thanks a lot :)

[@akash.deblanq]

Finally, I understood useRef. You explain very well my friend. Thank you!

[@akash.deblanq]

Liked and subbed.

[@cosdensolutions]

glad it helped! 🤙

[@suhaibsaifan7163]

Great explanation! .Looking forward for more series

[@jamilibrahimli190]

Thank you so much , i was realy confused when read the docs , but now it's clear much more better!

[@altan183]

Very clear and concise, thank you for the explanation.

[@adrianayon5513]

Thank you, very good explanation!! You helped me a lot!!

[@Arnav404]

love your explanation. every thing is clear now about useRef, thanks!!

[@melikarazavi3599]

useRef is very complicated for me , you make it simple .Thank you a lot!

[@cosdensolutions]

You're welcome ☺️

[@rushikeshjadhav7748]

Hats off to you sir! Great explanation for a beginner like me

[@vincetamayo9669]

very clear and concise tutorial. thanks for this content

[@victortislenko7279]

The best explanation! Thank you

[@user-og5rw1nk7d]

Thanks, you explained it in a very simple way👌. I want to learn Express from you.

[@OmG21097]

Thanks for detailed explanation!!

[@saschagobbels2177]

absolutely great explanation ! thx my friend

[@morofernando639]

Absolutely another wonderful tutorial after I watched this video I can say that I am super confident with working with useRef your explanation is really straightforward and clear

[@cosdensolutions]

Glad to hear it!

[@official_youtube_1]

great explanation, Exactly what I was looking for It clears many doubt about state vs ref. count a like from me.

[@petrus2746]

Nicely done my man.

[@baciusebastian6361]

really good explanation, thank you for the video, really appreciate it

[@dirtysouth3291]

This is the BEST useRef tutorial - you are VERY good at explaining things in a decent amount of time, and you cover everything. I will try to find more useful videos on your channel, hopefully, there will also be something about TypeScript

[@cosdensolutions]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 🤙

[@samuelerbo]

Thanks man! I learned a lot.

[@kasiakordys266]

I have watched it 3 times and finally got it :-) thanks, great explanation

[@cosdensolutions]

beautiful

[@user-jn2rs3rw3x]

now I cant forget this, tq!

[@esraamohamed5601]

Keep doing the best work.

[@eliyahutarab4862]

Clear and simple thank you

[@cosdensolutions]

Glad you enjoyed it ☺️

[@mostinho7]

useRef stores state that doesn’t trigger a rerender when it changes. The useRef value isn’t used in the jsx component 2:45 nuance about setState, when you call setState to set a new state value, that state variable which will not have the same value until the next render, but incrementing a useRef value is immediate, happens right away not in the next render because useRef doesn’t even trigger a rerender 8:20 so usually you don’t use useRef value in the jsx because your component won’t rerender to display the latest useRef value, but you can use useRef to hold reference to HTMLElement to access dom elements directly and call functions on them like focusing a component

[@sankalpsharma3050]

Thanks Cosden . Good video

[@ajays3914]

Awesome video brother 😎

[@rennjaysoterio2543]

Great explanation!

[@jay-kv6wn]

Great video as always

[@pranavjaiswal2379]

Thanks for the clarification i really understood the difference between the useref and usestate you made my 12 minutes worth

[@cosdensolutions]

Glad you found it useful!

[@idfk2873]

its very healful..great Video

[@asifmondal7609]

Well explained buddy.. Big 👍

[@tariksadkhi3820]

Good explanation, thanks

[@mohit6847]

Thanks for the video, it was a good explanation.

[@RihaLV]

Bro great explanation. Thanks

[@pravinharigaikwad]

Great explanation 👏

[@cosdensolutions]

🤙

[@julienheng3880]

you did an excellent job in explaining things with examples in short amount of time. Give me more tutorials lol

[@cosdensolutions]

There's a playlist full of them!

[@user-hl9us2id5i]

Best explanation 🎉

[@dejandjosic1258]

Very well explained. Subscribed.

[@cosdensolutions]

🤙

[@akankshagunti5301]

Loved it 💌

[@samahgad241]

Realy, thanks alot😍

[@zabialy2919]

Great video, keep it up

[@guichi200]

Ho Wow. at 6 min it clear my mind. awesome, thanks.

[@milindkhadse556]

Helpful information thank you

[@prafullkumar6369]

Very nice explained

[@fatemeh-azad]

Thanks man this is awsome

[@starfinitex]

I really enjoyed it and understood

[@es7729]

You're the type of tutor we just want to hit that like button for without first having to watch the video, because previous videos were on point! Thanks! + would you also mind if I were to explain these hooks but in other language with credit like "Inspired by: Cosden Solutions"?

[@cosdensolutions]

yes go for it!

[@CodingWithDapo]

Thank you so much, I have wasted so much time searching for this simple answer.

[@cosdensolutions]

You're most welcome ☺️

[@ankitputhran]

Very helpful

[@nabilachehlafekir8577]

thank you so much ^^

[@malayalenka9164]

Awesome!

[@chadaramprasanna9259]

Thanks bro. 💯

[@maheshranjankar2127]

i love this man 🙏🎉

[@leonardmbibi8013]

Guy, you rock!

[@AhammedShaheedhudheen]

you Earned a subscription

[@debos_me]

Very useful

[@pp-studio]

Thank you so much for your incredible explained for react hook. it 's make me supper clear. 🥰

[@FGA-47]

Thanks that was really helpful❤🫡

[@cosdensolutions]

🫡

[@AhmedHuzain]

Thank you!

[@enafor99]

Great tutorial thanks

[@cosdensolutions]

🤙

[@blackfortmusic7729]

Growing fast man!

[@cosdensolutions]

🤙

[@pasinduvinsuka]

Thank you so much

[@nickytomar959]

Really awesome ❤❤

[@ahmednabeel358]

You will be famous one day keep going 🙂 thanks a lot

[@supplyuniquenotessun4562]

respected .. very thanks

[@mahdighasemi9518]

Thanks a lot.

[@rubyc7771]

To elaborate 2:24 useRef() always returns an object with one 1 property, literally 1 called 'current'. If you console.log(ref), you will see this and 'current' is of 'any' type.

[@chamalsena]

Loved this series man !! btw whats the vscode theme ?

[@saadchraibi6712]

Awesome, straight to the point! Could you make a video about custom Hooks?

[@cosdensolutions]

Already have ☺️

[@saadchraibi6712]

@@cosdensolutions would you mind sharing the link? I can’t find it

[@cosdensolutions]

@@saadchraibi6712 check my channel -> playlists -> custom hooks (there's only one video but there will be more)

[@TheRealMinhHoang]

Thank you for creating an amazing tutorial, it's truly help me a lot! I have a request, can you make video about using useRef, forwardRef and useImperativeHandle hook in React? Component that managing it's own state. I have always wanted to know more about this react pattern.

[@cosdensolutions]

already have those :)

[@emmanuelareiza9699]

TY Bro

[@VishalSharma-rn7mt]

Awesome

[@someChicoRy]

круто, продолжай its intresting. continue This)

[@HriSri]

Thanks

[@alexdsr1]

This a good explanation of useRef. However, there is an issue when using it when Concurrent Mode is activated in React. That's a topic that is even more complex in regards to the usage of useRef. I don't know if you can make a video on but it would help people who are going to run into that issue sooner or later. Thanks

[@andrewdatar9880]

Your reach hooks playlist is awesome. Thank you. As for useRef vs useState - I understand the point you are trying to show. But you kinda comparing apples to oranges. If you make your state object (to be similar to ref shape) - then they are exactly the same, and state is updated in current render too, just like ref! const [count, setCount] = useState({value: 0}); // click count.value++; setCount({ value: count.value }); countRef.current++; console.log(count.value, countRef.current); // both are 1 after first click! or even simpler. Just do to the count what you do to the current: let [count, setCount] = useState(0); // click count++; setCount(count); countRef.current++; console.log(count, countRef.current); // both are 1 after first click!

[@cosdensolutions]

Sure they might behave the same, but updating state like that won't trigger a re-render of the component so you don't want to do that. If you do then use a ref because that's what it's for. I think the explanation made sense because yes they are different, but serve different purposes

[@andrewdatar9880]

@@cosdensolutionsSure, your explanation makes perfect sense. It's react API that is too complex and requires explanations like this. And it allows to be misused like in my made up example, and yet it still re-renders and works properly. Even though in my example value of count is changed instantly (just like ref) and not in next re-render. And, yes, it triggers re-render.

[@sonnyl2915]

Thanks. But i still need time to pondering about this hook.😊

[@learner8084]

If count updated before the rerender or exactly when it rerenders ? I understand it's async, so I thought it would be anything before the rerender ?

[@cosdensolutions]

With state, the count changes in the next render. The component basically does this: 1st render Count is 0, all functions are created, and UI is rendered Click increment count Schedules count to be +1, runs rest of code with count still 0 2nd render Count is now 1, UI renders accordingly. With ref, the render part is skipped, it just directly updates the count with no render. So that's why it won't update on the screen but in code yes

[@tombrady7390]

when you said wont need to watch a useRef video again you were ont kidding.

[@nanonkay5669]

useRef is used for storing a DOM element (i.e. it's REFerence) or values that are not reactive.

[@polireddyrajulanaidu9032]

Can you make a video on how to use refs in autocomplete material ui component

[@roan6903]

Very much thanks about the userState rendering. It bothers me for a long time.

[@user-jk3th4iz7x]

🔥🔥🔥