React Context API Tutorial For Beginners

If you’re new to React and want to learn about the Context API, this tutorial is for you. The Context API is a powerful feature in React that allows you to pass data down through the component tree without having to manually pass props at every level. In this tutorial, we’ll be using React Hooks to create a simple application that demonstrates how to use the Context API.

Setting up the project

First, make sure you have Node and npm installed on your computer. If not, you can download and install them from the official website. Once you have Node and npm installed, you can create a new project by running the following commands in your terminal:


$ npx create-react-app context-api-tutorial
$ cd context-api-tutorial


Creating the context

Now that we have our project set up, let’s create a new file called MyContext.js in the src directory. In this file, we’ll create a new context using the createContext function from React:

        
import React, { createContext, useContext, useState } from 'react';

const MyContext = createContext();

export const useMyContext = () => {
  return useContext(MyContext);
}

export const MyProvider = ({ children }) => {
  const [data, setData] = useState('Hello from Context API');

  return (
    
      {children}
    
  );
}
        
    

Using the context in a component

Now that we have created our context, let’s use it in a component. Create a new file called ExampleComponent.js in the src directory. In this file, we’ll use the useMyContext custom hook we created earlier to access the data from the context:

        
import React from 'react';
import { useMyContext } from './MyContext';

const ExampleComponent = () => {
  const { data, setData } = useMyContext();

  return (
    

      
{data}
       setData('Updated data')}>Update Data
    
  );
}

export default ExampleComponent;
        
    

Using the context provider

Finally, let’s use the MyProvider component we created earlier to wrap our ExampleComponent and provide the context:

        
import React from 'react';
import ExampleComponent from './ExampleComponent';
import { MyProvider } from './MyContext';

const App = () => {
  return (
    
      
    
  );
}

export default App;
        
    

Conclusion

That’s it! You’ve now created a simple application that uses the Context API in React. The Context API is a powerful tool that can help you manage state and data in your application more efficiently. By using the useContext and useState hooks, you can easily access and update the context data in your components. I hope this tutorial has been helpful in understanding how to use the Context API with React Hooks. Happy coding!