What are the differences between using 'className' and 'class' in React, and how do I know when to use each one?

As I delve into my first react app, I've encountered something fascinating - the use of className over class. I'm curious if they are interchangeable or if there's a specific reason for this choice. Interestingly, when I utilize class, the inspect elements console prompts me if I meant className, without any errors being thrown.

Appreciate your insights in advance!

Answer №1

As stated in the documentation for React on this page:

To define a CSS class, it is recommended to use the className attribute. This applies to all regular DOM and SVG elements such as <div>, <a>, and others.

If you happen to be using React with Web Components (although not common), then the class attribute would be used instead.

Using class as an attribute will pass down without any validation to the underlying DOM element, but this approach is not preferred. The preferred method is using the className attribute which is recognized by React.

The React documentation advises using the cannonical React attribute names rather than traditional JavaScript naming conventions. Even though React does allow attributes to be passed through to the DOM, doing so will result in a warning message.

Answer №2

It presents yet another "feature" for identifying unfamiliar DOM attributes.

In the past, React would simply ignore unknown DOM attributes. If you included an attribute in JSX that React did not recognize, it would just skip over it.

Starting from React 16, this behavior has changed to give a warning. The manner in which you use DOM components in React remains the same, but now there are additional capabilities available.

React has always offered a JavaScript-focused API for the DOM. Given that React components often receive both custom and DOM-related props, it is logical for React to adhere to the camelCase convention similar to DOM APIs.

Regarding className:

To define a CSS class, utilize the className attribute. This applies to all standard DOM and SVG elements such as <div>, <a>, and others.

If you happen to be using React with Web Components (which is relatively rare), opt for the class attribute instead.

Refer to Specifying Attributes with JSX:

Given that JSX aligns more closely with JavaScript than HTML, React DOM follows the camelCase property naming convention rather than HTML attribute names.

For instance, class becomes className in JSX, while tabindex transforms into tabIndex.

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