What occurs when Render() is called during animation in React?

Curious about how React handles rendering during a component's animation? Let's explore an example where a component is re-rendered due to a state change triggered during its animation.

Imagine a scenario where a component's animation lasts for 60 seconds, with a state change scheduled to occur after 30 seconds. The question arises: will React replace the physical DOM when the component is re-rendered mid-animation?

Here's my take on what might happen:

Step 1: Component Mounts Upon mounting, the component gets attached to the physical DOM. As the animation plays out and the timer for the state change ticks towards 30 seconds, React keeps track of the virtual DOM at the time of mounting.

Step 2: Triggering a State Change and Re-render When the state change kicks in after 30 seconds, causing the component to re-render, React compares the current virtual DOM with the previous one. Since the child component now has the "className-active" CSS class applied during the transition, React determines that an update is needed in the physical DOM (even if visually unnecessary), resulting in a screen flicker.

For a deeper dive into this scenario, here's a code snippet illustrating the process:

import React from 'react'
import CSSTransition from 'react-transition-group'

class ExampleComponent extends React.Component {
      constructor(props) {
           super(props);
           this.state = {reRender : false};
           setTimeout(() => {this.setState({reRender: true})}, 30000)
     }
      render()  {
          return (
                <CSSTransition
            appear={true}
            in={true}
            classNames='test'
            timeout={60000}>
                <span> test </span>
        </CSSTransition>
          )

      }

}

And here are the relevant CSS classes used in the animation:

.test-appear, .test-enter{
       opacity: 1;
}
.test-appear-active, .test-enter-active {
      opacity: 0; 
      transition: opacity; 
      transition-duration: 60000;
}
.test-appear-done, .test-enter-done {
      opacity: 0;    
}

This setup begs the question: How does React handle state changes and maintain the virtual DOM during animations? Will it update the physical DOM precisely at the 30-second mark, or take into account the ongoing animation? Dive in to understand React's lifecycle intricacies!

Answer №1

In this particular scenario, the CSSTransition component maintains internal state to keep track of the animation phase.

React does not reset the state of the CSSTransition instance because it recognizes that it pertains to the same element (React uses component type and position in the tree to determine if it is the same element, or the key prop when provided).

Due to the consistent internal state of CSSTransition, it renders the same CSS class both before and after a state change occurs in your component.

To see an example without any flickering, you can check out this link: https://codesandbox.io/s/hopeful-shaw-c9ldr

CSSTransition may update its state based on changes in the props you pass to it (although in this case it doesn't happen), but this behavior is specific to the implementation of CSSTransition.

Lastly, changing the key passed to CSSTransition would prompt a reset of the animation, as React would treat it as a new component. This results in unmounting the previous component and mounting a new one with a fresh internal state.

You can view an example of the animation resetting here: https://codesandbox.io/s/jolly-maxwell-2ihkf

Answer №2

Animations are not a top priority for React. Its main focus is to ensure that the DOM reflects any changes in the virtual DOM accurately.

If you manually remove elements from the DOM while an animation is in progress, the animation will come to a halt. Similarly, React will unmount and remount any elements that have undergone a change in the component tree during the next render cycle.

In your scenario, no elements will be dismantled since there was no alteration in the component tree. The `render()` function will execute, with React comparing the old and new versions of the virtual DOM and updating props if necessary. However, manual re-renders caused by state changes will not impact the virtual DOM.

For further insights, take a look at the Reconciliation documentation.

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