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Top React Interview Questions And Answers 2023

1. What is ReactJS?

Answer: React is an open-source JavaScript library used for building user interfaces or UI components in web applications. It was developed by Facebook. React is widely used to create dynamic and interactive user interfaces by breaking them down into reusable components.
 

2. What is JSX?

Answer: JSX (JavaScript XML) is a syntax extension for JavaScript that allows to write HTML-like code within JavaScript. It's used in React to describe the structure of UI components.

Here's a basic example of JSX:
jsx
const element = <h1>Hello, JSX!</h1>;
In the above example, the JSX expression <h1>Hello, JSX!</h1> will be transpiled into the following JavaScript before being rendered by the browser:
js
const element = React.createElement('h1', null, 'Hello, JSX!');

 

3. Explain the Virtual DOM and its advantages.

Answer: The Virtual DOM is a lightweight in-memory representation of the real DOM. React uses it to optimize performance by minimizing direct manipulation of the actual DOM. Changes are first applied to the Virtual DOM, and then React calculates the most efficient way to update the real DOM.
 

4. What are props in React?

Answer: Props (short for properties) are a way to pass data from a parent component to a child component. They are read-only and trigger re-renders in child components when they change
 

5. What is state in React?

Answer: State is an object that holds information about a component. It's mutable and used for managing dynamic data within a component.
 

6. What is the difference between state and props?

Answer: Props are external data that are passed from parent to child components and are immutable. State is internal data to a component that can change over time.
 

7. What are React hooks?

Answer: React hooks are functions that allow functional components to use state and other React features without using class components. Hooks were introduced in React 16.8.
Some commonly used React hooks are:
  • useState: useState hook allows functional components to manage state. It takes an initial value and returns the current state value and a function to update it.
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  • useEffect: useEffect hook is used to manage side effects in functional components, such as data fetching, DOM manipulation, and more. It's called after rendering and can be used to perform cleanup as well.
useEffect(() => {
  // Side effect code here
  return () => {
    // Cleanup code here
  };
}, [dependency]);
  • useContext: useContext hook allows you to access context values provided by an ancestor Context.Provider component. It avoids the need for prop drilling by allowing components to directly consume context values.
const socket = useContext(SocketContext);
  • useCallback: useCallback hook used to memoize a callback function, preventing unnecessary re-creation of the function during re-renders. It's useful for optimizing performance in components that depend on callbacks.
const memoizedCallback = useCallback(() => {...}, [dependency]);
  • useMemo: useMemo hook used to memoize a value, preventing re-computation during re-renders. It's useful for optimizing performance in components that compute expensive values.
const memoizedValue = useMemo(() => computeValue(dependency), [dependency]);
  • useRef: useRef is used to create a mutable reference that persists across renders. It's often used to access DOM elements.
const inputRef = useRef();
  

8. What is a higher-order component (HOC)?

Answer: A higher-order component is a function that takes a component and returns an enhanced version of it. It's used for code reuse and logic sharing.
 
import React from 'react';

// A functional higher-order component that adds a background color to a component
const withBackgroundColor = (WrappedComponent, color) => {
  return (props) => (
    <div style={{ backgroundColor: color }}>
      <WrappedComponent {...props} />
    </div>
  );
};

// Component that will receive the background color enhancement from the HOC
const Content = ({ text }) => {
  return <div>{text}</div>;
};

// Wrap the Content component with the withBackgroundColor HOC
const ContentWithBackground = withBackgroundColor(Content, 'lightblue');

// Usage of the enhanced component
const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Functional Higher-Order Component Example</h1>
      <ContentWithBackground text="Hello, HOC!" />
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

 

9. Explain the concept of Context in React.

Answer: Context provides a way to share data between components without the need to pass the data manually at every level of the component tree. It's useful for sharing global or application-specific data. also, It's useful for scenarios where multiple components need access to the same data.
 
import React, { createContext, useContext } from 'react';

// Create a context
const ThemeContext = createContext();

// Provide the context value at the top of the component tree
function App() {
  const theme = 'dark';

  return (
    <ThemeContext.Provider value={theme}>
      <Navbar />
      <Sidebar />
    </ThemeContext.Provider>
  );
}

// Consume the context value using a functional component and useContext
function Navbar() {
  const theme = useContext(ThemeContext);
  return <div>Current theme: {theme}</div>;
}

// Consume the context value using a functional component and useContext
function Sidebar() {
  const theme = useContext(ThemeContext);
  return <div>Current theme: {theme}</div>;
}

export default App;

 

10. What is Redux?

Answer: Redux is an open-source JavaScript library that is used for managing the state of JavaScript applications. It maintains the state of the entire application in a single store.
 

11. What are controlled components?

Answer: Controlled components are components whose state is controlled by React.
 
import React, { useState } from 'react';

function ControlledComponent() {
  const [inputValue, setInputValue] = useState('');

  const handleInputChange = (event) => {
    setInputValue(event.target.value);
  };

  return (
    <input
      type="text"
      value={inputValue}
      onChange={handleInputChange}
    />
  );
}

 

12. What are uncontrolled components in React?

Answer: Uncontrolled components are components where the state is managed by the DOM itself, not by React.
 
import React, { useRef } from 'react';

function UncontrolledComponent() {
  const inputRef = useRef();

  const handleButtonClick = () => {
    // Access input value using the ref
    console.log(inputRef.current.value);
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <input type="text" ref={inputRef} />
      <button onClick={handleButtonClick}>Log Input Value</button>
    </div>
  );
}

 

13. What is key prop?

Answer: key prop is a special attribute that you provide to elements in a list or array of elements. It helps React identify which items have changed, been added, or been removed when rendering lists of elements.
 
import React from 'react';

const ItemList = ({ items }) => {
  return (
    <ul>
      {items.map(item => (
        <li key={item.id}>{item.name}</li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
};

const App = () => {
  const items = [
    { id: 1, name: 'Item 1' },
    { id: 2, name: 'Item 2' },
    { id: 3, name: 'Item 3' }
  ];

  return <ItemList items={items} />;
};

export default App;

 

14. Explain the concept of "lifting state up."

Answer: Lifting state up refers to moving the state from a child component to its parent component. This is done to share the state between sibling components or to manage it in a more centralized manner.
 
import React, { useState } from 'react';

function ParentComponent() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  const onIncrement = () => {
    setCount(count + 1);
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <ChildComponent count={count} onIncrement={onIncrement} />
    </div>
  );
}

function ChildComponent({ count, onIncrement }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={onIncrement}>Increment</button>
    </div>
  );
}

export default ParentComponent;

 

15. What are React fragments?

Answer: React fragments are a way to group multiple elements without introducing an extra DOM node. They help keep the DOM structure clean while rendering multiple elements.
import React from 'react';

const FragmentExample = () => {
  return (
    <>
      <h1>React Fragments</h1>
      <p>This is a paragraph.</p>
    </>
  );
};

export default FragmentExample;

Here's an example of how you can use the key prop with React Fragments:
import React from 'react';

const FragmentExample = () => {
    const items = [
        { id: 1, name: 'Alice', age: 25 },
        { id: 2, name: 'Bob', age: 30 },
        { id: 3, name: 'Carol', age: 28 },
    ];
  return (
    <div>
        {
            items.map((item) => (
                <React.Fragment key={item.id}>
                <h1>React Fragments</h1>
                <p>This is a paragraph.</p>
                </React.Fragment>
            ))
        }
    </div>
  );
};

export default FragmentExample;

 

16. What is PureComponent?

Answer: Pure components are the components that renders the same output for the same state and props.
import React, { PureComponent } from 'react';

class MyPureComponent extends PureComponent {
  render() {
    return <div>{this.props.data}</div>;
  }
}

export default MyPureComponent;

 

Here's an example of PureComponent with a functional component:

 

import React from 'react';

const MyPureComponent = React.memo(({ data }) => {
  return <div>{data}</div>;
});

export default MyPureComponent;

 

17. Explain the concept of reconciliation in React.

Answer: Reconciliation is the process React uses to update the DOM efficiently. It involves comparing the previous and current Virtual DOM trees to determine the minimal number of changes needed.
 

18. What is the purpose of the forwardRef function?

Answer: forwardRef is used to forward a ref from a parent component to a child component. It's particularly useful when wrapping a third-party component that needs to be accessed using a ref.
 
import React, { forwardRef } from 'react';

// Child component using forwardRef
const ChildComponent = forwardRef((props, ref) => {
  return <input ref={ref} />;
});

// Parent component using the ChildComponent with a forwarded ref
const ParentComponent = () => {
  const inputRef = React.createRef();

  const focusInput = () => {
    if (inputRef.current) {
      inputRef.current.focus();
    }
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <ChildComponent ref={inputRef} />
      <button onClick={focusInput}>Focus Input</button>
    </div>
  );
};

export default ParentComponent;

 

19. What is the purpose of the React.memo function?

Answer: React.memo is a higher-order component that memoizes a functional component, preventing unnecessary re-renders when its props haven't changed. It's similar to the PureComponent optimization for class components.
 
import React from 'react';

const ExpensiveComponent = ({ data }) => {
  // Imagine some complex and time-consuming rendering logic here
  console.log('ExpensiveComponent is re-rendered');
  return <div>{data}</div>;
};

// Wrap the ExpensiveComponent with React.memo
const MemoizedExpensiveComponent = React.memo(ExpensiveComponent);

const App = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = React.useState(0);

  const incrementCount = () => {
    setCount(count + 1);
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>React.memo Example</h1>
      <button onClick={incrementCount}>Increment Count</button>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <MemoizedExpensiveComponent data={count} />
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

 

20. What is the difference between a functional component and a class component?

Answer: A functional component is a simpler and more concise way to define a component using JavaScript functions, while a class component uses JavaScript classes and offers more features, such as lifecycle methods and local state.
 

21. What is server-side rendering (SSR) in React?

Answer: Server-side rendering is a technique that renders a React application on the server side before sending it to the client's browser. This can improve performance, SEO, and initial page load times.
  

22. What is the purpose of the createRef method?

Answer: createRef is used to create a reference to a DOM element or a React component instance. This allows you to interact with the DOM or component directly.
 

23. What is the differences between useRef and createRef?

Answer: createRef is typically used when creating a ref in a class component while useRef is used in function components. also, we can't pass the initial value in createRef. On the other hand, useRef can accept an initial value.

24. What is children prop?

Answer: children prop is a special prop that is automatically passed to every component and represents the content that is placed between the opening and closing tags of a component.
In short. children prop allow you to pass components as data to other components.
 
import React from 'react';

const Card = ({ children }) => {
  return (
    <div className="card">
      {children}
    </div>
  );
};

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <Card>
        <p>This is the content of the card.</p>
        <button>Click Me</button>
      </Card>
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

 

25. How can you optimize the performance of a React application?

Answer: Performance optimization techniques include code splitting, lazy loading, using PureComponent or React.memo, minimizing the use of inline functions, avoiding excessive re-renders, and optimizing images and assets.
 

26. What is lazy loading?

Answer:
Lazy loading in React refers to the technique of loading components, modules, or assets only when they are actually needed, rather than loading them all at once when the application initially loads.

This approach can significantly improve the performance and loading speed of your application, especially in scenarios where you have large components or resources that are not immediately required.

React provides a built-in feature called React Lazy, which allows you to implement lazy loading easily. It's particularly useful for code-splitting, a practice that involves splitting your application code into smaller chunks that can be loaded on-demand. This can lead to faster initial page loads and better user experiences.
 
import React, { lazy, Suspense } from 'react';

const LazyComponent = lazy(() => import('./LazyComponent'));

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Lazy Loading Example</h1>
      <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
        <LazyComponent />
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

 

The Suspense component is used to wrap the lazy-loaded component. The fallback prop specifies what to display while the lazy component is being loaded.
 

27. What is prop drilling in React?

Answer: Prop drilling is the process of passing data (props) from a high-level component to a deeply nested component by passing the data through intermediate components.
 
import React from 'react';

const Grandchild = ({ value }) => {
  return <p>Value from Prop: {value}</p>;
};

const Child = ({ value }) => {
  return <Grandchild value={value} />;
};

const Parent = ({ value }) => {
  return <Child value={value} />;
};

const App = () => {
  const data = 'Hello, Prop Drilling!';
  return <Parent value={data} />;
};

export default App;
 
To avoid prop drilling, we can use react context or state management libraries like Redux.
 

28. What is Next.js?

Answer: Next.js is a popular open-source React framework that is used for building modern web applications.

One of the primary benefits of Next.js is its support for server-side rendering (SSR). This means that pages can be rendered on the server and sent as fully-rendered HTML to the client, improving initial page load performance and SEO.

Next.js also supports static site generation(SSG). You can pre-render pages at build time, which can be incredibly fast and is suitable for content that doesn't change frequently.

 

29.  What is Tree-Shaking?

Answer: Tree-shaking refers to the process of eliminating unused code or "dead code" from your JavaScript bundles to reduce their size and improve application performance. It relies on the import and export statements to detect if code modules are exported and imported for use between JavaScript files.

React applications are often built using the Webpack build tool, which has built-in support for tree shaking. Webpack analyzes the import statements in your code and figures out which parts of your codebase are actually used. Any code that is not imported or used in your application is considered dead code.

 

30.  Explain the difference between Shallow Copy vs Deep Copy?

Answer: A shallow copy(Copy by Reference) is an exact copy of the source object whose properties share the same references(memory address). while In deep copy(Copy by Value) an object is copied along with its values. There is no sharing of references between the source and deep-copied objects.

 

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