Table of Contents
URL: https://www.progressiverobot.com/react-react-router/
React Router has gone through some changes over the years. Here's an intro to the latest version: React Router 4.
Installing React Router
Same as installing any package. You'll probably want react-router-dom and not react-router, though:
$ yarn add react-router-dom
# or with npm:
$ npm install react-router-dom --save
Setting Up Routes
It's actually pretty intuitive. Just define Routes in the child element of a Router:
import React, { Component } from 'react';
// This example's for browser use, so I'm using `BrowserRouter`.
// The are other routers for other environments, though.
import { BrowserRouter, Route } from 'react-router-dom';
// Your components.
import AboutPage from './AboutPage';
import HomePage from './HomePage';
class App extends Component {
render() {
return (
<BrowserRouter>
<div>
{/* `component` will render when `path` matches the user's location */}
{/* `exact` makes it so it only renders if `path` matches exactly. */}
{/* Otherwise, `HomePage` would render on "mysite.com/About" as well as "mysite.com/". */}
<Route exact path="/" component={HomePage}/>
<Route path="/About" component={AboutPage}/>
</div>
</BrowserRouter>
);
}
}
export default App;
Linking to Routes
Of course, routes aren't that useful if the user has to manually edit the URL. React Router offers a solution in the form of the Link component:
import React from 'react';
import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';
// Our Home Page. Exciting stuff.
export default function HomePage() {
return (
<div>
<h1>{'Home Page'}</h1>
{/* A link to the About route. */}
<Link to="/About">{'Check out our About Page!'}</Link>
</div>
);
}
If you're wondering why you shouldn't just use an anchor tag (<a>): React Router does some cool stuff with the history object.
