What is React?
Key Features of React
- Component-based architecture
- Virtual DOM for efficient rendering
- One-way data binding
- Declarative syntax
- Strong community and ecosystem
What is Bootstrap?
Key Features of Bootstrap
- Responsive grid system
- Extensive prebuilt components (buttons, forms, modals, etc.)
- Customizable via SASS variables
- Integration with JavaScript libraries
- Strong browser compatibility
Pros and Cons of React
Pros:
- Highly Reusable: Components can be reused across the application, reducing code duplication.
- Efficient Performance: The virtual DOM optimizes rendering by minimizing real DOM updates.
- Rich Tooling: Strong ecosystem with tools like React Router, Redux, and React Query.
- Scalable Architecture: Suitable for large-scale applications with complex UI logic.
- Active Community: Extensive documentation and a large pool of third-party libraries.
Cons:
- Steep Learning Curve: Beginners may struggle with JSX, hooks, and component lifecycle.
- Fast-Paced Evolution: Frequent updates and changing best practices can be difficult to keep up with.
- Requires Additional Libraries: Out of the box, React doesn’t include routing, state management, or form validation.
- Boilerplate Code: Sometimes requires a lot of setup for simple tasks.
Pros and Cons of Bootstrap
Pros:
- Rapid UI Development: Speeds up development with pre-styled, ready-to-use components.
- Responsive Design: Built-in mobile responsiveness requires little configuration.
- Consistent Styling: Ensures a professional look with minimal design effort.
- Customizable Theme: Allows modification through SASS variables and custom CSS.
- Easy to Learn: Minimal setup and intuitive class names make it beginner-friendly.
Cons:
- Generic Look: Overuse can result in websites looking similar without customization.
- Heavy Stylesheet: Includes styles and components you may never use, increasing bundle size.
- Limited Interactivity: JavaScript plugins are basic compared to full UI libraries.
- Overridden Styles: Customizing deeply nested components can require extensive overrides.
Difference Between React and Bootstrap
| Feature | React | Bootstrap |
|---|---|---|
Type | JavaScript UI library | CSS framework with optional JavaScript components |
Primary Purpose | Build interactive UIs | Style and layout web pages |
Level of Abstraction | Logic and component-based rendering | Styling and design framework |
Learning Curve | Moderate to high (depends on complexity) | Low (easy for beginners) |
Customizability | Highly customizable (logic and structure) | Customizable (design/theme focused) |
Bundled Components | Logical UI components (stateful and interactive) | Visual components (buttons, forms, modals, etc.) |
Mobile Responsiveness | Not built-in; must use CSS or frameworks | Native support via grid and utility classes |
Optimizing API Calls in React-Bootstrap Tabs
React-Bootstrap’s Tabs and Tab components render all tabs’ content at once, even though only one tab is visible to the user. If each tab contains logic to fetch data from an API on mount, this behavior leads to multiple API calls firing simultaneously, which:
- Wastes bandwidth and server resources
- Slows down page load time
- Fetches data that the user may never actually view
Common Challenges
- Avoid Triggering API Calls for Inactive Tabs: You don’t want to fetch data for tabs the user hasn’t interacted with.
- Trigger API Calls Only When a Tab Becomes Active: Data should load only when the user switches to a specific tab.
- Maintain Good Performance: Ensure efficient rendering and avoid unnecessary re-renders.
- Prevent Redundant Fetches: If the user returns to the same tab, you may not want to fetch data again unless needed.
Top Learnings
- React-Bootstrap does not defer the rendering of tab content. All tab panels are rendered when the Tabs component mounts.
- API calls inside child components (i.e., tab content) can’t rely solely on the component mount phase, because all tabs mount together.
- The active state must be tracked externally (in the parent component), and passed down to tab components.
- You must implement conditional logic in each tab that checks whether it should fetch data based on the active state.
eLEOPARD Optimized Solutions
To optimize API calls in this scenario, the solution involves managing state and side effects more carefully. Here’s the solution:
1. Track Active Tab in the Parent Component
Use a state variable to keep track of which tab is currently active. This state is updated whenever the user switches tabs.
2. Pass Active State to Each Tab Component
Provide each tab component with a prop that tells it whether it is currently the active tab.
3. Control API Call with Conditional Logic
Inside each tab, use logic that checks if the tab is active. Only when the tab becomes active should the API call be triggered.
4. Prevent Re-fetching Data on Re-render
Use an internal flag (e.g., hasFetchedOnce) inside each tab to ensure that data is only fetched once, unless there is a need to refresh the data.
5. Avoid Data Fetching on Initial Render for Inactive Tabs
By combining the active tab prop with an effect (e.g., useEffect or a lifecycle method), the data fetching will only occur when the tab is both active and has not fetched data before.
Benefits of This Approach
- Reduces Unnecessary API Calls: Prevents multiple API calls from firing on load.
- Improves Performance: Faster initial rendering and better responsiveness.
- Scalable: Works well even with many tabs and complex data sources.
- User-Centric: Loads only the data the user wants to see, when they want to see it.
Conclusion
When using React-Bootstrap Tabs, it’s important to understand how rendering works behind the scenes. While the Tabs component provides a visually smooth tab-switching experience, it does not defer rendering of tab content, which can unintentionally lead to performance issues.
By tracking the active tab in the parent component, passing the status to child components, and conditionally triggering data fetching based on that status, developers can optimize API calls efficiently. This approach not only improves performance but also ensures that your application scales gracefully as complexity grows.
If you’re building tab-heavy interfaces in React, implementing this pattern is essential for maintaining speed, efficiency, and user satisfaction. Contact our experts for more information.
