React

@connect is a decorator that connect React component and state: when state is modified synchronously or asynchronously, for example, state.set is called, the components connected with state will be re-rendered.

In this case，onChange event triggers the modification of name in state then the component re-renders and display the value of name. (Online debugging: https://codesandbox.io/s/z47wLwP8)

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { connect, state } from '@noflux/react';

// init state
state.set({
  name: 'jack',
});

@connect
export default class App extends Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <input onChange={e => state.set('name', e.target.value)} />
        <p> Hello, my name is {state.get('name')} </p>
      </div>
    )
  }
}

Use state.set directly outside the component to init state is ok because the component has not been instantiated yet.

When to use

When should I use the @connect decorator?

The @connect decorator should be added to the component which state.get is used within. This means that the component will subscribe to the state changes and automatically re-render.

Do not forget to add the @connect decorator to the component. Otherwise, the component may not re-render correct.

If you are familiar with [MobX] (https://mobx.js.org/), you will find that @connect is similar to @observer in MobX.

Components design

Which component should use @connect? Or what kind of components should subscribe to the global state?

In Noflux, you are advice to use the same component design as Redux which divides components into container components and presentational components. You can find introductions of the design in Redux documentation and this article. Here are the differences between the two components in Noflux:

	presentational components	container components
Effect	How things look (markup, styles)	How things work (data fetching, state updates)
Using @connect	No	Yes
To read state	props	state.get
To read state	props	state.get
To change data	callbacks in props	state.set etc.

The advantage of this design is to make as few components as possible to subscribe to the global unique state and making the components easier to test and reuse.

State design

Noflux does not limit the way you design the state and will not recommend a "best practice" for now.

As Noflux's interfaces and optimization, the design of state can be more free:

• Use path description string and state.cursor to easily manipulate the nested state.

• The @connect decorator use partial connecting to avoid performance problem when sub-tree state changing.