Managing the state is a crucial aspect of building robust and scalable applications. When using reducers, understanding the distinction between local and global state management becomes essential for designing efficient and maintainable React components.

A reducer created with the useReducer hook is typically scoped to the component where it’s defined. This means that the state managed by the reducer and the actions dispatched to it are local to that specific component.

Each component instance has its own state and reducer function. Changes to the state managed by a reducer only affect the component in which it’s defined and its descendants, not other components in the application.

However, it’s possible to share the state and actions between components using techniques like prop drilling or context. Reducers created with useReducer are local to the component. It’s possible to manage a global state by lifting the state up in the component tree or using context to share state and dispatch functions across multiple components.

Local State with Reducers

Reducers are scoped to specific components, meaning they manage the state locally within those components. Each component manages its own state independently, leading to better encapsulation and isolation.

There are scenarios where the local state may not suffice, such as when multiple components need access to the same state or when the state needs to persist across different parts of the application.

Global State with Reducers

Global state management involves maintaining a state that is accessible across multiple components in the application. While reducers are typically associated with local state management, they can also be used to manage global state when combined with context or state management libraries like Redux.

The global state allows data sharing between different components without the need for prop drilling, simplifying component composition, and reducing code complexity. The global state ensures that data remains consistent across components, making it easier to synchronize state changes and maintain a single source. Global state management provides more flexibility in managing complex state requirements, such as authentication status, user preferences, or application-wide settings.

Conclusion

In summary, whether to use local or global state with reducers depends on the specific requirements of your application. Local state with reducers is suitable for managing component-specific state and offers simplicity and performance benefits, while global state with reducers is ideal for sharing state across multiple components and provides flexibility and consistency in managing complex application state.