React Hooks - useCallback & useMemo

`useCallback`


const memoizedCallback = useCallback(
  () => {
    doSomething(a, b);
  },
  [a, b],
);

Returns a memoized callback.

Pass an inline callback and an array of dependencies. useCallback will return a memoized version of the callback that only changes if one of the dependencies has changed. This is useful when passing callbacks to optimized child components that rely on reference equality to prevent unnecessary renders (e.g. shouldComponentUpdate).

useCallback(fn, deps) is equivalent to useMemo(() => fn, deps).

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Note

The array of dependencies is not passed as arguments to the callback. Conceptually, though, that’s what they represent: every value referenced inside the callback should also appear in the dependencies array. In the future, a sufficiently advanced compiler could create this array automatically.

We recommend using the exhaustive-deps rule as part of our eslint-plugin-react-hooks package. It warns when dependencies are specified incorrectly and suggests a fix.

`useMemo`


const memoizedValue = useMemo(() => computeExpensiveValue(a, b), [a, b]);

Returns a memoized value.

Pass a “create” function and an array of dependencies. useMemo will only recompute the memoized value when one of the dependencies has changed. This optimization helps to avoid expensive calculations on every render.

Remember that the function passed to useMemo runs during rendering. Don’t do anything there that you wouldn’t normally do while rendering. For example, side effects belong in useEffect, not useMemo.

If no array is provided, a new value will be computed on every render.

You may rely on useMemo as a performance optimization, not as a semantic guarantee. In the future, React may choose to “forget” some previously memoized values and recalculate them on next render, e.g. to free memory for offscreen components. Write your code so that it still works without useMemo — and then add it to optimize performance.

💡

Note

The array of dependencies is not passed as arguments to the function. Conceptually, though, that’s what they represent: every value referenced inside the function should also appear in the dependencies array. In the future, a sufficiently advanced compiler could create this array automatically.

We recommend using the exhaustive-deps rule as part of our eslint-plugin-react-hooks package. It warns when dependencies are specified incorrectly and suggests a fix.