React 18 - advanced patterns with useRef and asynchronous updates in custom hooks
I'm experiencing an scenario in my React 18 application where I'm using a custom hook that leverages `useRef` to maintain the previous state of an object. The question arises when I try to log the previous state after an asynchronous update, and it seems to always return the initial value instead of the updated one. Here's what my hook looks like: ```javascript import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react'; function usePrevious(value) { const ref = useRef(); useEffect(() => { ref.current = value; }, [value]); return ref.current; } ``` I then use this hook inside a component: ```javascript import React, { useState } from 'react'; const MyComponent = () => { const [data, setData] = useState({ count: 0 }); const previousData = usePrevious(data); const handleUpdate = async () => { await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000)); // Simulates an API call setData({ count: data.count + 1 }); }; useEffect(() => { console.log('Previous Data:', previousData); console.log('Current Data:', data); }, [data]); return <button onClick={handleUpdate}>Update</button>; }; ``` When I click the button, I expect to see the previous count logged correctly, but it always shows `undefined`. I’ve also tried logging `previousData` directly after the update call and before the `useEffect`, but it still shows `undefined`. The `data` state updates correctly, but it seems the `ref` isn't being updated as I expect in the asynchronous context. I'm wondering if I'm missing something about how `useRef` interacts with asynchronous updates, or if there's a more reliable way to track the previous state in this scenario. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!