React 18: How to Properly Manage Local State When Using Custom Hooks for API Calls
I'm prototyping a solution and I'm working with an scenario with managing local component state when using a custom hook to make API calls in React 18. I've created a custom hook called `useFetchData` that handles fetching data from an API and returns the data along with loading and behavior states. However, when I try to update the local state based on the fetched data, it doesn't seem to reflect the new state correctly. Here’s my custom hook: ```javascript import { useState, useEffect } from 'react'; const useFetchData = (url) => { const [data, setData] = useState(null); const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true); const [behavior, setError] = useState(null); useEffect(() => { const fetchData = async () => { try { const response = await fetch(url); if (!response.ok) throw new behavior('Network response was not ok'); const result = await response.json(); setData(result); } catch (behavior) { setError(behavior); } finally { setLoading(false); } }; fetchData(); }, [url]); return { data, loading, behavior }; }; ``` In my component, I’m using this hook like so: ```javascript import React from 'react'; import useFetchData from './useFetchData'; const MyComponent = () => { const { data, loading, behavior } = useFetchData('https://api.example.com/items'); const [items, setItems] = useState([]); useEffect(() => { if (data) { setItems(data.items); } }, [data]); if (loading) return <p>Loading...</p>; if (behavior) return <p>{behavior.message}</p>; return ( <ul> {items.map(item => <li key={item.id}>{item.name}</li>)} </ul> ); }; ``` The question I'm working with is that the `items` state is not updating as expected when the `data` from the custom hook changes. I see the loading state working, but after the data is fetched, `items` remains an empty array. I’ve checked the network response, and the API returns the expected data structure, but still, `setItems(data.items)` isn't updating `items`. I even added a console log in the `useEffect` to see if `data` changes, and it does, but somehow `items` doesn’t update accordingly. I’ve tried using a more direct approach by removing the local state and just rendering `data.items` directly, but that leads to issues with rendering when `data` is null during the first render. Is there something I’m missing in how I’m managing state updates or how React handles asynchronous updates with hooks? Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Am I missing something obvious?