Managing internal state in React

State in React refers to the internal data that components can hold and manage. It allows components to store and update information, enabling dynamic UI updates, interactivity, and data persistence. State is a fundamental concept in React that helps build responsive and interactive applications.

Applications feature various state types, such as a Boolean for toggle status, a loading state for network requests, or a user-input string for queries. We’ll explore the useState Hook, ideal for maintaining local state within a component across re-renders. React Hooks are a feature introduced in React 16.8 that enables functional components to have state and lifecycle features (we’ll discuss Hooks in more detail in the Exploring common React Hooks section later).

Let’s begin by using a simple Hook for internal state management to understand how it maintains data within a component. For example, the following SearchBox component can...