Understanding React Portals

React Portals provide a way to render children into a different part of the DOM tree, outside of the parent component's hierarchy. This feature is particularly useful for creating overlays, modals, tooltips, and more, without being constrained by the CSS styles of the parent component.

Key Concepts

• Portals: A feature in React that allows rendering of a component to a DOM node that exists outside the DOM hierarchy of the parent component.
• Usage: Useful for scenarios where you want to display content in a different part of the UI, such as modals or dropdowns.

How to Create a Portal

To create a portal in React, you can use the ReactDOM.createPortal() method. This method takes two arguments:

1. The JSX to render.
2. The DOM node where you want to render the content.

Example Code

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';

function Modal(props) {
    return ReactDOM.createPortal(
        
            {props.title}
            Close
        ,
        document.getElementById('modal-root') // The target DOM node
    );
}

Breakdown of the Example

• Modal Component: This component represents a simple modal.
• ReactDOM.createPortal: Renders the modal content into a DOM element with the ID modal-root, which should exist in your HTML file.
• Props: The modal receives a title and a close handler as props.

Benefits of Using Portals

• Avoid CSS Conflicts: Since the portal renders outside the parent component's DOM hierarchy, it can avoid issues related to CSS overflow and positioning.
• Flexible UI Design: Portals allow for more flexible designs, enabling overlays to appear over other content without being affected by the parent’s styles.

Conclusion

React Portals are a powerful tool for developers looking to create more dynamic and flexible UI components. By rendering components outside their usual hierarchy, you can enhance user experience with modals, tooltips, and other overlays.