Skip to main content

Nested Components

Learning Objectives​

  • Create and nest multiple Components

Components​

As we've explained Components are the fundamental building blocks of React and let you split the UI into independent, reusable pieces, and be able to use each one in isolation.

This is very similar to the way we write JavaScript functions in general. They are meant to be independent and reusable. By passing in standardized input they will return standardized output.

Components behave under the same premise and, if configured to accept input, will return UI that is either includes the input or has influenced how the input is displayed.

The input we will pass to a Component is called a prop and we will use them extensively in any React app we build.

Nested Components Details​

Let's revisit the Bootstrap card example. It provides all the HTML needed to produce a standard card and, along with Bootstrap css, styles the card quite nicely.

Here is the HTML provided by Bootstrap:

<div class="card" style="width: 18rem">
  <img src="..." class="card-img-top" alt="..." />
  <div class="card-body">
    <h5 class="card-title">Card title</h5>
    <p class="card-text">
      Some quick example text to build on the card title and make up the bulk of
      the card's content.
    </p>
    <a href="#" class="btn btn-primary">Go somewhere</a>
  </div>
</div>

In order to bridge the gap of what defines a Component we will be creating a custom React Card Component that uses the Bootstrap HTML.

⏰ Activity - 3min​

Create a new CRA app. Replace the index.html with the following:

index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta
      name="viewport"
      content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no"
    />
    <meta name="theme-color" content="#000000" />
    <link
      rel="stylesheet"
      href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.5.2/css/bootstrap.min.css"
      integrity="sha384-JcKb8q3iqJ61gNV9KGb8thSsNjpSL0n8PARn9HuZOnIxN0hoP+VmmDGMN5t9UJ0Z"
      crossorigin="anonymous"
    />
    <title>React App</title>
  </head>

  <body>
    <noscript>
      You need to enable JavaScript to run this app.
    </noscript>
    <div id="root"></div>
    <section class="cards">
      <div class="card" style="width: 18rem;">
        <img
          src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1536514072410-5019a3c69182?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=400&q=60"
          class="card-img-top"
          alt="..."
        />
        <div class="card-body">
          <h5 class="card-title">Card Title</h5>
          <p class="card-text">
            Some quick example text to build on the card title and make up the
            bulk of the card's content.
          </p>
          <a href="#" class="btn btn-primary">Go somewhere</a>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="card" style="width: 18rem;">
        <img
          src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1498712964741-5d33ab9e5017?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=400&q=600"
          class="card-img-top"
          alt="..."
        />
        <div class="card-body">
          <h5 class="card-title">Card Title</h5>
          <p class="card-text">
            Some quick example text to build on the card title and make up the
            bulk of the card's content.
          </p>
          <a href="#" class="btn btn-primary">Go somewhere</a>
        </div>
      </div>
    </section>
  </body>
</html>

And replace your index.css to the following:

section.cards {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
}

section.cards .card {
  margin: 0 10px;
}

.card-img,
.card-img-bottom,
.card-img-top {
  height: 300px;
  object-fit: cover;
}

And replace your App.js to the following:

App.js
export default function App() {
  return (
    <div className="App">
      <h1>Bootstrap Cards To Component Example</h1>
    </div>
  );
}

You should see the following: Starting Screenshot

  • Take a moment to examine the code.
  • See if you can determine where the H1 is being rendered as well as the two 2️⃣ cards
  • The instructor will ask you to post your answer in a thread

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

Our investigation should have determined the following:

  • App Component - renders the H1
  • public/index.html - renders the cards
note

Note: You might have noticed that the App Component was written slightly different then before. It's being both created and exported at the same time and requires less code.

App.js
export default function App() {
  //...rest of code
}

For the time being we are going to write the Component and export it separately as we want to make it more readable. In time you will come to find that several things can be exported from a file and that will require using the export keyword more than once.

Creating A Component​

So let's take a moment to create a Functional Components that contain all the Bootstrap HTML code needed allow us to create the 2 card Components as per our layout.

In the src folder create the following files:

  • Card1.jsx
  • Card2.jsx

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

Card1​

Let's begin with the Card1 Component.

Inside of Card1.jsx let's do the following for now:

  • Import React
  • Create the Component
  • Export the Component
Live Editor
Result
Loading...

Remember to add export default Card1 at the end of the above file;

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

Nesting A Component​

As with any layout design, HTML elements must be nested inside other elements to achieve the desired effect.

This is no different for React and since our goal is to render an H1, as well as the cards, we must call the Card1 Component within the return statement of it's parent Component, in this case App.

App.js
// IMPORT CARD1
import Card1 from './Card1'

export default function App() {
  return (
    <div className="App">
      <h1>Bootstrap Cards To Component Example</h1>
      <Card1 />
    </div>
  );

If successful you should see the following:

Card1 Component

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

⏰ Activity II - 3min​

NOTE: Before you perform the steps we ask that you do not copy/paste at this time and write everything from scratch. In time copy/paste will be the may be the most efficient way to create Components, however you are just learning how to write Components so the additional manual work will help solidify these concepts.

  • Perform the same steps as you did for Card1
  • Only change it's HTML output to be Card2
  • Make sure to render Card2

Your code should produce the following:

Card2 Component

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

Now it's time to output the HTML that represents each Component. This, as we we discovered earlier, is found in public/index.html

Cut the entire <div class="card">...</div> for the first card and place it inside of Card1

Live Editor
Result
Loading...

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

We should be immediately met with the following error:

Card1 Style Error

This has to do with a rule related to JSX which is:

🚔 Any JS within JSX must be enclosed in curly braces {}

Since style accepts an object with the css key:value pairs (first set of curlys) we then need to surround that in an additional set of curlys.

So the style prop must be written in the following format:

Card1.jsx
style={{key: value}}

Let's update our Component to include the proper syntax

Card1.jsx
<div class="card" style={{width:'18rem'}}>

The other JSX rule we must follow is:

🚔 - The keyword class is reserved so classes must be renamed className

So we need to rename every instance of class to className.

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

Here is our Component with those changes:

Live Editor
Result
Loading...

⏰ Activity - 2min​

  • Perform the same steps to Card2 as you did for Card1
  • Make sure to render Card2
  • Refresh the page to see the changes

Your code should produce the following:

Card2 Screenshot

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

In the original design the cards were sitting next to each other.

The reason they are no longer doing so is because we did not include the parent <section class="cards"> element.

Let's add that to the App Component.

App.js
export default function App() {
  return (
    <div className="App">
      <h1>Bootstrap Cards To Component Example</h1>
      <section className="cards">
        <Card1 />
        <Card2 />
      </section>
    </div>
  );
}

If everything worked we should now see our original design in place.

Component Version of Original Design

More Nested Components​

When we look at both cards displayed on the page I feel the need to ask myself are there any sections of the card that could be used elsewhere.

Say you if you removed the image and were left with just the title, text and button. Would another layout design benefit from just that grouping of elements?

Or perhaps the image could be a reused as is in another design. And how about the button.

If we took just a moment to actually visualize these Components it might look something like this:

Visual Hierarchy

This essentially represents the React Hierarchy and show which Components are parents and children.

Another way to view the React Hierarch is:

So it seems there is an opportunity to create reusable components.

So let's spin off a few more Components and then import them into both Card1 and Card2 Components.

Card Body Component​

Let's start with creating a separate CardBody Component. That involves the following:

  • Creating a new CardBody.jsx file
  • Importing React
  • Creating the Component
  • Copying the HTML for the card body
  • Exporting the Component
Live Editor
Result
Loading...

Render The CardBody Component​

We now have a separate Component altogether which we need to import and render into both Card Components.

In Card1.jsx do the following:

  • Import the CardBody Component
  • Replace the card-body element with <CardBody /> Component
Card1.jsx
function Card1() {
  return (
    <div className="card" style={{ width: "18rem" }}>
      <img
        src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1536514072410-5019a3c69182?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=400&q=60"
        className="card-img-top"
        alt="..."
      />
      <CardBody />
    </div>
  );
}

⏰ Activity - 10min​

If we follow the basic pattern we can create and render new Components relatively easily.

Now it's your turn to do the following:

  • Create a CardImage Component that returns the just image
  • Create a Button Component that returns just the button
  • Import CardImage and Button into Card1
  • Replace the HTML with those Components

👍 Click on the thumbs up when your done.

Solution (posted after activity completed)

Lab Time​

The instructor will assign a lab.