I sometimes get asked why I always use "Fragment" instead of the shorthand version:
jsx
{/* This: */}<Fragment>{/* ... */}</Fragment>;{/* Instead of this: */}<>{/* ... */}</>;
I do this to help engineers new to React and/or web development discover what is happening. If they haven't been introduced to Fragments before it's easy to search 'React Fragment' with Google and arrive at the official documentation. But when shown <>
there are several questions that I generally get asked.
- Is
<>
HTML or React? This comes up because it isn't named like a Component. React Components are traditionally CapitalizedCamelCase to distinguish them from HTML elements, which are all lowercase.<>
is not clearly React or HTML. - Does
<>
mean not equal? In some languages<>
is a comparison operator that means not equal. Some developers land here because<>
is not inherently searchable. Search engines don't allow special syntax, and it's easy to find discussions on websites such as StackOverflow that aren't specifically about React. - What is this? Sometimes it just isn't clear what is happening, and I get a quick question asking for clarification.
I think part of me doesn't see the distinction between using <>
and shortened variable names like i
, j
, k
. As I get older I find myself drifting away from abbreviations as well, preferring error
and index
to err
and idx
respectively when possible.