Socket.IO – How to implement Socket.IO in ReactJS – Part 3

Today we’ll show you how to implement Socket.IO in ReactJS. It’s the last part of the socket application where we will create a react application to listen to messages via socket.

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We planned to divide this article into three parts.

Way to implement Socket.IO in ReactJS

  1. Create react application
  2. Install dependency of socket
  3. Establish socket connection
  4. Manage the status of socket connection
  5. Subscribe to the socket event
  6. Handle the response coming via socket
  7. Output

1. Create react application

To begin the implementation, We have to start from a simple React.js application. You can use the create-react-app npm package to create a startup application. If you don’t know about it then refer to the link where you can find how to Create React Application.

2. Install dependency of socket

To implement socket in React application, we have to install socket.io-client npm package. It will help us to connect the socket using an endpoint. Run the following command to install the dependency.

3. Establish socket connection

After successful installation, we have to start integration of the socket in the React app. So the first step should be to establish the socket connection with help of endpoint http://localhost:4000 which we have created in the previous article Socket.IO – How to implement Socket.IO in Node.js – Part 2.

Note: Don’t forget to start the node server (http://localhost:4000). Please check the previous article as mentioned above.

We’ll establish the socket connection in componentDidMount method but we are using hooks so the code should look like this.

App.js

Here we are going to store the socket output in a state variable using react hooks.

4. Manage the status of socket connection

Now let’s manage the status of the socket connection and display status on screen. Also provide the button to connect/disconnect socket connection.

App.js

5. Subscribe to the socket event

Now it’s time to subscribe to the date event when socket is connected. So we can receive the message via socket.

Let’s create a function to subscribe to the event.

In the next step, call this function when the socket is connected.

6. Handle the response coming via socket

To handle the response coming via socket, we have to listen to the socket event on getDate and store the response in a state variable so we can display it on page.

7. Output

Let’s combine all code together and see how it looks.

App.js

Output - Socket.IO – How to implement Socket.IO in ReactJS – Clue Mediator
Output – Socket.IO – How to implement Socket.IO in ReactJS – Clue Mediator

That’s all about the Socket.IO application.
Thanks for reading. Happy Coding!

Demo & Source Code

Github Repository
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4 Responses

  1. Jun says:

    Thanks for the good article. Currently I am working on a project that integrates React with Redux and Node js. As I implement this method in one of my component, it seems working fine yet as soon as I unmount the component, the socket is still connected. With redux, I figured out that I have to make a socket middleware to manage socket communication even if the component is unmounted, page refresh and etc. It seems working fine with with socket middleware redux, yet I am looking forward to see what is the good way to combine socket with redux. Anyway, props to you guys, have a wonderful day!

    • Clue Mediator says:

      Hello Jun,
      You can handle the socket connection throughout the react application via redux. But you have to subscribe again on page reload.

      • Jun says:

        Hello! thanks for reply. Well instead of using subscribe() method in store, I used useSelector() (kind of alternatives of connect() ). Do you think it is not good idea to make use of useSelector()?

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