React.isValidElement

By  on  

Knowing what input type you've received is hugely important in JavaScript, which is a big reason for Flow and TypeScript's rise. One such case where it's useful to know what an object represents is if the input is a string or a React element.

To detect if an object is a React element, you can use React.isValidElement(obj):

// Add a wrapping DIV if the content isn't a React element

// PropTypes.oneOfType([PropTypes.string, PropTypes.element])
render() {
  const { content } = this.props

  React.isValidElement(content)) ?
    content :
    
{content}
}

I really like that React.isValidElement allows us to create flexible elements that accept React elements or strings; hugely useful in generic components like modals, alerts, and everywhere else!

Recent Features

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Create a Twitter AJAX Button with MooTools, jQuery, or Dojo

    There's nothing like a subtle, slick website widget that effectively uses CSS and JavaScript to enhance the user experience.  Of course widgets like that take many hours to perfect, but it doesn't take long for that effort to be rewarded with above-average user retention and...

  • By
    QuickBoxes for Dojo

    Adding to my mental portfolio is important to me. First came MooTools, then jQuery, and now Dojo. I speak often with Peter Higgins of Dojo fame and decided it was time to step into his world. I chose a simple but useful plugin...

Discussion

    Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!