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

  • By
    9 Mind-Blowing WebGL Demos

    As much as developers now loathe Flash, we're still playing a bit of catch up to natively duplicate the animation capabilities that Adobe's old technology provided us.  Of course we have canvas, an awesome technology, one which I highlighted 9 mind-blowing demos.  Another technology available...

  • By
    JavaScript Promise API

    While synchronous code is easier to follow and debug, async is generally better for performance and flexibility. Why "hold up the show" when you can trigger numerous requests at once and then handle them when each is ready?  Promises are becoming a big part of the JavaScript world...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Dynamically Load Stylesheets Using MooTools 1.2

    Theming has become a big part of the Web 2.0 revolution. Luckily, so too has a higher regard for semantics and CSS standards. If you build your pages using good XHTML code, changing a CSS file can make your website look completely different.

  • By
    Link Nudging with CSS3 Animations

    One of the more popular and simple effects I've featured on this blog over the past year has been linking nudging.  I've created this effect with three flavors of JavaScript:  MooTools, jQuery, and even the Dojo Toolkit.  Luckily CSS3 (almost) allows us to ditch...

Discussion

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