React keep to single setState call? - javascript

Supposed that in a function, i always need to set someState, and only need to set someOtherState if condition is true.
Is it preferable to do it like this:
this.setState({ someState });
if (condition) {
this.setState({ someOtherState });
}
Or this?
if (condition) {
this.setState({ someState, someOtherState });
} else {
this.setState({ someState });
}
I know React is optimized such that calling setState in quick succession will usually not result in a re-render. But is that behavior guaranteed or should the code make such assumption?
eg. supposed it works by re-rendering on a fixed time interval, if the first setState get called right before that interval block ends, then the second setState will result in a re-render?

Why don't you use ternary operator? If condition is true, set it to new state. Otherwise, use the old one.
this.setState(prevState => ({
someState,
someOtherState: condition ? newSomeOtherState : prevState.someOtherState
}))

React batches setState calls, so doing sequential update calls should only trigger one call to render.
You can assume that it will be batched provided you are within React managed event functions (React event system). For example, if it's an AJAX call, or some other delayed function like a promise or setTimeout, they will not be batched.
EDIT
This post has a pretty good summary of the order of events in most situations. You will find the state section about halfway down, but I'll try to summarise here:
Order goes :
Updating State
ShouldComponentUpdate

ComponentWillUpdate
Render
...
If you're calling multiple functions within one of these, React is smart enough to wait until they're complete before running the batched updates.
See the React docs here for details on setState:
(Link limit: facebook.github.io)/react/docs/react-component.html#setstate
and also a discussion on batching here:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/reactjs/G6pljvpTGX0

Related

react js variable update delay - react.js [duplicate]

I'm reading Forms section of reactjs documentation and just tried this code to demonstrate onChange usage (JSBIN).
var React= require('react');
var ControlledForm= React.createClass({
getInitialState: function() {
return {
value: "initial value"
};
},
handleChange: function(event) {
console.log(this.state.value);
this.setState({value: event.target.value});
console.log(this.state.value);
},
render: function() {
return (
<input type="text" value={this.state.value} onChange={this.handleChange}/>
);
}
});
React.render(
<ControlledForm/>,
document.getElementById('mount')
);
When I update the <input/> value in the browser, the second console.log inside the handleChange callback prints the same value as the first console.log, Why I can't see the result of this.setState({value: event.target.value}) in the scope of handleChange callback?
From React's documentation:
setState() does not immediately mutate this.state but creates a
pending state transition. Accessing this.state after calling this
method can potentially return the existing value. There is no
guarantee of synchronous operation of calls to setState and calls may
be batched for performance gains.
If you want a function to be executed after the state change occurs, pass it in as a callback.
this.setState({value: event.target.value}, function () {
console.log(this.state.value);
});
As mentioned in the React documentation, there is no guarantee of setState being fired synchronously, so your console.log may return the state prior to it updating.
Michael Parker mentions passing a callback within the setState. Another way to handle the logic after state change is via the componentDidUpdate lifecycle method, which is the method recommended in React docs.
Generally we recommend using componentDidUpdate() for such logic instead.
This is particularly useful when there may be successive setStates fired, and you would like to fire the same function after every state change. Rather than adding a callback to each setState, you could place the function inside of the componentDidUpdate, with specific logic inside if necessary.
// example
componentDidUpdate(prevProps, prevState) {
if (this.state.value > prevState.value) {
this.foo();
}
}
You could try using ES7 async/await. For instance using your example:
handleChange: async function(event) {
console.log(this.state.value);
await this.setState({value: event.target.value});
console.log(this.state.value);
}
Watch out the react lifecycle methods!
http://projects.wojtekmaj.pl/react-lifecycle-methods-diagram/
https://reactjs.org/docs/react-component.html
I worked for several hours to find out that getDerivedStateFromProps will be called after every setState().
😂
Sometime this issue occurs with state.
In case of hooks, you should use useEffect hook, As below-
const [fruit, setFruit] = useState('');
setFruit('Apple');
useEffect(() => {
console.log('Fruit', fruit);
}, [fruit])
This saved my day, Hope will help you!!!
Accessing this.state after calling the setState method is not guaranteed to return the updated status due to the asynchronous nature of setState.
To guarantee an update after calling setState, there are two solutions you may pursue.
Solution 1: As mentioned in one of the above answers, put your code in the componentDidUpdate method
Solution 2: As mentioned in another of the above answers, pass your stuff as a callback
this.setState({value: myValue}, function () {
this.functionThatIsExecutedWhenStateIsUpdated();
});
It's important to note that these two solutions are not clearly interchangeable. The one cannot easily solve all the use-cases of the other. As a general rule, if you can, best practice says that solution 1 is preferred. But, there are use-cases where only solution 2 "more effectively" works such as the "update-my-view-and-post-my-data" use case. This use case goes like this:
After adding an item, say, "Add Schedule", I want to both add that item to a front-end list and immediately post the just-updated-list to the backend, as demonstrated in the concept below:
If you dont do either solution, i.e. if you only say this in your code:
addToItemArray = () => {
this.setState{{ scheduledItemsArray: newObjectListWithMax}}
this.postData();
}
<button className="btn btn-secondary btn-block" onClick={this.addToItemArray}>Add Shedule</button>
... you will post the list excluding the "Delivery to Max" item, because the state wont be updated when you this.postData() (again, because its asynchronous).
If you utilise solution 1, you would make a POST after typing in every character in the Schedule Name textbox!
There are other ways aswell to cater for this use-case but solution 2 best conveys the intent when reading the code.
Given the ubiquitous nature of this use case in virtually every web app, the callback technique explained by Michael's answer is an indispensable piece of code in every developers toolkit.
async-await syntax works perfectly for something like the following...
changeStateFunction = () => {
// Some Worker..
this.setState((prevState) => ({
year: funcHandleYear(),
month: funcHandleMonth()
}));
goNextMonth = async () => {
await this.changeStateFunction();
const history = createBrowserHistory();
history.push(`/calendar?year=${this.state.year}&month=${this.state.month}`);
}
goPrevMonth = async () => {
await this.changeStateFunction();
const history = createBrowserHistory();
history.push(`/calendar?year=${this.state.year}&month=${this.state.month}`);
}
React bathces different set state calls so that it can determine what is the most optimal strategy for rerendering the website is going to be.
Imagine you have an application where you have a lot of different components. Perhaps, with one button click you are updating the state in multiple components, not just on the current one. In this case, React does not want to just completely isolate and do all those different updates independently.
React wants to figure out if it can stack all these updates together, maybe there is a more optimal way of updating these components so that it is more performant. This is what React is doing behind the scenes. As a result, set state call is asynchronous call.
Simply putting - this.setState({data: value}) is asynchronous in
nature that means it moves out of the Call Stack and only comes back
to the Call Stack unless it is resolved.
Please read about Event Loop to have a clear picture about Asynchronous nature in JS and why it takes time to update -
https://medium.com/front-end-weekly/javascript-event-loop-explained-4cd26af121d4
Hence -
this.setState({data:value});
console.log(this.state.data); // will give undefined or unupdated value
as it takes time to update.
To achieve the above process -
this.setState({data:value},function () {
console.log(this.state.data);
});

React hooks: Why do several useState setters in an async function cause several rerenders?

This following onClick callback function will cause 1 re-render:
const handleClickSync = () => {
// Order of setters doesn't matter - React lumps all state changes together
// The result is one single re-rendering
setValue("two");
setIsCondition(true);
setNumber(2);
};
React lumps all three state changes together and causes 1 rerender.
The following onClick callback function, however, will cause 3 re-renderings:
const handleClickAsync = () => {
setTimeout(() => {
// Inside of an async function (here: setTimeout) the order of setter functions matters.
setValue("two");
setIsCondition(true);
setNumber(2);
});
};
It's one re-render for every useState setter. Furthermore the order of the setters influences the values in each of these renderings.
Question: Why does the fact that I make the function async (here via setTimeout) cause the state changes to happen one after the other and thereby causing 3 re-renders. Why does React lump these state changes together if the function is synchronous to only cause one rerender?
You can play around with this CodeSandBox to experience the behavior.
In react 17, if code execution starts inside of react (eg, an onClick listener or a useEffect), then react can be sure that after you've done all your state-setting, execution will return to react and it can continue from there. So for these cases, it can let code execution continue, wait for the return, and then synchronously do a single render.
But if code execution starts randomly (eg, in a setTimeout, or by resolving a promise), then code isn't going to return to react when you're done. So from react's perspective, it was quietly sleeping and then you call setState, forcing react to be like "ahhh! they're setting state! I'd better render". There are async ways that react could wait to see if you're doing anything more (eg, a timeout 0 or a microtask), but there isn't a synchronous way for react to know when you're done.
You can tell react to batch multiple changes by using unstable_batchedUpdates:
import { unstable_batchedUpdates } from "react-dom";
const handleClickAsync = () => {
setTimeout(() => {
unstable_batchedUpdates(() => {
setValue("two");
setIsCondition(true);
setNumber(2);
});
});
};
In version 18 this isn't necessary, since the changes they've made to rendering for concurrent rendering make batching work for all cases.
Right now react only batches sync setStates inside event handlers.
But in react 18 it will be available in setTimeout, useEffects etc
Here is excellent explanation from Dan https://github.com/reactwg/react-18/discussions/21
UPDATE: REACT 18 FEATURES AUTOMATIC BATCHING
In React, Batching helps to reduce the number of re-renders that happen when state changes, when you call setState(). Previously, React batched state updates in event handlers, for example :
const handleClick = () => {
setCounter();
setActive();
setValue();
}
//re-rendered once at the end.
However, state updates that happened outside of event handlers were not batched. For example, if you had a promise or were making a network call, the state updates would not be batched. Like this:
fetch('/network').then( () => {
setCounter(); //re-rendered 1 times
setActive(); //re-rendered 2 times
setValue(); //re-rendered 3 times
});
//Total 3 re-renders
As you can tell, this is not performant. React 18 introduces automatic batching which allows all state updates – even within promises, setTimeouts, and event callbacks – to be batched. This significantly reduces the work that React has to do in the background. React will wait for a micro-task to finish before re-rendering.
Automatic batching is available out of the box in React, but if you want to opt-out you can use flushSync.
More Reading from FREECODECAMP RESOURCES: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/react-18-new-features/

Unexplained behaviour from React state Change [duplicate]

I'm reading Forms section of reactjs documentation and just tried this code to demonstrate onChange usage (JSBIN).
var React= require('react');
var ControlledForm= React.createClass({
getInitialState: function() {
return {
value: "initial value"
};
},
handleChange: function(event) {
console.log(this.state.value);
this.setState({value: event.target.value});
console.log(this.state.value);
},
render: function() {
return (
<input type="text" value={this.state.value} onChange={this.handleChange}/>
);
}
});
React.render(
<ControlledForm/>,
document.getElementById('mount')
);
When I update the <input/> value in the browser, the second console.log inside the handleChange callback prints the same value as the first console.log, Why I can't see the result of this.setState({value: event.target.value}) in the scope of handleChange callback?
From React's documentation:
setState() does not immediately mutate this.state but creates a
pending state transition. Accessing this.state after calling this
method can potentially return the existing value. There is no
guarantee of synchronous operation of calls to setState and calls may
be batched for performance gains.
If you want a function to be executed after the state change occurs, pass it in as a callback.
this.setState({value: event.target.value}, function () {
console.log(this.state.value);
});
As mentioned in the React documentation, there is no guarantee of setState being fired synchronously, so your console.log may return the state prior to it updating.
Michael Parker mentions passing a callback within the setState. Another way to handle the logic after state change is via the componentDidUpdate lifecycle method, which is the method recommended in React docs.
Generally we recommend using componentDidUpdate() for such logic instead.
This is particularly useful when there may be successive setStates fired, and you would like to fire the same function after every state change. Rather than adding a callback to each setState, you could place the function inside of the componentDidUpdate, with specific logic inside if necessary.
// example
componentDidUpdate(prevProps, prevState) {
if (this.state.value > prevState.value) {
this.foo();
}
}
You could try using ES7 async/await. For instance using your example:
handleChange: async function(event) {
console.log(this.state.value);
await this.setState({value: event.target.value});
console.log(this.state.value);
}
Watch out the react lifecycle methods!
http://projects.wojtekmaj.pl/react-lifecycle-methods-diagram/
https://reactjs.org/docs/react-component.html
I worked for several hours to find out that getDerivedStateFromProps will be called after every setState().
😂
Sometime this issue occurs with state.
In case of hooks, you should use useEffect hook, As below-
const [fruit, setFruit] = useState('');
setFruit('Apple');
useEffect(() => {
console.log('Fruit', fruit);
}, [fruit])
This saved my day, Hope will help you!!!
Accessing this.state after calling the setState method is not guaranteed to return the updated status due to the asynchronous nature of setState.
To guarantee an update after calling setState, there are two solutions you may pursue.
Solution 1: As mentioned in one of the above answers, put your code in the componentDidUpdate method
Solution 2: As mentioned in another of the above answers, pass your stuff as a callback
this.setState({value: myValue}, function () {
this.functionThatIsExecutedWhenStateIsUpdated();
});
It's important to note that these two solutions are not clearly interchangeable. The one cannot easily solve all the use-cases of the other. As a general rule, if you can, best practice says that solution 1 is preferred. But, there are use-cases where only solution 2 "more effectively" works such as the "update-my-view-and-post-my-data" use case. This use case goes like this:
After adding an item, say, "Add Schedule", I want to both add that item to a front-end list and immediately post the just-updated-list to the backend, as demonstrated in the concept below:
If you dont do either solution, i.e. if you only say this in your code:
addToItemArray = () => {
this.setState{{ scheduledItemsArray: newObjectListWithMax}}
this.postData();
}
<button className="btn btn-secondary btn-block" onClick={this.addToItemArray}>Add Shedule</button>
... you will post the list excluding the "Delivery to Max" item, because the state wont be updated when you this.postData() (again, because its asynchronous).
If you utilise solution 1, you would make a POST after typing in every character in the Schedule Name textbox!
There are other ways aswell to cater for this use-case but solution 2 best conveys the intent when reading the code.
Given the ubiquitous nature of this use case in virtually every web app, the callback technique explained by Michael's answer is an indispensable piece of code in every developers toolkit.
async-await syntax works perfectly for something like the following...
changeStateFunction = () => {
// Some Worker..
this.setState((prevState) => ({
year: funcHandleYear(),
month: funcHandleMonth()
}));
goNextMonth = async () => {
await this.changeStateFunction();
const history = createBrowserHistory();
history.push(`/calendar?year=${this.state.year}&month=${this.state.month}`);
}
goPrevMonth = async () => {
await this.changeStateFunction();
const history = createBrowserHistory();
history.push(`/calendar?year=${this.state.year}&month=${this.state.month}`);
}
React bathces different set state calls so that it can determine what is the most optimal strategy for rerendering the website is going to be.
Imagine you have an application where you have a lot of different components. Perhaps, with one button click you are updating the state in multiple components, not just on the current one. In this case, React does not want to just completely isolate and do all those different updates independently.
React wants to figure out if it can stack all these updates together, maybe there is a more optimal way of updating these components so that it is more performant. This is what React is doing behind the scenes. As a result, set state call is asynchronous call.
Simply putting - this.setState({data: value}) is asynchronous in
nature that means it moves out of the Call Stack and only comes back
to the Call Stack unless it is resolved.
Please read about Event Loop to have a clear picture about Asynchronous nature in JS and why it takes time to update -
https://medium.com/front-end-weekly/javascript-event-loop-explained-4cd26af121d4
Hence -
this.setState({data:value});
console.log(this.state.data); // will give undefined or unupdated value
as it takes time to update.
To achieve the above process -
this.setState({data:value},function () {
console.log(this.state.data);
});

How to change a variable state with react? [duplicate]

I have just found that in react this.setState() function in any component is asynchronous or is called after the completion of the function that it was called in.
Now I searched and found this blog (setState() State Mutation Operation May Be Synchronous In ReactJS)
Here he found that setState is async(called when stack is empty) or sync(called as soon as called) depending on how the change of state was triggered.
Now these two things are hard to digest
In the blog the setState function is called inside a function updateState, but what triggered the updateState function is not something that a called function would know about.
Why would they make setState async as JS is single threaded language and this setState is not a WebAPI or server call so has to be done on JS's thread only. Are they doing this so that Re-Rendering does not stop all the event listeners and stuff, or there is some other design issue.
You can call a function after the state value has updated:
this.setState({foo: 'bar'}, () => {
// Do something here.
});
Also, if you have lots of states to update at once, group them all within the same setState:
Instead of:
this.setState({foo: "one"}, () => {
this.setState({bar: "two"});
});
Just do this:
this.setState({
foo: "one",
bar: "two"
});
1) setState actions are asynchronous and are batched for performance gains. This is explained in the documentation of setState.
setState() does not immediately mutate this.state but creates a pending state transition. Accessing this.state after calling this method can potentially return the existing value.
There is no guarantee of synchronous operation of calls to setState and calls may be batched for performance gains.
2) Why would they make setState async as JS is a single threaded language and this setState is not a WebAPI or server call?
This is because setState alters the state and causes rerendering. This can be an expensive operation and making it synchronous might leave the browser unresponsive.
Thus the setState calls are asynchronous as well as batched for better UI experience and performance.
I know this question is old, but it has been causing a lot of confusion for many reactjs users for a long time, including me.
Recently Dan Abramov (from the react team) just wrote up a great explanation as to why the nature of setState is async:
https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/11527#issuecomment-360199710
setState is meant to be asynchronous, and there are a few really good reasons for that in the linked explanation by Dan Abramov. This doesn't mean it will always be asynchronous - it mainly means that you just can't depend on it being synchronous. ReactJS takes into consideration many variables in the scenario that you're changing the state in, to decide when the state should actually be updated and your component rerendered.
A simple example to demonstrate this, is that if you call setState as a reaction to a user action, then the state will probably be updated immediately (although, again, you can't count on it), so the user won't feel any delay, but if you call setState in reaction to an ajax call response or some other event that isn't triggered by the user, then the state might be updated with a slight delay, since the user won't really feel this delay, and it will improve performance by waiting to batch multiple state updates together and rerender the DOM fewer times.
Good article here https://github.com/vasanthk/react-bits/blob/master/patterns/27.passing-function-to-setState.md
// assuming this.state.count === 0
this.setState({count: this.state.count + 1});
this.setState({count: this.state.count + 1});
this.setState({count: this.state.count + 1});
// this.state.count === 1, not 3
Solution
this.setState((prevState, props) => ({
count: prevState.count + props.increment
}));
or pass callback this.setState ({.....},callback)
https://medium.com/javascript-scene/setstate-gate-abc10a9b2d82
https://medium.freecodecamp.org/functional-setstate-is-the-future-of-react-374f30401b6b
You can use the following wrap to make sync call
this.setState((state =>{
return{
something
}
})
Yes, setState() is asynchronous.
From the link: https://reactjs.org/docs/react-component.html#setstate
React does not guarantee that the state changes are applied immediately.
setState() does not always immediately update the component.
Think of setState() as a request rather than an immediate command to update the component.
Because they think
From the link: https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/11527#issuecomment-360199710
... we agree that setState() re-rendering synchronously would be inefficient in many cases
Asynchronous setState() makes life very difficult for those getting started and even experienced unfortunately:
- unexpected rendering issues: delayed rendering or no rendering (based on program logic)
- passing parameters is a big deal
among other issues.
Below example helped:
// call doMyTask1 - here we set state
// then after state is updated...
// call to doMyTask2 to proceed further in program
constructor(props) {
// ..
// This binding is necessary to make `this` work in the callback
this.doMyTask1 = this.doMyTask1.bind(this);
this.doMyTask2 = this.doMyTask2.bind(this);
}
function doMyTask1(myparam1) {
// ..
this.setState(
{
mystate1: 'myvalue1',
mystate2: 'myvalue2'
// ...
},
() => {
this.doMyTask2(myparam1);
}
);
}
function doMyTask2(myparam2) {
// ..
}
Hope that helps.
Imagine incrementing a counter in some component:
class SomeComponent extends Component{
state = {
updatedByDiv: '',
updatedByBtn: '',
counter: 0
}
divCountHandler = () => {
this.setState({
updatedByDiv: 'Div',
counter: this.state.counter + 1
});
console.log('divCountHandler executed');
}
btnCountHandler = () => {
this.setState({
updatedByBtn: 'Button',
counter: this.state.counter + 1
});
console.log('btnCountHandler executed');
}
...
...
render(){
return (
...
// a parent div
<div onClick={this.divCountHandler}>
// a child button
<button onClick={this.btnCountHandler}>Increment Count</button>
</div>
...
)
}
}
There is a count handler attached to both the parent and the child components. This is done purposely so we can execute the setState() twice within the same click event bubbling context, but from within 2 different handlers.
As we would imagine, a single click event on the button would now trigger both these handlers since the event bubbles from target to the outermost container during the bubbling phase.
Therefore the btnCountHandler() executes first, expected to increment the count to 1 and then the divCountHandler() executes, expected to increment the count to 2.
However the count only increments to 1 as you can inspect in React Developer tools.
This proves that react
queues all the setState calls
comes back to this queue after executing the last method in the context(the divCountHandler in this case)
merges all the object mutations happening within multiple setState calls in the same context(all method calls within a single event phase is same context for e.g.) into one single object mutation syntax (merging makes sense because this is why we can update the state properties independently in setState() in the first place)
and passes it into one single setState() to prevent re-rendering due to multiple setState() calls (this is a very primitive description of batching).
Resultant code run by react:
this.setState({
updatedByDiv: 'Div',
updatedByBtn: 'Button',
counter: this.state.counter + 1
})
To stop this behaviour, instead of passing objects as arguments to the setState method, callbacks are passed.
divCountHandler = () => {
this.setState((prevState, props) => {
return {
updatedByDiv: 'Div',
counter: prevState.counter + 1
};
});
console.log('divCountHandler executed');
}
btnCountHandler = () => {
this.setState((prevState, props) => {
return {
updatedByBtn: 'Button',
counter: prevState.counter + 1
};
});
console.log('btnCountHandler executed');
}
After the last method finishes execution and when react returns to process the setState queue, it simply calls the callback for each setState queued, passing in the previous component state.
This way react ensures that the last callback in the queue gets to update the state that all of its previous counterparts have laid hands on.
setState is asynchronous. You can see in this documentation by Reactjs
https://reactjs.org/docs/faq-state.html#why-is-setstate-giving-me-the-wrong-valuejs
https://reactjs.org/docs/faq-state.html#when-is-setstate-asynchronous
React intentionally “waits” until all components call setState() in their event handlers before starting to re-render. This boosts performance by avoiding unnecessary re-renders.
However, you might still be wondering why React doesn’t just update this.state immediately without re-rendering.
The reason is this would break the consistency between props and state, causing issues that are very hard to debug.
You can still perform functions if it is dependent on the change of the state value:
Option 1:
Using callback function with setState
this.setState({
value: newValue
},()=>{
// It is an callback function.
// Here you can access the update value
console.log(this.state.value)
})
Option 2: using componentDidUpdate
This function will be called whenever the state of that particular class changes.
componentDidUpdate(prevProps, prevState){
//Here you can check if value of your desired variable is same or not.
if(this.state.value !== prevState.value){
// this part will execute if your desired variable updates
}
}

How to ensure I am reading the most recent version of state?

I may be missing something. I know setState is asynchronous in React, but I still seem to have this question.
Imagine following is a handler when user clicks any of the buttons on my app
1. ButtonHandler()
2. {
3. if(!this.state.flag)
4. {
5. alert("flag is false");
6. }
7. this.setState({flag:true});
8.
9. }
Now imagine user very quickly clicks first one button then second.
Imagine the first time the handler got called this.setState({flag:true}) was executed, but when second time the handler got called, the change to the state from the previous call has not been reflected yet -- and this.state.flag returned false.
Can such situation occur (even theoretically)? What are the ways to ensure I am reading most up to date state?
I know setState(function(prevState, props){..}) gives you access to previous state but what if I want to only read state like on line 3 and not set it?
As you rightly noted, for setting state based on previous state you want to use the function overload.
I know setState(function(prevState, props){..}) gives you access to previous state
So your example would look like this:
handleClick() {
this.setState(prevState => {
return {
flag: !prevState.flag
};
});
}
what if I want to only read state like on line 3 and not set it?
Let's get back to thinking why you want to do this.
If you want to perform a side effect (e.g. log to console or start an AJAX request) then the right place to do it is the componentDidUpdate lifecycle method. And it also gives you access to the previous state:
componentDidUpdate(prevState) {
if (!prevState.flag && this.state.flag) {
alert('flag has changed from false to true!');
}
if (prevState.flag && !this.state.flag) {
alert('flag has changed from true to false!');
}
}
This is the intended way to use React state. You let React manage the state and don't worry about when it gets set. If you want to set state based on previous state, pass a function to setState. If you want to perform side effects based on state changes, compare previous and current state in componentDidUpdate.
Of course, as a last resort, you can keep an instance variable independent of the state.
React's philosophy
The state and props should indicate things the components need for rendering. React's render being called whenever the state and props change.
Side Effects
In your case, you're causing a side effect based on user interaction which requires specific timing. In my opinion, once you step out of rendering - you probably want to reconsider state and props and stick to a regular instance property which is synchronous anyway.
Solving the real issue - Outside of React
Just change this.state.flag to this.flag everywhere, and update it with assignment rather than with setState. That way you
If you still have to use .state
You can get around this, uglily. I wrote code for this, but I'd rather not publish it here so people don't use it :)
First promisify.
Then use a utility for only caring about the last promise resolving in a function call. Here is an example library but the actual code is ~10LoC and simple anyway.
Now, a promisified setState with last called on it gives you the guarantee you're looking for.
Here is how using such code would look like:
explicitlyNotShown({x: 5}).then(() => {
// we are guaranteed that this call and any other setState calls are done here.
});
(Note: with MobX this isn't an issue since state updates are sync).

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