reactjs / reactjs/react.dev

[Hooks] - callbacks in useState hook examples

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JavaScript
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Description

I would like to discuss about using callbacks to create new state which bases on current state in documentation for useState hook.
Current examples can be confusing for new developers which are not very familiar with js.
It would be easier for new developers to learn the rule like newer use value from this.state (for setState) or take current state value from scope (for hooks) to create new state. This simple rule leads to smaller amount of bugs.

So new developers can take this example from https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-intro.html

import { useState } from 'react';

function Example() {
  // Declare a new state variable, which we'll call "count"
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  return (
    <div>
      <p>You clicked {count} times</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>
        Click me
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

and convert to something like this:

import { useState } from 'react';

function Example() {
  // Declare a new state variable, which we'll call "count"
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  const handleClick = () => {
    setCount(count + 1);
    setCount(count + 1);
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <p>You clicked {count} times</p>
      <button onClick={handleClick}>
        Click me
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

with assumption that it will increment by 2 but it does not (it's based on observation with junior developers).

Shouldn't we change first example (and all 'counter' based examples in docs) to something like this?

import { useState } from 'react';

function Example() {
  // Declare a new state variable, which we'll call "count"
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  return (
    <div>
      <p>You clicked {count} times</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(currentValue => currentValue + 1)}>
        Click me
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

and create new example to show 'standard' way to set state (example where new state is not based on current one).
Or maybe we should just say it's how JS (closures) works and left examples as is?
What's your opinion? I can create PR with changes but I'm not sure which path to choose. On the one hand it's how JS works but on the other hand I see it's confusing.

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the useState example at https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-intro.html and review the other counter-based examples in the documentation. This issue needs a maintainer decision between changing the examples and explaining the existing behavior; done means the chosen guidance is documented consistently.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, react
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
32/100

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