Docs: Clarify the behavior of useEffect with non-primitive dependencies in the Hooks documentation
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Description
Issue Body (Example):
🗣 Area of Concern: The documentation section for the useEffect hook currently explains the dependency array primarily using primitive values (e.g., numbers, strings). However, the common pitfall of including non-primitive values (objects or arrays) directly in the dependency array (which causes the effect to run on every render due to reference change) is not explicitly highlighted or given a clear warning/solution.
📝 Proposed Solution/Enhancement:
Add a small section or a highlighted "Note on Non-Primitives" to the useEffect page.
Provide a code example demonstrating the infinite loop/excessive-rerender issue when using an object literal ({}) or array literal ([]) inside the dependency array.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the useEffect page in the Hooks documentation and read its current explanation of dependency arrays. Add a short note about object and array dependencies, including the requested code example, then verify that the documentation clearly explains the reference-change behavior and intended solution.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- javascript, react
- Domain
- documentation
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100