Building the Ultimate React To-Do List: A Step-by-Step Guide
To-do lists are a classic starting point for learning React, but they also offer scope to build a truly useful application. In this post, we’ll walk through creating a comprehensive
React to-do list with features like:
- Adding and deleting tasks
- Marking tasks as complete
- Editing existing tasks
- Persisting the to-do list (saving data)
React Prerequisites
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- Basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Familiarity with core React concepts (components, state, props).
- Node.js installed on your system.
Setting Up
- Create a React project:
- Bash
- npx create-react-app my-todo-list
- cd my-todo-list
- Install any dependencies: We’ll use a library to help with unique IDs:
- Bash
- npm install uuid
Building the Core Components
- TodoList.js: The main container for our to-do list.
- TodoForm.js: A form to add new tasks.
- TodoItem.js: An individual to-do item with actions.
Project Structure (Example)
src/
App.js
components/
TodoForm.js
TodoList.js
TodoItem.js
index.js
styles.css
Coding the Components (Simplified)
Please note, this is a simplified illustration. For complete code, refer to the tutorials in the “Search Results” provided earlier.
JavaScript
// TodoForm.js
import { useState } from ‘react’;
import { v4 as uuidv4 } from ‘uuid’;
const TodoForm = ({ addTodo }) => {
// State to manage input, etc.
};
// TodoList.js
import { useState } from ‘react’;
import TodoItem from ‘./TodoItem’;
const TodoList = () => {
// State to manage list of todos
const [todos, setTodos] = useState([]);
};
// TodoItem.js
import React from ‘react’;
const TodoItem = ({ todo, completeTodo, /* other functions */ }) => {
// Component rendering and actions
};
Functionality: Adding, Completing, Editing…
- You’ll implement state management to handle adding tasks, toggling completion status, updating tasks on edit, and deleting tasks.
Persistence
Use localStorage (simple) or a database (more robust) to save tasks even if the user refreshes the page.
Additional Features (Optional)
- Filtering: Filter tasks by “completed” or “active”.
- Drag-and-drop: Allow users to reorder tasks.
- Styling: Make it visually pleasing!