Why use history.push or some other method from react-router-dom instead of just assigning the path to window.location.pathname?

Question

It seems easier to me when I need to navigate somewhere in my code to just assign the path where I want to go to window.location.pathname. Is there any disadvantage to doing this?

Because window.location.pathname triggers a reload, defeating the entire purpose of react-router, while history.push() just changes the url and doesn't reload. Not reloading the entire page is one of the fundamentals of a single-page-application, SPA. reactrouter.com/web/api/history — Samathingamajig
– Samathingamajig, Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 20:45
Thanks - I thought I had an issue in my authentication code that was causing those reloads. Just marked two issues off my list. :) — Baron Young
– Baron Young, Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 20:50

Samathingamajig · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-23 20:49:20Z

5

Because window.location.pathname triggers a reload, defeating the entire purpose of react-router, while history.push() just changes the url and doesn't reload. Not reloading the entire page is one of the fundamentals of a single-page-application, SPA. https://reactrouter.com/web/api/history

Also see this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/43986829/12101554

answered Nov 23, 2020 at 20:49

Samathingamajig

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Sherif Wael · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-23 20:47:04Z

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history.push doesn't cause your page to reload, window.location causes a page reload. The exact thing for <Link> and <a>

answered Nov 23, 2020 at 20:47

Sherif Wael

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Joseph · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-23 20:47:07Z

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When you use history.push it redirects to the next page without reloading the entire page after adding it to the stack [array] of history and this feature is the main concept of the single-page applications

but window.location reload all of the page

edited Nov 23, 2020 at 20:47

answered Nov 23, 2020 at 20:45

Joseph

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