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<h1>JSX Syntax</h1>
<div class="subHeader">Writing JavaScript with XML syntax.</div>
<p>JSX is a JavaScript XML syntax extension recommended (but not required) for use
with React.</p>
<p>JSX makes code that deeply nested React components more readable, and writing it
feels like writing HTML. React documentation examples make use of JSX.</p>
<h2>The Transform</h2>
<p>JSX transforms XML-like syntax into native JavaScript. It turns XML elements and
attributes into function calls and objects, respectively.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><code class="javascript language-javascript" data-lang="javascript"><span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">Nav</span><span class="p">;</span>
<span class="c1">// Input (JSX):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">app</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Nav</span> <span class="nx">color</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;blue&quot;</span> <span class="o">/&gt;</span><span class="p">;</span>
<span class="c1">// Output (JS):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">app</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">Nav</span><span class="p">({</span><span class="nx">color</span><span class="o">:</span><span class="s1">&#39;blue&#39;</span><span class="p">});</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>Notice that in order to use <code>&lt;Nav /&gt;</code>, the <code>Nav</code> variable must be in scope.</p>
<p>JSX also allows specifying children using XML syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><code class="javascript language-javascript" data-lang="javascript"><span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">Nav</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nx">Profile</span><span class="p">;</span>
<span class="c1">// Input (JSX):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">app</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Nav</span> <span class="nx">color</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;blue&quot;</span><span class="o">&gt;&lt;</span><span class="nx">Profile</span><span class="o">&gt;</span><span class="nx">click</span><span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="err">/Profile&gt;&lt;/Nav&gt;;</span>
<span class="c1">// Output (JS):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">app</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">Nav</span><span class="p">({</span><span class="nx">color</span><span class="o">:</span><span class="s1">&#39;blue&#39;</span><span class="p">},</span> <span class="nx">Profile</span><span class="p">({},</span> <span class="s1">&#39;click&#39;</span><span class="p">));</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>The <a href="getting-started.html">Getting Started</a> guide shows how to setup JSX
compilation.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Note:</p>
<p>Details about the code transform are given here to increase understanding, but
your code should not rely on these implementation details.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>React and JSX</h2>
<p>React and JSX are independent technologies, but JSX was primarily built with
React in mind. The two valid uses of JSX are:</p>
<ul>
<li>To construct instances of React DOM components (<code>React.DOM.*</code>).</li>
<li>To construct instances of composite components created with
<code>React.createClass()</code>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>React DOM Components</strong></p>
<p>To construct a <code>&lt;div&gt;</code> is to create a variable that refers to <code>React.DOM.div</code>.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><code class="javascript language-javascript" data-lang="javascript"><span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">div</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">React</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">DOM</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">div</span><span class="p">;</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">app</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">div</span> <span class="nx">className</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">&quot;appClass&quot;</span><span class="o">&gt;</span><span class="nx">Hello</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nx">React</span><span class="o">!&lt;</span><span class="err">/div&gt;;</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p><strong>React Component Components</strong></p>
<p>To construct an instance of a composite component, create a variable that
references the class.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><code class="javascript language-javascript" data-lang="javascript"><span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">MyComponent</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">React</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">createClass</span><span class="p">({</span><span class="cm">/*...*/</span><span class="p">});</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">app</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">MyComponent</span> <span class="nx">someProperty</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="p">{</span><span class="kc">true</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="o">/&gt;</span><span class="p">;</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>See <a href="component-basics.html">Component Basics</a> to learn more about components.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Note:</p>
<p>Since JSX is JavaScript, identifiers such as <code>class</code> and <code>for</code> are discouraged
as XML attribute names. Instead, React DOM components expect attributes like
<code>className</code> and <code>htmlFor</code>, respectively.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>DOM Convenience</h2>
<p>Having to define variables for every type of DOM element can get tedious
(e.g. <code>var div, span, h1, h2, ...</code>). JSX provides a convenience to address this
problem by allowing you to specify a variable in an <code>@jsx</code> docblock field. JSX
will use that field to find DOM components.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><code class="javascript language-javascript" data-lang="javascript"><span class="cm">/**</span>
<span class="cm"> * @jsx React.DOM</span>
<span class="cm"> */</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">Nav</span><span class="p">;</span>
<span class="c1">// Input (JSX):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">tree</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Nav</span><span class="o">&gt;&lt;</span><span class="nx">span</span> <span class="o">/&gt;&lt;</span><span class="err">/Nav&gt;;</span>
<span class="c1">// Output (JS):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">tree</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">Nav</span><span class="p">({},</span> <span class="nx">React</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">DOM</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">span</span><span class="p">({}));</span>
</code></pre></div>
<blockquote>
<p>Remember:</p>
<p>JSX simply transforms elements into function calls and has no notion of the
DOM. The docblock parameter is only a convenience to resolve the most commonly
used elements. In general, JSX has no notion of the DOM.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>JavaScript Expressions</h2>
<h4>Attribute Expressions</h4>
<p>To use a JavaScript expression as an attribute value, wrap the expression in a
pair of curly braces (<code>{}</code>) instead of quotes (<code>&quot;&quot;</code>).</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><code class="javascript language-javascript" data-lang="javascript"><span class="c1">// Input (JSX):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">person</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Person</span> <span class="nx">name</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="p">{</span><span class="nb">window</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">isLoggedIn</span> <span class="o">?</span> <span class="nb">window</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">name</span> <span class="o">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;&#39;</span><span class="p">}</span> <span class="o">/&gt;</span><span class="p">;</span>
<span class="c1">// Output (JS):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">person</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">Person</span><span class="p">({</span><span class="nx">name</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="nb">window</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">isLoggedIn</span> <span class="o">?</span> <span class="nb">window</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">name</span> <span class="o">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;&#39;</span><span class="p">});</span>
</code></pre></div>
<h4>Child Expressions</h4>
<p>Likewise, JavaScript expressions may be used to express children:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><code class="javascript language-javascript" data-lang="javascript"><span class="c1">// Input (JSX):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">content</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Container</span><span class="o">&gt;</span><span class="p">{</span><span class="nb">window</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">isLoggedIn</span> <span class="o">?</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Nav</span> <span class="o">/&gt;</span> <span class="o">:</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Login</span> <span class="o">/&gt;</span><span class="p">}</span><span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="err">/Container&gt;;</span>
<span class="c1">// Output (JS):</span>
<span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">content</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">Container</span><span class="p">({},</span> <span class="nb">window</span><span class="p">.</span><span class="nx">isLoggedIn</span> <span class="o">?</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Nav</span> <span class="o">/&gt;</span> <span class="o">:</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="nx">Login</span> <span class="o">/&gt;</span><span class="p">);</span>
</code></pre></div>
<h2>Tooling</h2>
<p>Beyond the compilation step, JSX does not require any special tools.</p>
<ul>
<li>Many editors already include reasonable support for JSX (Vim, Emacs js2-mode).</li>
<li>Linting provides accurate line numbers after compiling without sourcemaps.</li>
<li>Elements use standard scoping so linters can find usage of out-of-scope
components.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Prior Work</h2>
<p>JSX is similar to several other JavaScript embedded XML language
proposals/projects. Some of the features of JSX that distinguish it from similar
efforts include:</p>
<ul>
<li>JSX is a simple syntactic transform.</li>
<li>JSX neither provides nor requires a runtime library.</li>
<li>JSX does not alter or add to the semantics of JavaScript.</li>
</ul>
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