Technical Article: Understanding the Navigation Menu Component in React

Introduction

In this article, we will explore a React component that creates a dynamic navigation menu. This component uses TypeScript for type safety and SCSS for styling. We will break down the code to understand its structure and functionality.

Code Breakdown

import styles from './AppCustomizer.module.scss';
import * as React from 'react';

interface INavigationProps {
  menus: { name: string; subMenus: string[] }[];
}

const NavigationMenuDefault: React.FC<INavigationProps> = ({ menus }) => {
  return (
    <div className={styles.topnav}>
      <div className={styles.dropdown}>
        <button style={{ cursor: "pointer" }} className={styles.dropbtn}>Home Dynamic</button>
      </div>
      {menus.map((menu, index) => (
        <div key={index} className={styles.dropdown}>
          <button style={{ cursor: "pointer" }} className={styles.dropbtn}>{menu.name}</button>
          {menu.subMenus.length > 0 && (
            <div className={styles.dropdownContent}>
              {menu.subMenus.map((subItem, subIndex) => (
                <a key={subIndex} href="#">{subItem}</a>
              ))}
            </div>
          )}
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
};

export default NavigationMenuDefault;

Explanation

1. Imports and Interfaces:
   • styles is imported from an SCSS module to apply styles to the component.
   • React is imported to use React functionalities.
   • INavigationProps interface defines the shape of the menus prop, which is an array of objects. Each object has a name and an array of subMenus.
2. Component Definition:
   • NavigationMenuDefault is a functional component that takes INavigationProps as props.
   • The component returns a JSX structure that represents the navigation menu.
3. JSX Structure:
   • The outer div uses the topnav class from the SCSS module.
   • A static “Home Dynamic” button is created first.
   • The menus array is mapped to create a dropdown for each menu item.
     • Each menu item is wrapped in a div with the dropdown class.
     • A button is created for each menu item using the dropbtn class.
     • If the menu item has submenus, another div with the dropdownContent class is created to hold the submenu links.
4. Styling:
   • The component uses CSS classes defined in the AppCustomizer.module.scss file to style the navigation menu.

Conclusion

This React component demonstrates how to create a dynamic navigation menu with dropdowns using TypeScript and SCSS. By understanding the structure and functionality of this component, you can customize and extend it to fit your application’s needs.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions or need further clarification on any part of the code!