[Solved] Understanding unique keys for array children in React.js

Question

You should add a key to each child as well as each element inside children.

This way React can handle the minimal DOM change.

In your code, each <TableRowItem key={item.id} data={item} columns={columnNames}/> is trying to render some children inside them without a key.

Check this example.

Try removing the key={i} from the  element inside the div’s (and check the console).

In the sample, if we don’t give a key to the  element and we want to update only the object.city, React needs to re-render the whole row vs just the element.

Here is the code:

var data = [{name:'Jhon', age:28, city:'HO'},
            {name:'Onhj', age:82, city:'HN'},
            {name:'Nohj', age:41, city:'IT'}
           ];

var Hello = React.createClass({
    
    render: function() {
            
      var _data = this.props.info;
      console.log(_data);
      return(
        <div>
            {_data.map(function(object, i){
               return <div className={"row"} key={i}> 
                          {[ object.name ,
                             // remove the key
                             <b className="fosfo" key={i}> {object.city} </b> , 
                             object.age
                          ]}
                      </div>; 
             })}
        </div>
       );
    }
});
 
React.render(<Hello info={data} />, document.body);

The answer posted by @Chris at the bottom goes into much more detail than this answer.

React documentation on the importance of keys in reconciliation: Keys

Accepted Answer