how to get current url with javascript or react with code examples

As websites and web applications become increasingly dynamic, it has become more important than ever to be able to access and modify page content on the fly. One common use case for this is to get the current URL of the page, which allows developers to create dynamic links or perform conditional rendering based on the page the user is currently visiting. In this article, we will explore how to get the current URL using JavaScript or React, with code examples for each method.

Method 1: Getting the Current URL with JavaScript

To get the current URL with vanilla JavaScript, we can use the built-in window.location object. This object contains information about the current page's URL, including the protocol, domain, path, and query parameters. Here's an example of how to use window.location to get the current URL:

const currentUrl = window.location.href;
console.log(currentUrl);

This will output the current URL of the page to the console, in the form of a string. We can then use this string to perform further actions, such as constructing dynamic links or modifying page content. Here's an example of using the current URL to create a dynamic link:

const currentUrl = window.location.href;
const link = document.createElement('a');
link.href = `${currentUrl}/new-page`;
link.textContent = 'Click Here';
document.body.appendChild(link);

This code creates a new link element, sets its href attribute to the current URL plus "/new-page", adds some text content, and appends it to the body of the document. This allows users to click the link and be taken to a new page with a URL that is dynamically generated based on the current URL.

Method 2: Getting the Current URL with React

If you are working with a React application, you can still get the current URL using the same window.location object as above. However, you need to use it in a slightly different way to ensure that your application remains responsive and performs optimally. Here's an example of how to get the current URL using React:

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';

function App() {
  const [currentUrl, setCurrentUrl] = useState('');

  useEffect(() => {
    const url = window.location.href;
    setCurrentUrl(url);
  }, []);

  return (
    <div>
      <p>The current URL is: {currentUrl}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

In this code example, we use React's useEffect hook to fetch the current URL and update a state variable with it. We use a state variable because any changes to the state will cause the component to re-render, which allows us to display the current URL to the user in real-time. We also use the useEffect hook to ensure that this code only runs once, when the component first mounts.

Conclusion

Getting the current URL of a page is an essential task for any web developer working on dynamic websites or applications. Whether you are using vanilla JavaScript or a framework like React, this process is relatively straightforward and requires only a few lines of code. By using the current URL, you can create dynamic links, perform conditional rendering, or modify page content dynamically based on the current page's URL. We hope that this article has been useful in showing you how to get the current URL using both vanilla JavaScript and React.

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Popular questions

Sure! Here are five questions and their answers related to "how to get current URL with JavaScript or React with code examples":

1. What is the purpose of getting the current URL with JavaScript or React?
   Answer: Getting the current URL with JavaScript or React allows developers to create dynamic links, perform conditional rendering, or modify the page content based on the current page's URL. It is an essential task for any web developer working on dynamic websites or applications.

2. What is window.location in JavaScript, and how is it used to get the current URL?
   Answer: window.location is a built-in object in JavaScript that contains information about the current page's URL, including the protocol, domain, path, and query parameters. To get the current URL with vanilla JavaScript, we can use window.location.href property.

3. How can we use the current URL to construct dynamic links in JavaScript?
   Answer: We can use the current URL in JavaScript to create dynamic links that take users to new pages with a URL that is dynamically generated based on the current URL. We can do this by creating a new link element, setting its href attribute to the current URL plus "/new-page", adding some text content, and appending it to the body of the document.

4. How can we get the current URL using React?
   Answer: We can get the current URL using React by utilizing the same window.location object as in vanilla JavaScript. However, we need to use it in a slightly different way to ensure that our React application remains responsive and performs optimally. We can use React's useEffect hook to fetch the current URL and update a state variable with it.

5. Why is it important to use the useEffect hook when getting the current URL in React?
   Answer: It is important to use the useEffect hook when getting the current URL in React because it allows us to ensure that the code runs only once when the component mounts. Using hooks in this way ensures that our code remains performant and doesn't slow down the application unnecessarily.

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