React : Difference Between and

When working with React and React Router, you may come across the need to define routes for your application. Two commonly used route components are and . While they may seem similar at first glance, there is a key difference between them that can affect how your routes are matched and rendered.

The Difference

The main difference between and lies in how they handle route matching. Let’s take a closer look at each one:

The exact prop ensures that the route will only be matched if the current location’s path is an exact match to the specified path. This means that the route will only render its component if the path matches exactly, including any trailing slashes or query parameters.

For example, if you have the following routes:

With , only the Home component will be rendered when the path is exactly /. If the path is /about or /contact, the Home component will not be rendered.

On the other hand, without the exact prop will match any location that starts with the specified path. This means that the route will render its component for any path that includes the specified path as a prefix.

Using the same example routes as before:

With , the Home component will be rendered for any path, including /, /about, and /contact. This is because all of these paths start with /.

Code Snippets

Here are the code snippets for both approaches:


import React from 'react';
import { Route } from 'react-router-dom';

export default App;



import React from 'react';
import { Route } from 'react-router-dom';

export default App;


Conclusion

In summary, the difference between and lies in how they handle route matching. The exact prop ensures that the route is only matched if the path is an exact match, while without the exact prop, the route will match any location that starts with the specified path.

When deciding which approach to use, consider the behavior you want for your routes. If you want an exact match, use . If you want a prefix match, use .

Happy routing!