Understanding Conditional Rendering in React (2025 Guide)

Conditional rendering is a fundamental concept in React that allows components to display different elements based on a given condition. Think of it as React’s way of saying: “If this condition is true, render this; otherwise, render something else.”

---

Logical AND (&&) Operator

The logical AND operator is useful when you want to render something only if a condition is true.

function Greeting({ isLoggedIn }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Welcome to React!</h1>
      {isLoggedIn && <p>You are logged in.</p>}
    </div>
  );
}

• If isLoggedIn is true, React will render the <p> element.
• If isLoggedIn is false, nothing is rendered.

⚠️ Tip: Be careful when using numbers with &&. For example, 0 && <p>Text</p> will render 0, which may not be what you expect.

➡️ Suggested image: /images/react-conditional-rendering-and-example.png (screenshot of code + output).

---

Ternary Operator (condition ? trueCase : falseCase)

The ternary operator is best when you want to choose between two options.

function UserStatus({ isLoggedIn }) {
  return (
    <div>
      {isLoggedIn ? <p>Welcome back!</p> : <p>Please log in.</p>}
    </div>
  );
}

• If isLoggedIn is true, “Welcome back!” will render.
• Otherwise, “Please log in.” will render.

👉 Best practice: Use ternaries for two cases only. If you find yourself nesting multiple ternaries, switch to if...else or switch for readability.

➡️ Suggested image: /images/react-conditional-rendering-ternary-example.png (side-by-side ternary code and output).

---

if...else and switch

For more complex conditions, handle logic before the return statement in your component:

function AccessLevel({ role }) {
  let message;

  if (role === "admin") {
    message = "You have full access.";
  } else if (role === "editor") {
    message = "You can edit content.";
  } else {
    message = "View-only access.";
  }

  return <p>{message}</p>;
}

Or with switch:

function AccessLevel({ role }) {
  switch (role) {
    case "admin":
      return <p>You have full access.</p>;
    case "editor":
      return <p>You can edit content.</p>;
    default:
      return <p>View-only access.</p>;
  }
}

➡️ Suggested image: /images/react-conditional-rendering-if-switch.png (flow diagram showing branching logic).

---

Modern Alternatives (2025+)

With React 18 and beyond:

• Use early returns to simplify conditional rendering.
• Combine with optional chaining (?.) to safely access deeply nested properties.
• Leverage component composition to avoid deeply nested conditions.

Example with early return:

function Profile({ user }) {
  if (!user) {
    return <p>Loading...</p>;
  }
  return <h2>{user.name}</h2>;
}

➡️ Suggested image: /images/react-conditional-rendering-early-return.png (screenshot of simple code + "Loading..." UI).

---

Conclusion

Conditional rendering is a cornerstone of React development.

• Use && for simple one-way checks.
• Use ternary for two options.
• Use if/else or switch for more complex scenarios.

---