React version update to 18.2 (currently only 16.4)

Dash Python
1

Hi,

Is there any way to force Dash to use a newer version of React? Or is there any time-line as to update Dash to run with 18.2?

Any insights would be helpful.

2

The main reason I’m asking is that e.g. Aggrid seems to have worse render performance for large tables under 16.4 versus 18.2.

As a test I created a component (through cookiecutter) and updated the react version.

When running it through the react testing server (using 18.2) I can scroll very smoothly.
When running it through the react testing server (using 16.4) then scrolling is clearly lagging. I can see the cells being drawn.
When running it through Dash as a component (Dash forces 16.4) then scrolling is again lagging.

I understand that this is a non-Dash library specific problem, however I can imagine that updating to a more recent React version (or indicating how it could be hacked) is something that has come up?

3

No firm timeline, but it’s rising quickly on our priority list. The process will be something like:

  • Add v18 as an experimental option, likely dash._dash_renderer._set_react_version("18.2.0")
  • See if anything breaks in the Dash core, and fix it. Add a flavor of all the dash/dcc/table tests using v18
  • Alert maintainers of 3rd-party component packages to the v18 option and encourage them to try it and make any necessary adjustments
  • Do the same with all the other (non-core) Plotly-maintained component packages
  • Once we have sufficient confidence the component ecosystem can handle it, we’ll make v18 the default, but keep v16 around for a while as a backup for anyone who still needs a component (or version of a component) that can’t use v18
4

Okay thanks.

Is there a way to already force Dash to use the newest React without touching the source code (I assume the above “dash._dash_renderer._set_react_version(“18.2.0”)” is how it could be, but that’s not available right now)? Or some pointers as to which sections need to be hacked?

5

Right, this is not available right now, would need to be added. Thanks for creating Use React version 18.2 · Issue #2254 · plotly/dash · GitHub - let’s continue this discussion there.