Handling Empty Array Results

To reduce recalculations, use a predefined empty array when array.filter or similar methods result in an empty array.

So you can have a pattern like this:

TypeScript

handling-empty-array-results/firstPattern.ts

import { createSelector } from 'reselect'

export interface RootState {
  todos: {
    id: number
    title: string
    description: string
    completed: boolean
  }[]
}

const EMPTY_ARRAY: [] = []

const selectCompletedTodos = createSelector(
  [(state: RootState) => state.todos],
  todos => {
    const completedTodos = todos.filter(todo => todo.completed === true)
    return completedTodos.length === 0 ? EMPTY_ARRAY : completedTodos
  },
)

JavaScript

handling-empty-array-results/firstPattern.js

import { createSelector } from 'reselect'

const EMPTY_ARRAY = []

const selectCompletedTodos = createSelector([state => state.todos], todos => {
  const completedTodos = todos.filter(todo => todo.completed === true)
  return completedTodos.length === 0 ? EMPTY_ARRAY : completedTodos
})

Or to avoid repetition, you can create a wrapper function and reuse it:

TypeScript

handling-empty-array-results/fallbackToEmptyArray.ts

import { createSelector } from 'reselect'
import type { RootState } from './firstPattern'

const EMPTY_ARRAY: [] = []

export const fallbackToEmptyArray = <T>(array: T[]) => {
  return array.length === 0 ? EMPTY_ARRAY : array
}

const selectCompletedTodos = createSelector(
  [(state: RootState) => state.todos],
  todos => {
    return fallbackToEmptyArray(todos.filter(todo => todo.completed === true))
  },
)

JavaScript

handling-empty-array-results/fallbackToEmptyArray.js

import { createSelector } from 'reselect'

const EMPTY_ARRAY = []

export const fallbackToEmptyArray = array => {
  return array.length === 0 ? EMPTY_ARRAY : array
}

const selectCompletedTodos = createSelector([state => state.todos], todos => {
  return fallbackToEmptyArray(todos.filter(todo => todo.completed === true))
})

This way if the result function returns an empty array twice in a row, your component will not re-render due to a stable empty array reference:

const completedTodos = selectCompletedTodos(store.getState())

store.dispatch(addTodo())

console.log(completedTodos === selectCompletedTodos(store.getState())) //=> true