A finite state machine (FSM) is an architectural design pattern that allows us to model a large system as a collection of loosely coupled components. Each component in the system changes its behavior when the internal state changes. This pattern allows us to write flexible, reusable, and testable code. In this article, we will explore the use of FSM in building complex React components.
The primary use of FSM has been in programming embedded systems but in recent years, there has been an emergence of FSM in other applications like managing states in the browser, modeling behavior, and building chatbots. The goal of this post is not to evangelize FSM as a better state management solution than its alternatives like Redux but rather, to introduce a pattern for simplifying the architecture of a system and write robust code that is understandable, extendable, and delete-able.
This post is part of the Web Developer Playbook series, which are created to provide examples, best practice, and suggestions for designing and building web services. I will be using libraries from the JavaScript ecosystem (e.g., Node.js, React.js) in all my examples.
