Use virtual scrolling to render only visible items and a small buffer, drastically reducing DOM nodes and improving performance with libraries like react-window or vue-virtual-scroller. 2. Avoid inline functions and expensive operations in render by using useCallback, useMemo, and React.memo to prevent unnecessary re-renders and optimize component logic. 3. Optimize DOM structure and CSS by keeping the tree shallow, using contain: layout and will-change: transform, and avoiding costly styles like box-shadow on scrollable elements. 4. Debounce or throttle updates for dynamic data using techniques like useDeferredValue in React 18, requestIdleCallback, or incremental rendering to prevent overwhelming the browser during frequent updates. The key to efficiently rendering large lists is to minimize unnecessary rendering and focus only on what the user can see, ensuring smooth 60fps scrolling even with thousands of items.
Rendering large lists in the DOM can bring even powerful devices to their knees if done naively. When you're dealing with hundreds or thousands of items, performance degrades quickly due to excessive DOM nodes, memory usage, and layout thrashing. The key isn't to render everything — it's to render only what's necessary. Here’s how to do it efficiently.
1. Use Virtual Scrolling (Windowing)
Virtual scrolling, or windowing, renders only the items currently visible in the viewport (plus a small buffer), instead of all items at once. As the user scrolls, the list dynamically updates which items are rendered.
How it works:
- Calculate the container height and item height.
- Determine how many items fit in the visible area.
- Render only those items, and update them as the user scrolls.
- Use
transform
ortop
positioning to shift the visible window.
Benefits:
- Drastically reduces DOM nodes (e.g., 1000 items → 10–20 rendered).
- Improves memory usage and scroll performance.
Libraries that help:
-
React:
react-window
,react-virtualized
-
Vue:
vue-virtual-scroller
-
Vanilla JS:
Intersection Observer
manual positioning
Example with react-window
:
import { FixedSizeList as List } from 'react-window'; const Row = ({ index, style }) => ( <div style={style}>Row {index}</div> ); const VirtualList = () => ( <List height={600} itemCount={1000} itemSize={35} width={300}> {Row} </List> );
2. Avoid Inline Functions and Expensive Operations in Render
Even with virtualization, inefficient rendering logic can slow things down.
Common pitfalls:
- Inline functions in JSX:
(item) => handleDelete(item)
creates a new function on every render. - Heavy computations inside
map()
or component bodies.
Solutions:
- Move event handlers outside the
render
or useuseCallback
. - Memoize expensive calculations with
useMemo
. - Use
React.memo
for list items to prevent unnecessary re-renders.
const ListItem = React.memo(({ item, onDelete }) => { return <div onClick={() => onDelete(item.id)}>{item.name}</div>; });
3. Optimize DOM Structure and CSS
Even with fewer elements, poor DOM structure or expensive styles can hurt performance.
Tips:
- Keep the DOM tree shallow — avoid deeply nested wrappers.
- Use
will-change: transform
orcontain: layout
for scroll containers. - Avoid
box-shadow
,border-radius
, orfilter
on many elements — they’re costly during repaints. - Ensure the scroll container has a fixed height to prevent layout shifts.
.list-container { height: 500px; overflow-y: auto; contain: layout; }
4. Debounce or Throttle Updates for Dynamic Data
If your list updates frequently (e.g., live search or streaming data), rendering every change can overwhelm the browser.
Strategies:
- Debounce input filters — wait until typing stops before re-rendering.
- Batch updates — use
requestIdleCallback
oruseDeferredValue
(React 18) to delay non-critical renders. - Incremental rendering — process and render chunks of data over time using
setTimeout
orrequestAnimationFrame
.
Example with useDeferredValue
:
import { useDeferredValue } from 'react'; function SearchList({ items }) { const [filter, setFilter] = useState(''); const deferredFilter = useDeferredValue(filter); const filteredItems = useMemo(() => items.filter(item => item.name.includes(deferredFilter)), [items, deferredFilter] ); return ( <> <input value={filter} onChange={e => setFilter(e.target.value)} /> <VirtualList items={filteredItems} /> </> ); }
Efficiently rendering large lists comes down to rendering less, smarter. Virtual scrolling is the biggest win, but it must be paired with clean component design and optimized updates. The result? Smooth 60fps scrolling, even with thousands of items.
Basically: don’t render what the user can’t see.
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