> This isn't really a React-specific tip, as such anti-patterns often occur in code in general; in this case, React simply points them out more clearly.
Using props, passed down from parent, to generate state in `getInitialState` often leads to duplication of "source of truth", i.e. where the real data is (see [denormalization](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denormalization)). Whenever possible, compute values on-the-fly to ensure that they don't get out of sync later on and cause maintenance trouble. Javascript is plently fast for most use cases.
Using props, passed down from parent, to generate state in `getInitialState` often leads to duplication of "source of truth", i.e. where the real data is. Whenever possible, compute values on-the-fly to ensure that they don't get out of sync later on and cause maintenance trouble.
Bad example:
**Bad example:**
```js
/** @jsx React.DOM */
@ -61,15 +61,15 @@ var MessageBox = React.createClass({
**But** in situations where your component truly is stateful, using props to initialize that state is totally fine. In such cases, it can be helpful to name the prop `initialX` (or similar) to make it clear that the state will not stay in sync.
For example:
However, it's **not** an anti-pattern if you intentionally make it clear that synchronization's not the goal here:
```js
/** @jsx React.DOM */
var Counter = React.createClass({
getInitialState: function() {
// naming it initialX clearly indicates that the only purpose
// of the passed down prop is to initialize something internal
return {count: this.props.initialCount};
},
handleClick: function() {
@ -78,11 +78,7 @@ var Counter = React.createClass({