called on the server (React.renderToString) • Name is somewhat misleading • componentDidMount() isn’t necessarily called after • Think “constructor” componentWillMount()
client (React.render()) • First time DOM node is available (via this.getDOMNode()) • Use for interacting with browser APIs or JS frameworks • jQuery • XHR componentDidMount()
a chance to update state in response to a prop change without triggering an extra render • Optimization over calculating state each render componentWillReceiveProps(nextProps : object)
to store values before rendering for comparison in componendDidUpdate() • setState() can’t be used here • Probably the least-used lifecycle method componentWillUpdate(object nextProps, object nextState)