Access variable made in componentDidMount

Question

I have a variable that I'm creating in componentDidMount() and I'd like it to be available in componentDidUpdate(). Any thoughts? Code looks like this:

class Example extends Component {
  componentDidMount() {
    const myVariable = 'this thing';
  }

  componentDidUpdate() {
    // I'd like my variable to be accessible here
    console.log(myVariable);
  }

  render() {...}
}

Answer 1

Save it to the component then.

componentDidMount() {
    this.myVariable = 'this thing';
}

componentDidUpdate() {
    // I'd like my variable to be accessible here
    console.log(this.myVariable);
}

Also, as @Gosha Arinich helpfully pointed it out - be aware that if you do plan to re-use this variable throughout the component's lifecycle and update it and/or render it - it is best placed into the state of the component (this.state).