Google Place Autocomplete

The best practice with Google Place Autocomplete API on React

Using Google Place Autocomplete without third-party library

Autocomplete is a feature of the Places library in the Maps JavaScript API. When a user starts typing an address, autocomplete fills in the rest.

Setting up the Project

Install the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Gapur/google-place-autocomplete.git

After that, move it into the google-place-autocomplete directory and run it from the terminal:

cd google-place-autocomplete
npm start

Before we get started, you need the API-Key for the Google Places API. You can get that key here. I store Google API Key in the .env file — you should too.

Magic Code

Let’s implement the main SearchLocationInput component to work with the Google Place Autocomplete API. First, we have to create a function to load the script for working with Google API. Let’s create SearchLocationInput.js with loadScript function:

// dynamically load JavaScript files in our html with callback when finished
const loadScript = (url, callback) => {
  let script = document.createElement("script"); // create script tag
  script.type = "text/javascript";

  // when script state is ready and loaded or complete we will call callback
  if (script.readyState) {
    script.onreadystatechange = function() {
      if (script.readyState === "loaded" || script.readyState === "complete") {
        script.onreadystatechange = null;
        callback();
      }
    };
  } else {
    script.onload = () => callback();
  }

  script.src = url; // load by url
  document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script); // append to head
};

I used this script for dynamic JavaScript for fast page speed load on our public pages. It dynamically loads JavaScript files with a callback when finished. Next, we have to assign the Google Place Map to the autoComplete variable when the component is rendered:

// handle when the script is loaded we will assign autoCompleteRef with google maps place autocomplete
function handleScriptLoad(updateQuery, autoCompleteRef) {
  // assign autoComplete with Google maps place one time
  autoComplete = new window.google.maps.places.Autocomplete(
    autoCompleteRef.current,
    { types: ["(cities)"], componentRestrictions: { country: "us" } }
  );
  autoComplete.setFields(["address_components", "formatted_address"]); // specify what properties we will get from API
  // add a listener to handle when the place is selected
  autoComplete.addListener("place_changed", () =>
    handlePlaceSelect(updateQuery)
  );
}

Then we attach to the autocomplete listener, which listens for whenever a user selects one of the autocomplete suggestions. Let’s createthe handlePlaceSelect method to handle selection:

async function handlePlaceSelect(updateQuery) {
  const addressObject = autoComplete.getPlace(); // get place from google api
  const query = addressObject.formatted_address;
  updateQuery(query);
  console.log(addressObject);
}

This method is called when the event is triggered and gets place data from API. Then we can do any operation with data.

Google API result

Article on Medium

How to Use Google Place Autocomplete With React Without a Third-Party Library

How to contribute?

1. Fork this repo
2. Clone your fork
3. Code 🤓
4. Test your changes
5. Submit a PR!