validateNoImpureValuesInRender

File

src/Validation/ValidateNoImpureValuesInRender.ts

Purpose

This validation pass ensures that impure values (values derived from non-deterministic function calls) are not used in render output. Impure values can produce unstable results that update unpredictably when the component re-renders, violating React's requirement that components be pure and idempotent.

The pass tracks values produced by impure functions (like Date.now(), Math.random(), performance.now()) and errors if those values flow into JSX props, component return values, or other render-time contexts.

Input Invariants

Validation Rules

The pass produces errors when:

  1. Impure value in render context: A value marked with an Impure effect flows into a position marked with a Render effect
  2. Impure function returns in render: A function that returns an impure value is called during render

Error messages produced:

The error points to two locations:

  1. Where the impure value is used in render (e.g., as a JSX prop)
  2. Where the impure value originates (e.g., the Date.now() call)

Algorithm

Phase 1: Infer Impure Values

The pass iterates over all instructions to build a map of which identifiers contain impure values:

function inferImpureValues(
  fn: HIRFunction,
  impure: Map<IdentifierId, ImpureEffect>,
  impureFunctions: Map<IdentifierId, ImpuritySignature>,
  cache: FunctionCache,
): ImpuritySignature

The algorithm uses a fixed-point iteration that propagates impurity through data flow:

  1. Process phi nodes: If any operand of a phi is impure, the phi result is impure

  2. Process effects: For each instruction's effects:

    • Impure effect: Mark the destination identifier as impure
    • Alias/Assign/Capture/CreateFrom/ImmutableCapture: Propagate impurity from source to destination
    • CreateFunction: Recursively analyze function expressions
    • Apply: When calling a function with an impurity signature, propagate impurity to call results

  3. Control flow sensitivity: The pass also considers control-flow dominators to detect impure values that flow through conditional branches

Phase 2: Validate Render Effects

After impurity inference converges, the pass validates all Render effects:

function validateRenderEffect(effect: RenderEffect): void {
  const impureEffect = impure.get(effect.place.identifier.id);
  if (impureEffect != null) {
    // Emit error
  }
}

Special Cases

Edge Cases

Impure Values Through Helper Functions

If a helper function returns an impure value and is called during render, both the call site and the original impure source are reported:

function Component() {
  const now = () => Date.now();  // Source of impurity
  const render = () => {
    return <div>{now()}</div>;   // Error: impure value in render
  };
  return <div>{render()}</div>;  // Error: impure value in render
}

Indirect Impurity Through Mutation

When an impure value is captured into another value through mutation, the destination becomes impure:

function Component() {
  const obj = {};
  obj.time = Date.now();  // obj becomes impure
  return <Foo obj={obj} />;  // Error
}

Phi Node Propagation

Impurity propagates through control flow merges:

function Component({cond}) {
  let x;
  if (cond) {
    x = Date.now();  // Impure path
  } else {
    x = 0;           // Pure path
  }
  return <Foo x={x} />;  // Error: x may be impure
}

TODOs

From the source file:

/**
 * TODO: consider propagating impurity for assignments/mutations that
 * are controlled by an impure value.
 *
 * Example: This should error since we know the semantics of array.push,
 * it's a definite Mutate and definite Capture, not maybemutate+maybecapture:
 *
 * let x = [];
 * if (Date.now() < START_DATE) {
 *   x.push(1);
 * }
 * return <Foo x={x} />
 */

Example

Fixture: error.invalid-impure-functions-in-render.js

Input:

// @validateNoImpureFunctionsInRender

function Component() {
  const date = Date.now();
  const now = performance.now();
  const rand = Math.random();
  return <Foo date={date} now={now} rand={rand} />;
}

Error:

Found 3 errors:

Error: Cannot access impure value during render

Calling an impure function can produce unstable results that update unpredictably
when the component happens to re-render.
(https://react.dev/reference/rules/components-and-hooks-must-be-pure#components-and-hooks-must-be-idempotent).

error.invalid-impure-functions-in-render.ts:7:20
  5 |   const now = performance.now();
  6 |   const rand = Math.random();
> 7 |   return <Foo date={date} now={now} rand={rand} />;
    |                     ^^^^ Cannot access impure value during render
  8 | }

error.invalid-impure-functions-in-render.ts:4:15
  2 |
  3 | function Component() {
> 4 |   const date = Date.now();
    |                ^^^^^^^^^^ `Date.now` is an impure function.
  5 |   const now = performance.now();

Error: Cannot access impure value during render
...

Key observations: