When using Google Search, one would notice something about how the search input bar works. The search bar actively predicts what you want to search and displays these predictions as options you can pick from. This helpful behavior is called autocomplete, and it can be found in many places on the internet.

A React Library that allows developers to implement this behavior in their Web Applications easily is Material UI (MUI). Material UI is a popular React Component Library that can handle most User Interface needs of a React Project. It offers components such as Cards, Modals, and Buttons.

MUI Chat UI

This article aims to introduce the Material UI Autocomplete component. It is going to explain the problems an autocomplete feature solves, how to import the MUI Autocomplete component in a project, different Autocomplete Modes, some important props the MUI component has, how to load Autocomplete options asynchronously, best practices for using MUI autocomplete, and more.

But before we learn all of that, are you aware of the developer tool named PureCode? PureCode is a Web Application that helps developers generate custom UI components with AI. It saves developers time, and it also contains thousands of customizable components that fit every type of need. Visit the PureCode Website now to check out the tool.

Prerequisites

To fully understand the content of this article, there are some prerequisites you need to have. These prerequisites are:

1. Knowledge of HTML
2. Knowledge of CSS
3. Knowledge of JavaScript
4. Basic Knowledge of React.js

Armed with this knowledge, understanding how to use the MUI Autocomplete component is easier and more intuitive.

Why is the Autocomplete feature useful?

Autocomplete is a useful feature of Web Browsers, Search Engines, code editors, and other software. As mentioned earlier, this feature predicts what the user wants to enter as an input value. But why is this feature so useful, and what benefits does it offer? This section of the article lists some of those benefits.

• Speed: The autocomplete behavior greatly increases the speed with which users get work done in the Application. Because it predicts what the user wants to input, the user might pick one of those options, therefore saving time.
• Improved User Interface: Having an Autocomplete feature improves a User Interface. It is intuitive to use and guides the user better.
• Reduced Cognitive Load: Cognitive Load refers to the amount of information in our working memory at a given time. With Autocomplete behavior, the cognitive load is reduced drastically as one can simply pick from the predictions presented rather than actively trying to type out all the words in their intended input value. The autocomplete behavior is also helpful when the words are hard to spell.
• Enhanced Accessibility: The Autocomplete behavior improves accessibility, especially for users with a disability that makes them not able to type for long. This is obviously essential to the experience of the users within the application.