Why ref='string' is "legacy"?
<p>In the React documentation they say:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>React also supports using a string (instead of a callback) as a ref prop on any component, although <strong>this approach is mostly legacy</strong> at this point.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://facebook.github.io/react/docs/more-about-refs.html" rel="noreferrer">https://facebook.github.io/react/docs/more-about-refs.html</a></p>

<p>Take the following example:</p>

<pre><code>class Foo extends Component {
  render() {
    return &lt;input onClick={() =&gt; this.action()} ref={input =&gt; (this._input = input)} /&gt;;
  }
  action() {
    console.log(this._input.value);
  }
}
</code></pre>

<p>Why should I prefer this, instead of:</p>

<pre><code>class Foo extends Component {
  render() {
    return &lt;input onClick={() =&gt; this.action()} ref='input' /&gt;;
  }
  action() {
    console.log(this.refs.input.value);
  }
}
</code></pre>

<p>?</p>

<p>It seems just much more clean and easier the second example.<br>
Are there risks that the string method will be deprecated?</p>

<p><br>
<em><strong>NB</strong>: I'm looking for the "official" answer to the statement in the documentation, I'm not asking about personal preferences and so on.</em></p>