React is a UI development library based on JavaScript. It is run by Facebook and an open-source developer community. Despite being a library rather than a language, React is widely used in web development. The library debuted in May 2013 and has since become one of the most popular frontend libraries for web development.
Beyond mere UI, React provides various extensions for entire application architectural support, such as Flux and React Native.
This library was created in 2011 by Jordan Walke while he was employed by Facebook. As a result of the platform’s rapid growth, the solutions that were already on the market were no longer adequate, so they developed their own front-end framework (or library) to meet their changing needs. After React was made open-source in 2013, it has grown quickly, with new features being added on a regular basis and a fantastic developer community growing up around it.
One of React’s key benefits, which we shall discuss in more detail later in the post, is the vibrant community.
Moreover, according to StackOverflow’s recent study, React is the second most popular development library that is liked and used by 42.62% of respondents. React has flourished in the developer community as a library for creating online UI components. Currently, the following well-known businesses and brands use React are Airbnb, Dropbox, Facebook, Instagram, PayPal, Uber, Netflix.
How does React work?
In React, everything is a “element” or a “component.” Elements are created with “JSX,” also known as syntactic javascript. It’s similar to declaring HTML content as consts, variables, functions, and so on. While JSX is not required, it is generally preferred when developing a React app. Components are the foundation of any React app. They may contain several elements that are programmed to interact and behave in a specific way.
Why Use React?
ReactJS is an open-source JavaScript library developed by Facebook for quickly and easily creating dynamic and engaging online applications. The main objective of ReactJS is to provide the best rendering performance. Its strength stems from the attention paid to each component separately. Instead of working on the full web application, ReactJS enables a developer to break down the complex user interface into simpler components.
React Comes with High Flexibility
React has great adaptability. Once you’ve mastered it, you can produce excellent user interfaces across a variety of platforms. In contrast to popular belief, React is a library, not a framework. It has become such an incredible tool thanks to its library-based design strategy.
React can be used with your existing apps. React was developed with this in mind. You can start by modifying a small portion of your existing programme with React, and if the modification is successful, you can move on to converting your entire application.
React is Declarative
In contrast to the imperative style, where you instruct the machine on accomplishing a task, the declarative style lets you respond and decide what needs to be done. The declarative style is superior since you need not worry about implementation. ReactJS allows for significant data changes by automatically changing selected user interface elements. You don’t need to do anything else to update your user interface because of its progressive functionality.
Simplicity
The simplicity of ReactJS is arguably the main factor that gets so many people to adopt and use it in their projects. Furthermore, because it is a JavaScript library, developers who are already familiar with JS functions will find it easier to begin using.
This library allows programmers to define interfaces in JSX, an HTML-like syntax. As a result, HTML and CSS code is generated. The only requirement for using React is familiarity with a few fundamental functions.
Reusable Components
The component-based structure of the framework allows for the progression of small to large components. For example, you can start with simple elements like a dropdown menu, checkbox, or button and then use them to create larger wrapper components. Each component in React JS has its own internal logic that determines how the component is rendered. One of its main advantages is the ability to reuse JavaScript library components across all platforms.
Virtual DOM
ReactJS accelerates webpages by leveraging its Virtual DOM. As the name implies, virtual DOM is a virtual version of the actual DOM. When a webpage element is changed, the vDOM is updated. The modified VDOM is then compared to a real DOM using React’s reconciliation mechanism. This procedure is used to determine the smallest possible set of DOM modifications to make.
Ability to Develop Isomorphic Apps
The ability literally means that you can use the same code base for both the client and server sides of an application.
The qualities listed in this section explain React’s success in web design and development. You get a lot of benefits by using React JS, such as faster apps and websites. Nonetheless, you should test the library’s visibility and crawling across multiple browsers. Some browsers and search engines may not support all of its features fully.
Growing All The Time
The development of React is ongoing. Because of its open source nature, it has a thriving community. Whether you have a problem, a bug, or anything else, you can always count on the community to assist you in any way they can.
Not only that, but there are a plethora of free YouTube videos, tutorials, how-to’s, articles, React-centric web development blogs, and other publications!
What is React Mainly Used For?
With over 94,000 sites using ReactJS and an estimated 1,300 developers, it has become one of the most widely used JS libraries.
Furthermore, React wins the prize for having the highest proportion of repeat users of any framework.
ReactJS has dominated the mobile and online app development field in leading Fortune 500 firms, excluding well-known React-adopted mobile and web applications like Facebook and Instagram.
Asana, a project management tool, is a web and mobile application made to help teams efficiently organise, track, and manage their work. In addition, organisations like PayPal, Yahoo! Mail, the New York Times, and Khan Academy, a top non-profit for online learning across many topic areas, actively use react in their user interfaces.
Disadvantages of React.js
Pace of Development
React JS is constantly changing and evolving. Depending on who you are, the rate at which it is developed can be viewed as an advantage or a disadvantage. Developers who see these ongoing changes as a benefit argue that React is constantly being improved, making their jobs easier. Developers who consider the development pace to be a disadvantage argue that they must constantly relearn how to work with React JS, which is difficult to keep up with.
However, it should be noted that React’s core API has become much more stable in recent years. The majority of today’s updates concern the library and new features.
Inattention to User Interface
React includes an extensive set of tools for developing and creating user interfaces. React JS, unlike frameworks, is not a “all-in-one” app development tool. As a result, if you use a model-view-controller (MVC), React development is only responsible for the user interface. Other tools must be used by the developers to create the model and controller. To create a functional application, you will need to use additional tools that will cover other critical components such as the backend and data storage.
Additional tools will be required for app programming interfaces (APIs), routing, and other components.
Incomplete Tooling Set
Businesses should understand that React’s horizon only extends to the application’s UI layer. Aside from that, everything related to the web development project is on the outskirts of its scope. As a result, even after implementing React web app development, developers must still select a framework to create fast, beautiful, and compatible UI. The developers will have difficulty completing the project because the entire tooling set is not available only with React.
Summary
To summarise, React is a fast, effective, developer-friendly, and unbiased framework library. It can be used to build a variety of applications, including client- or server-side rendered apps, and native mobile apps. Furthermore, it is constantly being actively developed, and it is supported by a major corporation. As a result, it is here to stay.
We chose it for The Lowdown – to find out why, read our Case Study.