React is the most popular front-end JavaScript library for building user interfaces. React.js, Reactjs, or simply React are different ways to come across the name. Many large companies use React, such as Netflix and Uber.
React was developed by Meta (the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) in 2011 to make the code of large web applications more manageable. This was initially an internal project used for the Facebook and Instagram platforms. In 2013, Meta released React and made it an open-source project.
Since then, the use of React has grown, and more than one million websites use the library. React is maintained on GitHub by Meta and a community of individual developers and companies.
As mentioned earlier, React is one of the most popular libraries, primarily due to React's benefits.
ReactJS is much easier to learn and use. There is a lot of documentation, tutorials, and training material available. Any developer coming from a JavaScript background can easily understand and start making web apps with React in just a few days.
Writing code for large projects is a time-consuming process. Traditionally, developers could not effectively reuse code components because changes to one component would affect all copies of that component.
Programming and web development projects cannot always benefit from the efficiency of reusing designs. Small changes in one instance of a component can affect the copy of the component elsewhere.
React isolates all components. This means that changes or updates to one instance of a component do not affect all other instances of the same component. React allows developers to effectively reuse design components, saving time and making their code more accurate.
The problem with real or traditional DOM structures is that they rewrite the entire DOM tree when they process changes. Modern, interactive websites and applications have complex and large DOM trees. Each time an input or query is made, a real DOM has to rewrite the entire page, which can hinder performance and waste memory.
A virtual DOM is much more efficient, performs faster, and ultimately creates a better user interface. Instead of rewriting the entire DOM tree every time a user changes, a virtual DOM only updates the element being manipulated.
Search results are an important aspect of web development. Websites must do more than function well; they must perform well and rank as high as possible on the search results page.
Traditional JavaScript-rich websites are difficult for search engines to read. React mitigates the problem of heavy JavaScript websites and is readable to Google and other search engines.
These are some of the disadvantages.
The high development speed is both an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage is that since the environment is constantly changing so quickly, some developers may not feel comfortable learning new ways of working regularly.
ReactJS uses JSX, which is a syntax extension that allows HTML to be used with JavaScript. This approach has its own benefits, but some community members find JSX a barrier, especially for new developers. Developers complain about the complexity of the learning curve.
This is a disadvantage that is common with constantly changing technologies. React technologies update and accelerate so quickly that there is no time to create good documentation. To overcome this, developers write their own instructions for developing new releases and tools in their current projects.
React is an open-source JavaScript library for building user interfaces or UI components. React is used to create web applications, mobile applications, and even desktop applications.
JSX is an extension of JavaScript syntax that allows developers to write HTML-like syntax directly in their JavaScript code. JSX makes it easier to write and manage UI components in React.
React has a built-in system called state management, which is used to manage the data of a component. When the state of a component changes, React will automatically re-render the UI.
The virtual DOM is a lightweight copy of the actual DOM that React uses to keep track of changes to a component's state. React uses the virtual DOM to optimise rendering and improve performance.
