The front-end development ecosystem is constantly changing. Every day, new tools are being released, and with so many libraries and frameworks to choose from, it is getting harder for business owners to select the best one. Now, we have noticed that Angular is the common choice among business owners who want to take their business online when it comes to front-end development.
But React.Js, another well-liked front-end development framework has been setting records in the web development industry.
What is React.Js?
In essence, React.Js is a JavaScript library created and supported by Facebook. React is an effective, declarative, and flexible open-source JavaScript library for developing straightforward, quick, and scalable front ends of web applications. It has dominated the front-end development field ever since its launch.
React is the most popular web framework, according to the most recent Stack Overflow survey, while Angular came in ninth.
You must be wondering why React.Js is a good choice. Because of the rise in JavaScript’s popularity in recent years, there are now many alternatives on the market, including Angular and Vue.js. Thus, why React?
Over 220,000 websites are active today that use React. Not only that, but React.Js is already being used in software creations by industry behemoths like Apple, Netflix, Paypal, and many others. Since so many businesses, including some of the most well-known brands in the world, use React.Js, React must surely have some amazing advantages, right?
Of course, it does.
Let’s look at the top benefits of using React.Js.
Flexibility
React is incredibly adaptable. Once you have mastered it, you can create high-quality user interfaces on a wide range of platforms. React is NOT a framework; it is a library. React’s library-based approach has enabled it to develop into such an amazing tool.
React was developed specifically to build web application components. Any element in your web application, such as a Grid, Text, Label, or Button, can be a React component.
But as React’s popularity has increased, so has its ecosystem, which now supports a wide range of use cases. Using tools like Gatsby, you can generate a static website with React. You can create mobile apps using React Native. Using a program like Electron, which uses React.Js technology and is compatible with both Mac and Windows, you can even create desktop applications.
Great Developer Experience
When they begin writing code in React, your team will fall in love with it. A fantastic developer experience is produced by React’s small API and rapid development.
The React API is very easy to understand. There are a few concepts to learn. Simply import the React library to get started. The component that receives props (input) and outputs JSX is called a message.
The React API calls are converted using JSX, a unique syntax that resembles HTML, which then renders HTML.
HTML is powered by established frameworks like Angular and Vue. Inside HTML, JavaScript is used. To give it more capabilities, they have developed HTML attributes.
The main issue with this strategy is that you either have to become familiar with the new HTML attributes or constantly consult the official documentation.
Broader Community Support
React’s popularity has steadily increased since 2015. It has a sizable, vibrant community, and its GitHub repository has received more than 164k Stars. It is one of GitHub’s top 5 repositories. React’s NPM package has millions of weekly downloads as well. On Stack share, over 9K businesses declared that they use React. Even Fortune 500 companies are visible.
A community created specifically for React developers is called Reactiflux. There are over 110k community members working to share and solve React-related issues.
StackOverflow is one of the most well-liked websites among programmers. Over 250k questions have been asked about React and related libraries.
Great Performance
The JavaScript team realized that updating the DOM makes JavaScript slow. React reduces DOM modifications. And it has discovered the most effective and clever way to update the DOM.
Prior to React, the majority of frameworks and libraries would haphazardly update the DOM to reflect a changed state. As a result, a sizable portion of the page underwent changes.
React uses the Virtual DOM to keep track of the state values for each component. React compares the current DOM state with the ideal state for the new DOM when a component’s state changes. The process then determines the most affordable method for updating the DOM.
Most frameworks and libraries would haphazardly update the DOM to reflect a changed state before React. The result was that a sizable portion of the page changed.
React tracks the state values for each component using the Virtual DOM. When a component’s state changes, React compares the old DOM state with the desired state for the new DOM. The most cost-effective way to update the DOM is then decided.
Easy to Test
The testing interface for React is very user-friendly.
- Setting up traditional UI browser testing is difficult. On the other hand, testing in React requires little to no configuration.
- Traditional UI browsers need browsers for testing, but the node command-line makes it simple and quick to test React components.
- Standard UI browser testing is cumbersome. However, command-line testing is quick and allows you to run a large number of test suites simultaneously.
- Traditional UI browser testing can take a lot of time and is difficult to maintain. Utilizing software like Jest & Enzyme, React tests can be written quickly.
Since React.Js is also a JavaScript library, there are many different JavaScript testing frameworks online that you can use to test it. Mocha, Jasmine, Tape, QUnit, and AVA are a few examples of well-liked testing frameworks.
Wrapping Up
For building interactive applications for mobile, web, and other platforms, React is a fantastic tool.
There is a good reason why React is becoming more and more popular and used. Developers who use React become more proficient in JavaScript, which accounts for almost 90% of all web development today.