Choosing the appropriate framework is essential in the constantly changing world of web development. There are three well-liked options: ReactJS, AngularJS, and NextJS, each of which has advantages and advantages.
In this article, I’ll discuss ReactJS’ key differences from AngularJS, NextJS, and other libraries or frameworks, as well as my own preference for ReactJS.
ReactJs - An Introduction
ReactJS is a JavaScript component library for designing user interfaces for websites and software. It was created in 2011 by Jordan Walke, a former software engineer at Facebook (now Meta), and it establishes a new standard for using JavaScript to develop quick and dynamic web pages. Its current version is 18.2.0 (as of May 2023).
Commonly referred to as React, it provides resources for programmers to create reusable and readily integrable UI components that shorten development time and provide a responsive user experience for websites, web apps, and mobile apps. The user interface, or UI, is any element a user uses to interact with a website, such as a button, link, menu tab, or search bar. Front-end developers can create customized interactive elements using React’s vast UI components.
React primarily concentrates on developing an application’s view layer, which comprises all the elements of a page that are visible to users. React is highly adaptable and has a robust ecosystem. For the implementation of complex functions, it comes with a unique collection of companion libraries and frameworks.
Users of React can dramatically reduce their development time with the help of features like virtual DOMs, JSX, excellent state management, and reusable components that are independent of one another. With React’s rigid architectural guidelines and one-way data flow, you can write clear, manageable code. These websites and web applications are simple to test and manage. Let’s dive into why I prefer ReactJS to other libraries and frameworks.
Reasons why I prefer ReactJS
It has to do with the technical design of ReactJS:
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Reusable, composable, and stateful components: Components are used in React to describe user interfaces. Components can be compared to specific functions in any programming language. With some input, we call functions, and they return some output. Functions can be recycled as necessary, and larger functions can be built from smaller ones. Components are the same; we refer to their input as “properties” and “state,” and a component’s output describes a user interface. A single component can be used in numerous user interfaces, and components can incorporate additional components. However, unlike pure functions, a class-based React component can include a private state to store data that might change throughout the component’s lifetime.
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Reactive Updates: React’s name is a simple explanation for this concept. When the state of a React component (the input) changes, the user interface it represents (the output) changes as well. This change in the user interface’s description must be reflected on our working device.
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The Virtual Representation of Views in Memory: With React, we write HTML using JavaScript. We rely on the power of JavaScript to generate HTML that depends on some data rather than enhancing HTML to make it work with that data. When we only receive the data from the server (asynchronously, using AJAX), we require more than just HTML to process that data. Either JavaScript will build the HTML using improved HTML, or JavaScript will generate the HTML on its own. Both strategies have benefits and drawbacks. React embraces the latter. Using JavaScript to render HTML makes it simple for React to maintain a virtual representation of HTML in memory (often known as the Virtual DOM), a significant benefit that can support React’s methodology. React first renders an HTML tree virtually using the Virtual DOM. Then, whenever a state changes and a new HTML tree needs to be transferred to the browser’s DOM, React only writes the differences between the new and previous trees because it already has both trees in memory. Tree reconciliation is the name of this procedure.
Other reasons include:
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React Has a Large Development Community: Among the top 5 trending repositories on GitHub, it has amassed a massive following of JavaScript developers who regularly develop new solutions and tools. A lot of user-developed applications have been included in the official library. You can access a large community of experts to solve any problem. Plus, this is a great way to keep yourself updated. As of May 2023, React has over 206K stars on GitHub and around 10 million weekly npm downloads.
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Data Consistency is Maintained via Redux Across All Components: Users of React can enhance the state management capabilities of React by using Redux, another JavaScript package. Redux is the only place where all components’ official information is available. It keeps the View current and upholds data consistency across all components. In Redux, all the application data is saved in a single store. Redux gets a message for a state change when a component acts, utilizes reducers to alter the state in the store, and propagates that change to all associated components. Redux reduces the bother of updating states in components by inheriting props. All components can directly access all necessary data through the central store.
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React Hooks: React Hooks is an independent feature introduced in ReactJS 16.8 that enables JavaScript developers to write states and other features in function components.
Conclusion
In the realm of web development, picking the appropriate framework is crucial for creating effective apps. ReactJS appears as a potent and user-friendly option because of its component-based architecture, effective rendering through the Virtual DOM, JSX syntax, flourishing community, and cross-platform compatibility. Both novice and seasoned developers can benefit from its simplicity, reusability, and performance.
ReactJS is at the vanguard of technology’s ongoing evolution, continually advancing and adapting to meet the needs of contemporary web development. Join a community of dedicated developers influencing the future of online apps by adopting ReactJS.