React is a very popular tech stack due to a number of reasons. Since its inception it has been used by Facebook and is associated with other popular platforms, such as Instagram. This has greatly helped its rise to popularity.
More and more developers are finding use for React in projects they are working on, regardless of the platform they are creating.
While there are other JavaScript libraries available such as Angular and Vue, this article focuses specifically on the main reasons people give for using React specifically.
Stability
React is known for being very stable. Since it is created by Facebook, the tech giant is heavily invested in ensuring its success. This means the code library is regularly updated.
Between its large community of developers and development companies, as well as Facebook’s involvement in its upkeep, the future of this open-source library is strongly assured.
Ease of Use
React makes creating user interfaces simpler. With just a few components that extend JavaScripts functionality, developers can create outstanding UI experiences very quickly no matter what tech-stack the rest of their project or platform is built in.
What’s more, React is widely adopted by many large organisations. This means there are many mature, free to use component libraries available, which can help in creating innovative apps and interfaces with very simple processes.
Some very well known examples of these libraries are:
Flexibility
React is made up of components, with each component having its own logic, design and output. This is useful because most apps and sites are a collection of components in a wrapper.
Components refer to parts of an app such as a button, form, label, text, table or even a grid.
Reusable components throughout an app drastically reduce development time. Since React components can just be pulled through to other parts of an app or website, there is no need to redevelop sections in different use cases.
Since React is not platform dependent you can use them in existing projects, regardless of what technology stacks other parts of an app or website might be built in. Whether you are developing a static website, mobile app, virtual reality experience or even a desktop application, ReactJS has the flexibility to do so.
Performance
The problem with Javascript is that although it is natively fast, updating the Document Object Model (DOM) makes it slow. For interfaces which are super slick, and well automated - this is especially an issue. The JS updating on the DOM can be a bottleneck for speed, and massively slow down interfaces.
Imagine a content management system created in Javascript for a shopping website with a thousand products. Whenever you need to make a change, such as adding a product, editing some text or moving around elements the whole DOM needs to be updated for the new version regardless of how small the update is
Unlike general JavaScript, react maintains what is known as a ‘virtual DOM’. This allows it to update only sections of an app or website where there are differences between two versions. This is the most efficient way of maintaining.
This ‘virtual DOM’ allows React apps to stay quick, with no lag between user input and the changes being reflected back to the UI.
React Native
One of the major benefits of using React is that you can also use React Native to create mobile apps for iOS or Android without needing to hire a mobile specific developer. React Native can be used to create both iOS and Android apps, making it super multifunctional. This means whether you need a Progressive Web App, Native Mobile App or Hybrid App, a React developer can help.
Using React to create mobile apps also allows you to re-use components in the same way as on web pages and desktop apps. What’s more, components can be pulled through from a main project into mobile, with little tweaking. This massively slashes the time to market of development, compared to a fully native build.
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