Websites written in pure JavaScript are rare today. Frontend developers currently prefer using libraries and frameworks. As of now, among the most widely used libraries for frontend programming is React.
In this article, we’ll discuss why the ReactJS library is becoming more popular and why many customers choose React.js development. We’ll explain what React is, get acquainted with its main principles and ideas, and also touch on the most significant benefits that developers and customers get when selecting React.js as the basis for creating mobile and web applications.
Why do you need reactive frameworks and libraries?
Modern websites are more dynamic compared to those we used a decade ago. With their help, you can buy products, chat with friends or write comments. The structure of websites has also changed. Initially, they consisted of a set of individual HTML pages. Now, they are a single HTML document, the visual part of which changes dynamically through JavaScript.
This approach is called SPA, or single-page application. Due to SPA, websites become full-fledged applications that do not reload between page transitions. To perform a transition, you need to completely redraw the content of the document using JavaScript and the resulting data. In some cases, this will require writing thousands of lines of code for interacting with the DOM API. Such code will be difficult to read and maintain.
Such difficulties triggered the creation of reactive frameworks and libraries. The idea of reactivity is as follows: instead of manually changing the application interface each time in the code in an imperative form, it’s much more convenient to initially set the relationship between the data and its display in a declarative form and later change only the data in the code. The interface will be redrawn automatically according to the new data.
That is, the reactive approach involves working with data: when the data changes, other parts of the program automatically change, including the interface. In 2022, React is one of the most popular reactive libraries.
What is React? Brief overview
React is a declarative JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It allows you to assemble a complex UI from small, isolated pieces of code called components.
Technical characteristics:
- Components. The core concept of React.js is reusable components. The developer creates small pieces of code that can be combined to form larger ones or used as standalone UI elements. The most important thing about this concept is that both large and small components can be reused in the current and new projects. In its simplest form, a React component is a JavaScript function;
- JSX. One of React.js distinguishing features is the ability to use JSX, a programming language with a syntax similar to HTML that compiles to JavaScript. This feature significantly simplifies the development process;
- Virtual DOM. In React, for every real DOM object, there is a corresponding Virtual DOM object. In its essence, a Virtual DOM is an object representation of a real DOM, its lightweight copy. Virtual DOM contains the same properties as the real DOM, but cannot directly affect the application view. Manipulations with a real DOM are slow, while manipulations with Virtual DOM are much faster because they are not displayed on the screen. Developers can achieve high application performance with Virtual DOM;
- React Native. This feature allows you to use React code for developing Android and iOS apps. React Native is a framework that provides access to the mobile platform’s native features and allows you to build mobile apps using React. The application logic is written in JavaScript, so the programmer does not need to abandon traditional web development methods. All you need to do is learn how to write device-specific code that adapts the components previously created for the website to the new environment;
- One-way data binding. React uses one-way data binding, which is a big advantage of this library. The fact is that the programmer always knows exactly what led to the change in the state of the application. This approach to data binding greatly simplifies application debugging;
- Declarative programming. React development is about describing what needs to be displayed on the page, rather than writing instructions for the browser on how to do it. This, among other things, means a significant reduction in the amount of boilerplate code;
- Isomorphic implementation. With React, you can create isomorphic applications. This means you can avoid unpleasant situations when the user is impatiently waiting for the data to finish loading and something other than the loading animation to finally appear on their computer screen;
What benefits can a customer get from React?
- The Virtual DOM can improve the performance of highly loaded applications, which can reduce potential inconvenience and improve the user experience.
- Using an isomorphic approach helps render pages faster, thereby allowing users to feel more comfortable while working with your application. Search engines index such pages better. Since the same code can be used on both the client and server sides of the application, there is no need to duplicate the same functionality. In combination with Java development solutions for the backend, the time to market and costs are reduced.
- Due to code reusing, it has become much easier to build mobile apps. The code that was written during the creation of the site can be reused to create a mobile application. If you plan to use not only the site but also the mobile application, there is no need to hire two large development teams.
Summing up
React.js is highly demanded in the world of modern frontend development: many developers use it by default to write interfaces. But remember that React is just a JavaScript library, and to master it, you need to know JavaScript well.
React developers can build high-performance applications very quickly, regardless of their level of complexity. The ability to easily reuse existing code increases development speed, simplifies the testing process, and, as a result, reduces costs.
Note that React has its own philosophy, tricks, and limitations that you need to follow in order to write code of high quality. Therefore, if you want to become a good React developer, you should not only learn the syntax but also communicate with more experienced colleagues and show them your code.