Released in 2015, React (officially named Reactjs) is a JavaScript library that functions to help developers create web and mobile applications. Its speed and dynamic structure are among some of its features. Designed to surpass frameworks like Ember and Angular, React has a virtual Document Object Model (DOM) that continuously updates real-time as users interact with the application.
Benefits
Some benefits of using React include:
- Lower learning curve
- Incorporates component reusability
- Variety of developer tools
React was developed by Facebook originally for private use, though the company decided to make it open-sourced. It still uses React in its own system.
Social Media
Using its UI library, React is good for developing social media apps. Platforms like Facebook are SPAs, or Single-Page Applications, which are beneficial for these apps in regard to them having a dynamic website structure. On the client-side of development, JavaScript files are downloaded before anything else. This helps apps like these load faster. Additionally, social media apps must be able to handle large amounts of data, which React can do.
eCommerce
Similar to how React is utilized with social media apps, eCommerce apps benefit from React due to its component reusability. This comes into significant play when a function or element presents an error. React is able to continue running the app despite that. Maintaining reusability with components is more accessible thanks to React. This also makes coding applications faster and load times shorter because code can be reused, thus saving money as well. When building eCommerce apps, developers often prefer the NRG, MERN, or MEAN tech stacks in development.
On the other hand, developers may choose to use what is known as a standalone storefront. This can be disadvantageous because of:
- Limited customization options
- The potential cost to setup integration capabilities and front-end development tools
- Need to manage multiple tech stacks
SPAs & Various Industries
React is very versatile for development in many different industries. SPAs allow users to interact with a single page repeatedly instead of being taken to a new page. Web pages load inside one page, which is the reason why load times are faster.
React Native & Cross-Platform Compatibility
React Native is a branch of React that allows developers to create apps that can be used across different platforms in both Android and iOS systems. This development tool works to produce apps that function like native apps.
Conclusion
React can be used for all kinds of apps that serve varying purposes. For example, it can be used to create forums, membership and rating websites, job boards, and coupon sites. Even websites like Quora, which is a question-and-answer site, and sites that contain large volumes of media such as YouTube can be built using React. Developers often prefer tools that can help them build fast, complex applications, but also be easy to manage and update. The versatility of React allows for all of that and has many features developers can take advantage of.