If you're a computer science enthusiast, chances are you've come across React.js, a JavaScript framework developed by Facebook's engineers. Initially launched on Facebook's News Feed in 2011, it later found its way to Instagram in 2012. The pivotal moment came in 2013 when it was open-sourced to the public. Despite facing stiff competition from Angular, a framework supported by Google developers, React.js has managed to maintain its dominance. Although newer frameworks like Vue.js, Svelte, and Preact are gaining traction, React.js continues to reign as the most popular choice for front-end development.
According to The State of JS Frontend Framework Usage Survey 2022, React.js has maintained its position as the most popular front-end framework for well over a decade now. It's a rare phenomenon in the world of computer science for a language or framework to consistently hold the number one spot for such an extended period.
Here are the reasons behind React.js's tremendous popularity:
1. The React team has kept things simple
React.js was developed with two fundamental issues of vanilla JavaScript in mind:
Reusability of UI elements: This challenge directly impacted the developer experience. To address it, React drew inspiration from Object-Oriented Programming and introduced the concept of class components. Each UI element can be envisioned as an instance of a class, with the class containing the blueprint for the element.
Minimizing DOM updates for performance: In vanilla JavaScript, every UI change triggers a DOM update, which can severely impact performance. The React team recognized this and sought a solution. They introduced the concept of a virtual DOM tree, essentially a lightweight copy of the actual DOM tree. React.js processes all UI updates on this virtual DOM first. Then, employing a reconciliation algorithm, it efficiently compares both trees and updates the actual DOM in a single batch, significantly enhancing performance.
The React team's commitment to addressing these core issues remains unwavering. They continue to prioritize enhancing developer experience and optimizing overall framework performance.
2. No fundamental changes over the years
The React development team has maintained a dedicated approach by refraining from introducing fundamental architectural or syntactical changes, in contrast to its primary competitor, AngularJS. Angular's evolution from Angular 1 to Angular 4 saw drastic shifts in both architecture and syntax, causing understandable concern among developers.
Despite React.js posing a steep learning curve with decisions such as one-directional data flow and the utilization of lifecycle methods to harness performance benefits, its stability has attracted developers from other frameworks.
In the 16th iteration of React.js, the team unveiled the syntax for functional components as an alternative to class components. This new syntax offers reduced boilerplate code and complexity compared to class components methods. Notably, React continued to support the class components syntax for developers who prefer it. Even with the adoption of functional components, React remained true to its fundamental philosophy.
3. Community support
The React community has experienced steady growth over the years, driven by the stability and confidence in the framework. Despite being a view library rather than a full-fledged framework, React.js requires supplementing with other libraries for functionalities such as routing, server actions, web hosting, and size optimization. Recognizing this need, the community has developed various web frameworks built on top of React, such as Next.js and Gatsby. Additionally, a plethora of design system libraries like Ant.design and MaterialUI offer fundamental components that can be readily utilized and extended.
React Native, leveraging the power of React.js, facilitates the development of mobile applications for both iOS and Android platforms. With minimal setup, developers can utilize the same set of components to build both web and mobile applications, a feature that significantly contributes to the widespread adoption of React.js.
For a comprehensive comparison of popular frontend frameworks, refer to these tag comparisons on Stack Overflow:
4. No competitors offer 10x better results
While newer frameworks like Vue.js and Svelte are indeed gaining traction, none of them offer exponential improvements to developer experience or app performance comparable to React.js. This is why many developers continue to opt for the battle-tested reliability of React.js when embarking on new projects.
5. Incorporating genuine needs from the community
The React team has been attentive to the needs of the community, responding with enhancements such as improvements in lifecycle methods, incremental rendering, and the introduction of server-side components. Additionally, they've demonstrated discernment by disregarding unnecessary requests, such as bidirectional data flows. This balanced approach maintains the integrity of React.js's fundamental philosophy while addressing the community's needs effectively.
A huge shoutout goes to the React Core team and all the open-source contributors who have played integral roles in shaping and expanding the React ecosystem.
As React.js continues to progress in a promising direction, it's intriguing to anticipate what lies ahead for the future of front-end frameworks.