Why is ReactJs so popular?

Dhruv Patel
codeburst
Published in
4 min readOct 19, 2019

Facebook maintains React Library , let’s see how do they define React….

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Quite Simple!!!

React is a JavaScript Library that allows developers to build component based UI.

React and it’s popularity

There are a hell lot of frameworks out there for building User Interfaces , but React has gained a lot of popularity in a lot lesser time.

To know how popular any framework is , just visit the official github repo and just see the stars it has.

138K Stars , that’s awful lot.

React allows to write reusable components that helps to keep the codebase clean and understandable. It is very important that the code one writes is understood by any developer around the globe. Readability can be easily achieved using React as a reusable component is very easy to understand.

React allows developer to write JSX( a unique syntax that allows HTML quotes as well as HTML tag syntax application for rendering specific subcomponents). It’s similar to writing HTML code in between PHP.

Here , developers can write HTML code in between Javascript which is not really javascript but JSX.

  • Setting up a React Project is really simple. Trust me , it’s just one line and *snap* your project structure is ready. But , developers can also setup their own code structure and the way the react app is bundled up. Basically , React gives two options either use the structure they provide using React CLI (which in my opinion is great!!!) or else just create one for yourself.
npx create-react-app my-app
  • The Props feature is a great to way communicate between components i.e passing data from one component to another. Also , it’s a great way to populate a component. In fact , props in a way enables the “Re-Usability” concept of React.
  • State is something that comes handy when writing components. Storing data and retrieving it can become a big headache once the app grows in terms of LOC(Line of code) and files. State helps to save data of one section locally within that section itself. It is a great way to handle data locally. But later on when the app is really big and heavy , Redux approach comes in handy. This is topic for another article. Don’t sweat on it.
  • Virtual DOM that comes up with React helps to deliver a fast application in terms of User Experience. People who knows the pain of updating actual HTML again and again on every possible element change would know how life saving this feature is. React uses Diffy Algorithm under the hood for this feature.
  • The most important point in deciding the fate of any framework is the “Learning Curve”. The learning curve is not so steep , basic understanding of HTML , CSS and most importantly Javascript can get you started with it.

The future of ReactJS

Future looks good!!! , no really React is backed by the giants i.e FACEBOOK. Yes , the use React for themselves as well as they maintain React and give those new and optimized versions for developers out in the battlefield.

Other corporations which uses React as a means to provide better UI and UX are PayPal, Uber, Instagram , AirBnB etc.

Moreover , there is a good new for developers out there who have a knack of creating nice Mobile Apps but they hate Android JAVA or SWIFT.

*DRUM ROLLS*

REACT NATIVE , it is almost identical to react in every aspect.

React Native combines the best parts of native development with React, a best-in-class JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

The same codebase is used to genereate Android as well as IOS apps. Isn’t that cooooool guys.

So , If you are someone just starting out in FrontEnd world , React is a very good thing to start with. It is very much popular amid developers as well as the recruiters.

Conclusion

This article is not about glorifying React in particular. People may have a different opinion about React and they may have a soft corner for other frameworks. But clearly , when developing a production level application developers need to think rationally and not emotionally.

I’ll leave you with that thought , stay tuned more to come ahead…

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Published in codeburst

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Written by Dhruv Patel

A computer engineer | Full Stack Engineer | UI/UX Enthusiast

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