Do you know the difference between React.js and React Native? Is it possible to reuse React.js code in React Native? Let’s look at the answers in this article that compares React.js and React Native.
Let us understand the basic difference between React.js and React Native and answer all of your questions at once!
Facebook created React.js to address the company’s need for a dynamic and high-performing user interface (UI). Jordan Walke and his Facebook team released the React JS library in 2011, a JavaScript library that combined the speed of JavaScript with a new way of rendering pages, resulting in responsive and dynamic user input. React Native, on the other hand, was released in 2015- after the team open-sourced React.js and its popularity grew.
The following is an overview of the business benefits of using both React.js and React Native. It should give you a good idea of their respective strengths and what distinguishes them.
What is React.JS?
One of the most popular JavaScript libraries today is React, also known as React.js.
Startups and large corporations use it to create single-page applications and mobile apps. Facebook and Instagram both use React.js in their mobile apps. React.js is a JavaScript library that was created specifically for developing the view layer of web and mobile apps. It makes use of reusable components to build a more robust structure for its applications. In 2011, Facebook made the library available to the public. Its popularity has grown by leaps and bounds since then.
Advantages of React.JS
- The DOM (Document Object Model) is a graphical representation of data inputs and outputs. Because the virtual DOM only refreshes parts of the page, it is faster than the traditional full refresh model. The intriguing part is that the Facebook team was unaware that partially refreshing a page would be faster. Facebook was simply looking for a way to reduce re-build time, and partial DOM refresh was an unintended consequence. This improves performance and allows for faster programming.
- The complete rendering of your pages, from the server to the browser, will boost the SEO of your web app.
- React JS allows you to reuse code components, which saves you a lot of time.
- Even for those who are unfamiliar with React, it is simple to read. Many frameworks require you to learn a plethora of concepts that are only applicable within the framework. React strives to do the inverse.
- It accelerates debugging, making your developer’s life easier.
Limitations of React.JS
- It is frequently necessary to download another react-enabled library, which adds cost and time overheads. For example, if the developer is using the Carbon framework for the user interface, it is critical to download Carbon components with react.
- Although Reactjs supports a large number of external, third-party libraries, there are very few native Reactjs libraries. External libraries can now assist the developer in incorporating both HTML and CSS functionalities into JSX, which has its own complexities and steep learning curve.
- Data navigation in Reactjs is difficult and time-consuming. For example, unlike other JS Scripting tools, Reactjs does not support parallel data handling. To move from one Div to another in Reactjs, the user must first navigate to the parent node, then to the topmost parent node, and finally to the second hierarchy of the tree node.
Stellar Digital has excelled in providing world-class ReactJS development services as a Top ReactJS Development Company. We are well-known for implementing new technologies, transforming them into business-driven applications for our clients, and concentrating on developing truly progressive web and mobile applications that meet specific business objectives.
What is React Native?
Facebook created React Native as an open-source framework to meet the company’s growing mobile needs. React Native is extremely useful for developing native mobile applications with reusable components that can run in JavaScript on various platforms such as Windows, Android and iOS.
Notably, React Native is based on Reactjs, with the exception of the library components.
Advantages of React Native
- Native Modules and Native Components are included with React Native to improve performance. Unlike Cordova, PhoneGap, and other cross-platform frameworks that use WebView to render code, React Native uses native APIs to render certain code components.
- Because React Native allows your developers to reuse the common logic layer, you don’t have to build the same app for iOS and Android separately.
- React Native includes all of the benefits that React.js provided. Because React.js focuses on a better user interface, those advantages remain.
- If you’re familiar with JavaScript, React Native will be a breeze to learn, allowing most front-end web developers to also be mobile developers. You only need to know JavaScript, platform APIs, some native UI elements, and any other platform-specific design patterns to get started.
- The component-based structure of React Native enables developers to create apps in a more agile, web-style manner than most hybrid frameworks, and without the use of any web at all.
- React Native is all about bringing the speed, responsiveness, and agility of web app development to the hybrid space, along with efficient processing and the best user experience, to provide your users with a native app experience.
Limitations of React Native
- If the app has a lot of features, React Native can slow down the development process due to a lack of native libraries and reliance on external, third-party libraries. When performing complex calculations at the same time, Swift, Objective-C and Java are observed to be faster than JavaScript, because JavaScript has overheads for controlling native elements.
- React Native is a loosely held framework in which programmers can get HTML tags, CSS stylesheets, and JavaScript code. This appears to be a positive aspect because it gives developers more freedom, but it also poses challenges. For example, unlike the Swift and Java languages, it does not enforce any parameters or rules, and in practice, a variable can be anything at any given time. This may result in a logical clash, which is unlikely to occur with Swift or Java.
- The problem with React Native is that it takes longer to load the runtime for gadgets and devices. It is primarily due to the JavaScript thread, which takes a long time to initialize.
- If a specific feature is not available in React Native, developers have two options: write native modules in Swift/Objective-C and Java, or ask any native developer to write one. In a nutshell, React Native increases overheads in terms of both expenses and time.
Stellar Digital provides custom React Native App Development Services for every project we take on, and we strive to give it our all. Our primary focus is on proper communication, transparency, and quality. Recognizing our clients’ unique needs and consistently exceeding their expectations is what distinguishes us from the competition.
Conclusion
React is a JavaScript-based framework for developing applications. React Native is an entire platform that allows you to create native, cross-platform mobile apps, and React.js is a JavaScript library that you can use to build a high-performance UI layer. React.js is the heart of React Native, and it embodies all of React’s principles and syntax, making it simple to learn. Their technical differences are due to the platform. React’s browser code, for example, is rendered using Virtual DOM, whereas React Native renders components on mobile using Native APIs. React uses HTML, and with React Native, you must become acquainted with the React Native syntax. CSS is also not used by React Native. This means you’ll have to use React Native’s Animated API to animate various components of your application.
