React.js

React.js is not really a framework. It’s characterized as a JavaScript library dedicated to creating user interfaces, and was created by Facebook in 2013 to develop its news feed. Considered as the View in a MVC model, this JavaScript library has already brought many innovations in the management of user interfaces.

Independent Components

The main goal of React.js is to simplify complex interfaces by subdividing them into simple components. This is thanks to JSX, which is a mixture of HTML and JavaScript. The strength of JSX is the optimization, Visibility and maintenance of components. A component of the interface can be, for example, a header, a contact form or a footer.

Each component, on its own, consists of other components. For example, inside the footer you can find the logo, the contact addresses and social networks, and the icons. Each component is also independent, making it easy to share interface codes from one developer to another or from one project to another.

The components can also be reused. Component libraries are regularly used in interfaces, and the most popular are UI Material, UI Semantic and Bootstrap. UI Material is very accessible and allows a developer not experienced in design to build a beautiful interface and to designate whether it’s confirmed to significantly accelerate the integration of the design.

As React.js is component oriented, making it easier to create modular architectures or even micro services.

The strength of VirtualDOM

React.js uses the VirtualDOM, which is a reconciliation algorithm. The DOM is the Object Model of the Document that represents an application programming interface for HTML and XML documents. It is with the DOM that the developers create documents, navigate through their structure and can manage the elements and their contents (addition, modification, suppression). The DOM is often slow to manipulate and the built-in changes typically slow down the entire application. The VirtualDOM makes it possible to overcome these constraints. In this way, React.js will only modify the DOM elements that have been changed, making the technique very efficient, as it limits interactions with the DOM, which is often slow in writing.

This is what sets React.js apart from other frameworks: it works with a Virtual DOM that updates the rendering in the browser only when necessary. The performance of the application is accelerated and optimized.

React.js therefore operates under the concept of immutability: an object cannot be modified: for each necessary change a new object is created.

• It simplifies the creation of interfaces.
• The components are reusable.
• It gives access to component libraries.
• The VirtualDOM is powerful: only the modified elements within the web page are updated.
• It allows the development of native mobile applications with the ReactJS React native framework.
• The community around this framework is very active and growing fast (we count among the users of ReactJS to be Airbnb, Netflix, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, to name a few).