Web development is an industry that offers good remuneration and excellent career growth. For this reason, many developers have jumped on the web development bandwagon. A good developer can earn a fat pay cheque for designing/developing the website.
No wonder there is cut-throat competition in the web development industry. To sustain competition and deliver outstanding results, you need valuable tools and libraries. ReactJs is a popular web development tool that offers excellent flexibility while allowing you to add tools and multiple external libraries to build a comprehensive web application.
Due to its flexibility, code reusability and other advantages, React Js is a preferred choice for 10.2 million websites around the world. This blog will give you an overview of React Js and why it is worth it to use React for web development or hire dedicated Reactjs developer.
What is React Js?
The web has changed drastically in the last two decades and tech stacks have evolved too. Logic has shifted considerably from server-side to client-side. Angular framework jumped on the scene and triggered a client-side revolution. ReactJs came about in 2013 and kickstarted the server-side era.
React is a free, open-source, explanative, flexible and competent JavaScript library that enables developers to create single-page applications. Additionally, it is also used to handle the view layer for mobile and web apps while creating reusable UI components at the same time.
The greatest USP of React.js is that it allows developers to create complex web applications that can change data minus the need to reload the page. React.js goes way beyond pre-formatted code and snippets. Using React.js and React Native, developers can build extensive applications for both web pages and smartphones.
By using features like virtual DOMs, JSX, impressive statement management, and reusable components, developers can speed up their work and boost productivity. Is React good for web development? Keep reading to know more
12 Advantages of Using ReactJs for Web Development
1. Simple to use
By no means is ReactJs easy to master. Depending on the developer’s grasping skills and interest, it can take days, months, or even years. However, as compared to Angular, the learning process is easier. All you need to know is how HTML-CSS works along with basic knowledge of programming concepts. Moving from Angular or any other library to React can be a little hard.
Developers who have used Javascript before can use React with relevant ease. On average, you can get your head around React plus there is ample community support & online tutorials that can help you with related issues.
2. Community Support
Jordan Walke created React.js but has a strong community of over a thousand contributors that include seasoned JavaScript developers. These developers create innovative tools and solutions that have made their way into React’s library.
Not only does the community help with development-related issues, but it also keeps you abreast of the latest updates and improvements. Achieving 180k stars on Github and hitting 10 million npm downloads weekly speaks volumes about React.js’s popularity.
3. Reusable Components
React has plenty of reusable components that include abstract data structure implementations, queues, stacks plus classes and subroutines. Think of the UI as a jigsaw puzzle and the puzzle has various components like buttons, checkboxes, dropdowns, menus, etc. A developer creates wrapper components around these smaller components.
Continuous creation of these wrapper components leads to the creation of the main component and several other hierarchical components. Interestingly, all these components share the same space while communicating freely with each other.
In order to make these components reusable, developers must use props and the functions passed by props will produce the outcome.
4. Single Direction Data flow
In this context, a unidirectional data flow means that the information can move in only one direction while moving between different program parts. In React, the parent data is called props while the children component allows developers to pass components as data to other components.
Here, you can transfer data from parent to child and not the other way around. Child components cannot change/update data on their own accord. Such a system ensures a clean and systematic flow of data with total control over information.
5. The abundance of Developer Tools
Facebook owns React.js and they have included a plethora of tools in React for developers to use. These tools include a combination of improved libraries, extensions, and frameworks to boost development efforts & performance gains while delivering a superior navigation experience.
A front-end web developer or a Reactjs development company can use tools like debugging, testing utilities, code generators, and other pre-configured tools to develop stable codes and robust applications while reducing development time. Most of these tools are available as extensions in Chrome, Chromium and Firefox browsers.
6. Virtual DOM
React is perfect for programmers and developers because of Virtual DOM. In React, the virtual DOM is a JS object. To put it in simple language, a Virtual DOM is a copy of the original DOM that is stored in the memory and synchronized with the React DOM library.
The Virtual DOM has the same features as a real DOM but it can’t change the screen’s content directly. Virtual DOM offers some exciting benefits like less strain on memory usage, improved performance and higher productivity.
7. Faster Rendering
Developing a complex and feature-rich application is good but developers must also understand how its structure will affect its overall performance. In spite of having the latest platforms and tools, you can’t guarantee the removal of infuriating hindrances because DOM is tree-structured. Even the slightest changes in the upper layer can cause problems at the interface.
When developers use the Virtual DOM, make changes there, use a different algorithm and analyze the effects it could have on the real DOM, they can minimize the chances of errors. After understanding the pros and cons, developers can apply the changes safely while saving time and resources. Such an approach ensures higher productivity and performance.
8. Stable Coding
As stated above, small changes implemented in the child structure will not affect parents because React.js uses downward data flow. Before changing an object, developers modify its state and implement changes followed by updating certain components. Thanks to this data binding structure, you can enjoy code stability and robust app performance.
9. SEO Friendly
In 2022, content and SEO are more important than ever. Even developers have to make sure that the developed app is SEO friendly. Search engines often find it challenging to read websites that rely heavily on JavaScript. To combat this, React will run on the server, and render and return the Virtual DOM in plain language.
Bear in mind that even though Google has made vast improvements to its search engines, there are others like Bing, Baidu, Yahoo etc. Developers can ensure SEO friendliness with React.js by building static or dynamic web apps, using server-side rendering, applying pre-rendering, etc. These takes may consume time and resources but the results will speak for themselves.
10. Preferred Choice for many Fortune 500 Companies
Many companies choose React.js to build attractive, functional apps and websites. Notable companies that have benefitted from React solutions include Airbnb, Tesla, Walmart, Ubereats, Dropbox, Codecademy, Skyscanner, etc.
Even developers at corporate giants like Netflix, Paypal, BBC, New York Times and Lyft are using React.js to take their businesses to the next level.
11. Efficient Data binding
As stated in one of the above points, React uses unidirectional data binding which means that a developer can handle data flow from a single point. Hence, you can track even the slightest of changes implemented to selected parts of the data.
12. Testing and Functionality
Apart from delivering high performance and productivity, it is for testers to analyze the results of the developed app. Developers and testers can supervise the app through triggered outputs, functions, events, etc. If you want to observe the results before implementation, React.js makes it possible.
Conclusion
On the downside, React.js has some disadvantages. It can be hard to document quick changes and updates in React. Moreover, the development speed is slow and the JSX can be confusing. React has also faced problems with Google indexing and crawling.
Having said that, it is unfair to compare React.js to other frameworks because it is a library. React is different but effective and you cannot deny that. The favorable ratings say a lot about its effectiveness.