React ‘s popularity has increased among businesses and developers alike. According to the 2021 Stackoverflow survey , one in four developers wants to learn React. On the other hand, well-known companies like Netflix use this technology, along with 2 million websites around the world.
What is React?
It is an accessible, flexible, and open source JavaScript library, developed by Facebook (now Meta), that allows you to create user interface components that are simple, reusable, fast, and capable change for web application
The User Interface (UI) component is a combination of HTML and JavaScript that contains all the arguments necessary to display a small part of a larger UI.
React Features and Functionalities
- Components are the main blocks for building applications in React. These are reusable pieces of code, similar to JavaScript functions, but performing independently, with their own logic and controls.
- The user interfaces are declarative , making React code more readable and easier to debug, making it very easy to create interactive user interfaces.
- The JavaScript XML (JSX) syntax makes it very easy for developers to write code, because it is like HTML.
History
Facebook created React in 2011 to meet its own development needs, also starting to use it on Instagram in 2012.
In 2013, Facebook released React to the public, making it open source. Thus, in 2014 many companies began using React in their development environments.
React Native
React Native is a JavaScript framework for writing native mobile apps for iOS and Android, with the potential to be extended to future platforms.It relies on React to create user interfaces, but instead of being applied to a web browser, it is aimed at mobile platforms.
That is, a custom software development company can write mobile apps that look and feel truly “native,” but do so from the comfort of a JavaScript library they already know.
Additionally, because most of the code you write can be shared across different platforms, React Native makes it easy to develop apps for iOS and Android simultaneously.
As with React, applications made with React Native are written using JSX. React Native then invokes the native UI APIs with Objective-C (for iOS) or Java (for Android).
Thus, an application will display the screen using components from the mobile user interface and not from the web, the display being the same as any other mobile application.
Apps built with React Native can also access mobile platform features, such as the user’s location or phone camera.
React Server Components
Server rendered applications
Instead of browser Server Side Rendering (SSR) render a webpage on a browser. Which means, the HTML page is generated on the server and then sent to the client.
In this way, the speed of loading the web page is improved, by relieving the work of the user’s (client) device.
However, on the client side all the React JavaScript needed to make the page interactive is then downloaded. Therefore, React components are still client-side.
Rendering optimization
React Server Components allow developers to create applications using the best of the server and the client, combining the interactivity of client-side applications with the fastest rendering from the server, thus improving the user experience.
Server Components allow you to take better advantage of the server to achieve great performance. Large components that affect JavaScript packet size on the client side can now stay entirely on the server. Thus, as less JavaScript code is sent to the browser, the page interaction time is reduced.
This allows custom software development services to quickly obtain data from external sources. You do not have to send a request from the client to the server’s database to get the data, because while the components are being processed on the server, you can make a local API call to get this data.
React and mobile applications for business
Many companies that are in the process of digital transformation need to create mobile solutions. React has proven to be the most popular UI tool, not only among developers but also among businesses, because it can be used for web application development as well as mobile applications.
Cross-platform development with React Native allows the creation of applications for native iOS and Android mobile platforms, allowing companies to reach a broader audience of users without exceeding their budget.
Furthermore, this framework is projected into the future thanks to the large existing community and the support of Meta, making it a smart investment for long-lasting projects.
Because React encourages cross-platform mobile app development, it helps develop a better connection with customers, allowing businesses with mobile apps to understand the real needs of their end users.
Mobile app development with React allows businesses to include certain features after analyzing market trends and customer requirements.
Why use React?
These are the advantages of React for modern web development:
Ease of learning
Developers can become React specialists only by having JavaScript experience or basic programming knowledge. It has a quick learning curve thanks to its simple syntax and the ability to code in JavaScript.
Reuse
React has the ability to reuse components anywhere. This streamlines development by allowing companies to keep all of their code as a base to write similar functions with that same code in other applications.
Dynamic elements
React makes it easy to create interactive content, without affecting the overall performance of the application. It is not necessary to redraw each node from scratch, but only draw the modified nodes.
Easy debugging
With React, a web application is easy to test. With its clear coding, React allows you to quickly track down any errors when something goes wrong.
Strong support
Supported by many contributors, the React community provides immediate help, and support can also be received from Instagram and Facebook engineers.
Great developer experience
Rapid development with JavaScript and the small React API combined create a fantastic developer experience. The API is very simple to learn. JSX is a special syntax that looks like HTML.
Is React worth learning?
Learning React makes a lot of sense as it provides the much-needed ease for developers to create very attractive user interfaces and web applications in a very short time. This is very useful nowadays when the applications to be created are large scale and with data that changes frequently.
When technology is difficult to learn, it becomes difficult to complete a project and make it successful. Therefore, companies prefer to implement technology that is easy for the development team to learn and allows them to finish the project within the scheduled time.
React is very easy to learn and is more focused than other JavaScript frameworks. The ease of learning React is the best advantage compared to other popular frontend frameworks such as Angular and Vue.
React’s benefits of being advanced, robust, responsive, and easy to use far outweigh its disadvantages. In addition, React saves time and money in development, because it is component-based. That is, an interface can be divided into reusable components, allowing the creation of dynamic user interfaces.
React is one of the most important frontend libraries for development that can be used.
Guest article written by: 
Glad you are reading this. I’m Yokesh Shankar, the COO at Sparkout Tech, one of the primary founders of a highly creative space. I’m more associated with digital transformation solutions for global issues. Nurturing in Fintech, Supply chain, AR VR solutions, Real estate, and other sectors vitalizing new-age technology, I see this space as a forum to share and seek information. Writing and reading give me more clarity about what I need.