What Is React?

React is a popular open-source JavaScript library created by Facebook. It is widely used for building user interfaces based on React components . Developers utilize React to create single-page, mobile or server-rendered apps along with other popular frameworks, such as Next.js.

Key React Concepts

• Component-based architecture

  The React code is composed of modular and reusable components. In most cases, the React apps consist of multiple component layers. Each component can have its own state and logic, making the code easier to maintain.

• Virtual DOM

  Another key feature of React is the virtual Document Object Model or the so-called virtual DOM which represents a lightweight copy of the actual Document Object Model. When the stats of a given component changes, the virtual DOM is updated first. As a next step, it is compared against the actual DOM to compute the resulting differences and then make the minimal changes required to update the actual one.

• React Hooks

  The React Hooks are functions that enable developers to utilize state and other React features without the need to write classes. The built-in ‘useState’ and ‘useEffect’ hooks, for example, are commonly used to facilitate the management of component states and side effects.

• Server components

  The React server components (RSC) run exclusively on the server and are often used by developers to build applications that split the work between the server and the client. They offer improved performance, powerful data fetching and improved developer experience.

• JSX

  Every React component uses JSC—a JavaScript Syntax Extension to the JavaScript language syntax that enables developers to use HTML-like syntax in the components. The JSX provides a lot of flexibility and speeds up the process of building UI.

• React Ecosystem

  The React library is well known for its extensive ecosystem, including a wide range of libraries and additional tools enabling developers to choose the toolset that fits them best. Thanks to its flexibility and efficiency, React remains a favorite choice for developers building both small and large applications.