Virtual DOM
Virtual DOM is a major innovation in React, significantly enhancing performance by maintaining a lightweight representation of the actual DOM in memory. When a component's state changes, React updates the Virtual DOM and compares it with the previous version—a process known as "diffing." This method updates only the parts of the DOM that have changed, avoiding a full page refresh and minimising direct DOM access, which can be slow and inefficient. This approach ensures high performance and a smooth user experience in web applications.
Component-Based Architecture
React's component-based architecture emphasises reusability and modularity. The user interface in React is divided into independent components, each responsible for rendering a specific part of the UI. These components can be nested to create complex interfaces, which simplifies the development and maintenance of large applications. By breaking the UI into smaller, manageable pieces, developers can reuse components across different sections or projects, saving significant time and effort.
JSX (JavaScript XML)
JSX, or JavaScript XML, is a syntax extension for JavaScript that allows developers to write HTML-like code directly within JavaScript files. This feature enhances code readability and debugging by providing a clear and concise method for defining the UI structure. Instead of separating logic and layout into different files, JSX combines them, making the code more intuitive and easier to maintain. JSX is compiled into standard JavaScript function calls, ensuring compatibility with all major browsers.
Unidirectional Data Flow
React enforces a unidirectional data flow, ensuring that data moves through the application in a single direction. This approach simplifies data management and debugging by making it easier to track state changes and understand data propagation and modifications. In React, parent components pass data to child components via props, and child components can update parent components through callbacks. This clear data flow structure makes the application's state more predictable and manageable, reducing errors and streamlining maintenance.
React Native
React Native extends React’s capabilities to mobile app development, enabling the creation of cross-platform mobile applications using a single codebase. React Native allows developers to build native components in JavaScript, which are then rendered as native views. This approach delivers a high-performance, native-like experience on both iOS and Android platforms. By sharing a significant portion of the codebase between web and mobile applications, React Native reduces development time and costs, helping businesses expand their reach efficiently.
