React also known as ReactJS is the most popular JavaScript library developed by Facebook that focuses mainly on building UI, especially for single page applications (SPAs). It helps developers build enterprise web applications that can update and render in response to changing data with great efficiency. The key feature of React is the abstraction of components, breaking up complex UIs into simple forms and reusable elements that are easier to maintain and manage.
The adoption of the concept of a virtual DOM (Document Object Model) is one major reason React has been applied so extensively. While in traditional methods, if there was some change happening, it would cause the need to update the whole page. with React, only specific parts will be updated. This improves the actual performance of web applications. React also uses a declarative approach which makes developers explain what they want their view to look like, and the results are taken care of by React in terms of DOM updates.
Combining all these features like hooks with the component-based architecture gives React an extremely powerful tool to work out dynamic and scalable applications. Hence, it is widely applied in building modern applications for web and mobile devices, and knowledge of React has become one of the primary skills that front-end developers need to be equipped with today.
To seamlessly develop user interfaces with React.js on your system, follow the below steps for a smooth installation:
Install NodeJS and npm
Download the current version of NodeJS from the website nodejs.org
Execute the installer after downloading and follow the setup instructions.
You need to verify the installation by opening Command Prompt and running:
node -v
npm -v
This will display the versions of NodeJS and npm installed.
Create a ReactJS App
Open the Command Prompt and execute the following command to install the demo-react-app tool globally:
npm install -g create-react-app
Now, create a new ReactJS app by running:
npx create-react-app my—test-app
(Replace my-test-app with any name based on your project.)
Run the ReactJS Application
cd my-app
npm start
http://localhost:3000.
Linux Installation (Ubuntu/Debian) Steps:
First, update the system package list:
sudo apt update
Install NodeJS and npm using the following command:
sudo apt install nodejs npm
Verify the installation:
node -v
npm -v
At first, we need to install the create-react-app tool globally:
sudo npm install -g create-react-app
Now, create a new ReactJS app:
npx create-react-app my-app
(Replace my-app with the name of your project.)
Navigate to your project folder:
cd my-app
Start the development server:
npm start
For accessing your React app go to http://localhost:3000.
React JavaScript library has changed the way of building user interfaces entirely. Architecture of the React is a well thought out scheme, controlling the relationship between components, states and props creating more dynamic, functional applications. It becomes easy, maintainable and scalable when developing complex UI’s through a component-based architecture to adhere to the ReactJS architecture system.
Component is the fundamental concept of the architecture of React, constituting as the basic blocks of any application developed using this language/framework. Due to the single responsibility principle all components should perform only one operation. DIY The particular module enhances code readability and at the same time enhances the way applications are controlled and expanded. React components are reusable because the developer can create similar UI elements, enhance the workflow and structure the code.
Two main types of components constitute the React architecture.
Stateful components or container components manage the application state and pass that data to other components as props. They are usually top-level (parent) components that deal with application logic and retain the "how things work" feel about the application, proper and in the right places.
Stateless components or presentation components are responsible for rendering the UI. They never store any state; instead, they make use of props passed from their stateful counterparts for showing data. They mainly focus on "how things look" and help to keep the structure of UI lightweight and straightforward.
This is because of the harmony between stateful and stateless components that React is allowed to maintain a very good split of concerns so that code becomes
better for maintenance.
One of the keys to innovation in React is the Virtual DOM, which is an abstraction of the real DOM. This achieves performance optimization by minimizing direct DOM manipulations. Whenever the state of any component changes, React constructs a new Virtual DOM and compares it with the old one. Then it updates only those parts of the actual DOM, which are necessary and not redundant. Known as "reconciliation," this process optimizes rendering and greatly benefits the application by culling unnecessary updates.
React has multiple benefits in the context of web development due to its component-based structure:
Component reusability: Components can easily be reused among different parts of the application with lesser development time and no repetition.
Modularity: Breaking applications into small, independent components ensures a clear, hierarchical structure, thus improving organization.
Encapsulation: Each component is self-contained, thus increasing code stability and easing debugging. Thus with large-scale applications, they are easier to maintain and extend.
The architecture of React is engineered for scalability. Modular by nature, it makes it easy to scale applications without necessarily interfering with previously existing components. It will always keep performance optimal with the Virtual DOM because it makes sure that direct interactions with the real DOM are reduced as much as possible, thereby having less workload at the browser level for faster rendering and a better user interface.
Handling asynchronous tasks like API calls, fetching data, and delayed actions is part of building responsive, efficient UIs in modern web applications. ReactJS has made handling asynchronous operations straightforward through the use of JavaScript's Promises and the async/await syntax. Using hooks like useEffect, you can easily manage the side effects in your functional components.
React encourages breaking down the user interface into small, reusable components. Often, such components need to fetch data from APIs or perform other asynchronous operations like saving user input. Handling such operations correctly ensures a smooth user experience and stops blocking the main thread.
Example:
Lets fetch data from an API Using Async/Await
We are going to take an example in which we will fetch the data from an API and display it in a React component.
We will create a functional component and make use of the useState hook to store fetched data. We'll use the useEffect hook in the application. It will fetch the data after the component has initialized.
import React,{ useState, useEffect } from 'react';
const ApiCallComponent = () => {
const [ data,setData] = useState([]);
const [ loading,setLoading] = useState(true);
const [error,setError] = useState(null);
// Fetch the data using async/await
useEffect(() => {
const fetchData = async () => {
try {
const response = await fetch('https://www.oneclickitsolution.com/blogs');
if (!response.ok) {
throw new Error('Error while fetching the data.');
}
const result = await response.json();
setData(result);
} catch (error) {
setError(error.message);
} finally {
setLoading(false);
}
};
fetchData();
}, []);
if (loading) return <p>Please wait. Loading the data...</p>;
if (error) return <p>Error: {error}</p>;
return (
<div>
<h2> API Data </h2>
<ul>
{ data.slice(0, 6).map((item) => (
<li key={item.id}>{item.title}</li>
))
}
</ul>
</div>
);
};
export default DataFetchingComponent;
Explanation:
Handling asynchronous operations in ReactJS, particularly fetching the data, is something important for building applications that can become interactive and real-time. Managing side effects in functional components becomes very simple and clean due to the async/await combination of the useEffect hook of React. It ensures that the user experience continues to be smooth and asynchronous operations.
ReactJS is actually one of the most rapidly emerging libraries in the very fast-growing interface libraries at present. It is largely used in building single-page applications (SPAs), and its influential component-based architecture along with a lot of robust features offers a number of benefits that have made developers always look for it. Here are some of the main reasons why developers are using ReactJS:
Overview: Virtual DOM is an in-memory representation of the actual DOM. Using the virtual DOM, it is thereby able to optimize rendering by minimizing the number of direct manipulations to the real DOM.
Functionality: For any change in the state of a subject, React first processes the changes in the Virtual DOM and then makes the real DOM changes according to the differences. This enhances performance and responsiveness.
Overview: React is a library designed to aid in building applications using components, which are reusable and self-state holding.
Functionality: Elements can be either functional or class-based so people can write complex UIs by combining simple and isolated elements. This module-like approach makes code much more maintainable and reusable.
What is Middleware? In the React application with Redux, you can extend store capabilities by being able to intercept actions.
Functionality: To write a middleware you can use this for logging, for instance, or handling asynchronous actions, such as API calls, and side effects management.
Overview: React has a lot of optimization techniques for fast performance.
Functionality: Techniques such as code splitting, lazy loading and memoization (using React.memo and useMemo) help to improve load times and responsiveness.
ReactJS is a very popular library for building the front end. So it is imperative to understand what its limitations and challenges are. Like every other technology, ReactJS also comes with its set of drawbacks. These may impact the development of a project. Here are some drawbacks of ReactJS:
Impact on Developers: React and its libraries update with a speed that can be overwhelming for developers especially new ones in the ReactJS. Even experienced guys spend part of their time keeping their hands on top of the ecosystem's history, which usually leads to spending more time learning and less time writing code.
Frequent Updates: Although React is stable, new releases are likely to include changes that can cause breaking issues, especially when third-party libraries don't catch up as quickly. Constant adaptation for this reason can sometimes make maintaining projects over time pretty tough.
Learning Curve: Developers familiar with traditional HTML and JavaScript may find JSX syntax awkward and harder to grasp. The mix of logic and UI in one file can be confusing, especially for those coming from a background in using separate HTML, CSS and JavaScript files.
Increased Complexity: JSX increases the learning curve as developers have to understand how React elements are created and how JavaScript functions interact with the UI components.
Lack of Updated Guides: When new libraries are released, the official React documentation may not have proper examples or guides to cover them.developers are always relying on community resources and tutorials.
Client-side rendering issues: Being heavily reliant on CSR, this has been a problem for search engines to crawl since they can neither index the content on the client-side that is generated through CSR nor render any positive impact on the visibility of your website on Google and other search engines.
Solution - Server-Side Rendering (SSR): The above issue would be quite easily overcome by implementing Server-Side Rendering. It is implemented using frameworks like Next.js.
Performance Issues: If not optimized, large amounts of JavaScript can lead to performance bottlenecks, especially on lower-end devices or in areas with slow internet connections. Even though React has tools like React.lazy and code splitting to mitigate this, the potential for performance degradation still exists.
Mobile Development: While React Native allows for mobile development, ReactJS itself is designed for web applications. Developers building complex web apps that need high performance on mobile devices may find limitations in terms of smoothness and speed.
While ReactJS goes live through a virtual DOM, reusable components, and an active community, it is not without its share of problems. On the development side, factors such as the fast pace of development, third-party library dependency, and setup complexities, may act against developers in some cases, particularly the new ones to the framework. Besides, issues with SEO and performance issues may affect some types of applications. Still, if we use proper tools and practice, most of these disadvantages could be disregarded, and therefore ReactJS is very flexible and powerful in creating dynamic and interactive user interfaces as well.
Understanding the drawbacks of React would help developers make well-informed choices of technologies for their projects as well as assist in implementing best practices over the drawbacks associated with it.
The amazing features of React frameworks makes web application development, user interfaces, and real-time services really enhanced. Every single one has exclusive features, tools, and benefits for the different needs of development and its preferences. Here are some of the top React frameworks:
Next.js is very good in popularity for server-side rendering and static site generation so great for fast SEO-friendly applications.
Features:
Pre-configured routing and dynamic routes
Automatic code splitting for optimal performance
Serverless functions
API routes
Solid support from the community
You can read more about Next.js from the official website. Read More
Static site generator with performance and progressive web app features, which provide fast, secure sites with React.
Use GraphQL to handle data
Optimized Image Handling and Prefetching
Library full of plugins
Sturdy on the performance and SEO aspects
You can read more about Gatsby from the official website. Read More
Modern framework built on top where web applications can be constructed based on the best practices, nested routes, efficient loading of data, and more.
Enhanced data loading and caching
Automatic support to nested routes
Experience and performance of the user
You can read more about Remix from the official website. Read More
Develop a mobile application with the latest framework based on the strong pillars of React Native considering best practices for development, nested routing, proper data loading.
Enhancements:
Data Loading and Caching: Improved the fetching as well as caching of data to provide better performance and short load time.
Supports Nested Routes: It has built-in capabilities to support navigation that is nested, so there is a good structure flow of an app.
You can read more about React Native from the official website. Read More
Below is the list of a few popular NPM packages widely used in ReactJS development, along with their descriptions and links to their official websites for more details.
A powerful routing library for React that allows developers to handle routing in single-page applications (SPAs) by enabling navigation between views of different components.
You can read more about the React Router package from the official website. Read More
A predictable state container for JavaScript apps, commonly used with React to manage complex state logic across the entire application.
You can read more about the Redux package from the official website. Read More
A popular HTTP client library that is used in React projects to make requests to APIs. It supports promises and interceptors for handling requests and responses.
You can read more about the Axios package from the official website. Read More
A CSS-in-JS library that enables developers to write CSS directly inside JavaScript, which will provide scoped, dynamic styles for React components.
You can read more about the Styled Components package from the official website. Read More
A comprehensive React component library with Google Material Design guidelines makes it very easy to build modern and responsive user interfaces.
You can read more about the MUI package from the official website Read More
A powerful library for fetching, caching, and updating data in React applications, simplifying data management and server synchronization.
You can read more about the React Query package from the official website Read More
A performant, flexible, and extensible form validation library that leverages React Hooks to minimize re-renders and simplify form handling.
You can read more about the React Hook Form package from the official website Read More
Formik is a popular form library for React, helping developers manage forms, handle validation, and manage submission logic simply and efficiently.
You can read more about the React Hook Form package from the official website Read More
@tanstack/react-table is a powerful and extensible data table library built for React. It offers features like sorting, filtering, pagination, and dynamic data loading while being extremely customizable.
You can read more about the React Table Form package from the official website Read More
The React implementation of Bootstrap, which allows developers to use Bootstrap’s components directly in React applications for responsive and styled UIs. You can read more about the React Bootstrap Form package from the official website Read More
A reusable React component that helps manage changes to the document head, such as setting metadata and titles, which is essential for SEO.
You can read more about the React Helmet Form package from the official website Read More
A powerful internationalization library that integrates React with the i18next framework to easily manage translations and locale settings in React applications.
You can read more about the React-i18next Form package from the official website Read More
Top companies use ReactJS highly to build user interfaces, especially in web applications. Owing to excellent performance, scalability and a component-based architecture, it is very popular among users. Among the most prominent companies that have based themselves on this are the following.
Use Case: The reasons are explained as follows: React is the engine that drives Instagram feed, image uploads and real-time updates together with stories, notifications and discovery.
Overview: Netflix has used ReactJS to improve the performance in the user interface of its web based platform.
Use Case: React helps Netflix optimize the performance and enhance client-side rendering.
Overview: The web interface of WhatsApp makes use of ReactJS to perform its immediate and interactive messaging features.
Use Case: React enables a responding user interface such that there may be updates in a chat in real-time.
ReactJS can run on a wide range of web servers. We have to choose a web server as per our project needs.
Below are some popular web servers listed:
Nginx is a high performance web server for serving static content like React's production build. It is also used for serving APIs by using reverse proxy.
Setup: After creating the ReactJS build by using the given command “npm run build”, add below code in nginx.conf file.
server {
listen 80;
server_name your-domain.com;
location / {
root /path/of/your/build/folder;
try_files $uri /index.html;
}
}
Apache is a widely used web server. Along with React, it can be useful for deploying other web technologies such as NodeJs (with reverse proxy), PHP, etc.
Setup: Build your React app and then add the below code in the apache configuration file.
# File:your-configuration-file.conf
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName www.your-domain.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/path/to/your/build/folder
</VirtualHost>
After adding configuration, run the command sudo a2enmod your-domain.com
sudo service apache2 restart
AWS S3 is mainly used for storing files, but we can also use S3 to serve static files and host static websites. We can achieve this with Cloudfront which will act as CDN. Refer to this document.
Vercel is specifically optimized for hosting static sites and front-end frameworks like React. It offers zero-configuration deployment for React apps, automatic optimizations, and a global CDN.
Setup: Push your code to the GitHub repository and connect that to Vercel. After doing this, vercel will automatically build and deploy the react app.
Similar to Vercel, Heroku is also known for hosting sites. It automatically sets up the necessary environment and then you can deploy to it via Git.
supports caching primarily through integration with various browser caching mechanisms, service workers and third-party libraries.
Here are the main ways caching is supported in React applications:
The browser caches the resources like images, CSS, and JavaScript files to speed up page loads the next time it is requested. This can be controlled using HTTP headers like:
- Cache-Control
- Expires
- ETag
- Last-Modified
React libraries like React Query and SWR (Stale While Revalidate) offer built-in caching for API requests. They allow data to be cached in memory for a specified time and revalidate it automatically when the cache expires.
React Query:
const { data, error, isLoading } = useQuery('key', fetchFunction,
{
cacheTime: 1000 * 60 * 2, // 2 minutes
});
SWR:
const { data, error } = useSWR('/api/api-data', fetcher, {
refreshInterval: 2000, // 2 seconds
});
For other caching strategies, you can use localStorage or sessionStorage to store the data between reloads. This can be used to persist user state, form data, or even API responses.
const cachedData = localStorage.getItem('data');
if (!cachedData) {
fetch('/api/api-data')
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => localStorage.setItem('data',
JSON.stringify(data)));
}
There are two common rendering techniques in ReactJS.
In CSR, the Browser is rendering (on the client) the HTML. Initially, the server sends a basic HTML file (usually with a <div id="root">) and the actual content is dynamically populated via JavaScript on the client side.
Slower initial load, as the user has to download and execute JavaScript before anything will show up.
That's not very good for search engine optimization, either. Search engines might not index the pages reliant on JavaScript quite well.
In SSR, React components are rendered on the server. Then the fully rendered HTML is sent to the client. Once the JavaScript is loaded on the client, React takes over and makes the page interactive (this process is called hydration).
The server renders the React components into HTML strings and sends that as the initial HTML page to the client.
The browser displays this pre-rendered HTML.
Once the JavaScript files are loaded and executed on the client, React takes control of the rendered HTML to make the page interactive (hydration).
Choosing the right place to host your ReactJS application is important for how well it works and how it grows. Here are some of the most popular hosting options, each with one main example and similar platforms you might like:
There are many ways to host NodeJS applications on AWS that are flexible and either scale up/down right away. Availability provides fast configuration services within no time. Examples are AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Heroku. It is also useful for applications that require fast scaling and work well with other AWS services like Databases and Storage.
Good for applications that need the flexibility of rapid growth while integrating with other AWS services such as databases and stores.
Similar Platforms:
Google Cloud Platform (GCP): Provides services such as Google App Engine for Hosting.
Microsoft Azure: Offers Azure App Service for both Web Hosting and Kubernetes based hosting requirements.
Heroku is a very easy to use deployment application that gets apps deployed in the shortest time possible. You can use Git to deploy and benefit from many add-ons while not worrying about servers.
It is perfect for developers who wish to develop their applications and launch them to the market soon without worrying about server administration, appropriate for start-ups and small-scale projects.
Similar Platforms:
Free SSL and background workers for Easy deployments.
Google App Engine: It supports several programming languages for scalability of the applications.
DigitalOcean provides VPS instances known as Droplets. You are given total control over your server and can set it up however you want.
The best for developers who want more control over their server settings, such as picking their operating system or installing specific software.
Similar Platforms:
Linode: High-performance VPS with flexible pricing.
Vultr: Many server locations and fast SSD VPS.
Kubernetes has you use Docker in that it enables you to deploy your applications in containers. It is controlled by Kubernetes where it is very convenient to scale up as well as to run an application smoothly.
Suitable for large applications that require a lot of scalability and that involves managing lots of containers automatically, something like big enterprise services.
Similar Platforms:
Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS): Provided a desirable level of orchestration to the deployed containerized applications and was integrated with AWS.
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE): This service is the actual managed Kubernetes as part of GCP services.
AWS Lambda executes code with no consideration for servers as a necessary means. It even includes scaling for you and you only pay for the time that your code is executing.
Especially good as support for the apps that are servicing events and which need to be scaled without your interference at the server level e.g., microservices.
Similar Platforms:
Google Cloud Functions: Efficientized serverless akin to functions with Google services.
Azure Functions: Azure has surprisingly variable and dynamic serverless features.
NodeChef offers hosting only for NodeJS applications and as a service which means that the company is involved in managing the servers. They help you manage your server environment by installing, maintaining and even upgrading it for your application.
Best for developers who wish to host their applications with the added functionalities of databases, and application scaling that occurs automatically for applications experiencing growth.
Similar Platforms:
Render: Self-hosted with frequent auto deployment, integrated free SSL implementation.
A2 Hosting: Self-serviced nodes, specifically NodeJS hosting, that do not require any upgrade and have adequate customer service.
A2 hosting recommended good shared hosting for NodeJS applications. It is easy to install and has good customer support. It is suited for beginners and small projects.
Suitable for those simple applications, user websites’ during minor projects where you do not need much NodeJS functions.
Similar Platforms:
Hostinger: Cheap webpage holding with NodeJS compatibility.
Bluehost: Several NodeJS friendly shared hosting plans, including the generic shared host plans.
Self-hosting means that the NodeJS application is going to be hosted on either the user’s own hardware or on a rented server. It puts the full control in your hands as for the server and the options you want to set.
Ideal for such developers who require root access to their server, desire full flexibility of environments, or possibly intend to cheaply host applications with a heavy frequency of use.
Similar Platforms:
Bare Metal Servers: As for a completely customized solution, there are options to rent a dedicated server in OVHcloud and Hetzner.
Colocation Services: Leasing your own racks in a data center as your servers, they provide you control with proper infrastructure.
AWS Lambda runs code without the need for focusing on servers. It automatically handles scaling and you only pay for the time your code runs.
Great for apps that respond to events and need to scale without you managing servers like microservices.
Similar Platforms:
Google Cloud Functions: Scalable serverless functions with Google services.
Azure Functions: Flexible serverless options with Azure integration.
ReactJS has a predictable release cycle. Meaning that the major versions are usually released after every two years.
Minor releases and patches are usually released in intervals within weeks or months.
Every release has a detailed note of the new features, changes, and guides for migration. These serve as the guidelines for the upgrade by developers.
You can read more about the ReactJS official releases Explore ReactJS Releases
Although the ReactJS community is less active compared to .NET, there are still many meetups and conferences with a myriad of online forums for developers to engage, share experiences, collaborate on projects, or learn the latest trends by pitching in on GitHub, Discord, and Stack Overflow.
You can get support from ReactJS official Community ReactJS Community
Contributing to ReactJS is the most important way of getting involved with the community as well as making the library better as a whole. Developers can contribute to this source in:
Writing code and fixing bugs
Improving documentation
Discussion and offering comments
Helping others via community forums
You can contribute to ReactJS official Community Learn How to Contribute to ReactJS
Various platforms provide you with a certificate for your skill and knowledge in building an application with ReactJS. These will surely enhance the chances of getting the job and can assure the employer of their competence.
You can see more certification information from here Click Here
You can get more information about ReactJS official conferences Click Here
You can attend ReactJS official meetups Click Here
Official ReactJS Git repo : Click Here
ReactJS has become a go-to framework for building dynamic, high-performance user interfaces in single-page applications and mobile apps. Its efficient component architecture and virtual DOM enable smooth, responsive user experiences, while its strong community provides a rich ecosystem of libraries and tools to streamline development. Whether you’re building a small website or a large-scale enterprise application, ReactJS offers the flexibility to adapt to projects of all sizes and requirements.
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