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React vs React Native: Key Differences, Features & Which One to Choose
In today's rapidly evolving world, where technology has gone beyond the realm of science fiction, creating mobile apps, web platforms, and AI-powered solutions is the key to your business growth, attracting customers, and satisfying consumer needs. Whether you are a tech-savvy person, an aspiring entrepreneur, or are already an app owner, you have likely come across the debate of choosing the right framework for your app development. In that scenario, React vs React Native are the most powerful frameworks for app development. At first glance, React and React Native can be confusing, but their features and strengths are quite different.
If you find yourself asking which one is the best suited for your project, you are at the right place. This article will guide you in understanding the key differences, advantages, features, and limitations of both of these frameworks, React and React Native, providing you with information about which one is the right tool for your upcoming project.
Introduction: React and React Native
Before jumping to any conclusions, it's crucial to properly understand what React and React Native are for further clarification on what each framework is designed for
React or React.js is a popular JavaScript library, primarily built for creating dynamic User Interface or UI, mainly used for web applications or websites. It simplifies complex UIs, creating reusable UI components. Particularly useful for single-page web applications (SPAs). React can help you create dashboards, real-time updates, etc. It's ideal for you if you are creating scalable web applications with a fast and powerful dynamic User Interface.
React Native, on the contrary, is an open-source JavaScript framework primarily used to build mobile apps for both iOS and Android. Backed by Meta, React Native helps you create native mobile apps without always maintaining separate codebases from each other. It's a great tool and loved by many developers as it allows you to speed up mobile app development, reduces costs as well, and it's easy to grasp if you are already familiar with React.js. Instead of rendering in the browser, React Native renders all of your UI components into native mobile UI components. It's the right choice for you if you are trying to save time and costs while also maintaining overall UI, and it helps you write your code only once and deploy it on multiple platforms.
React.js is used for web application development, while React Native is for iOS and Android applications development. React mainly uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build interacting UIs, whereas React Native supports cross-platform development, utilizing APIs and Native UI elements to create mobile apps.
React uses a virtual Document Object Model to constantly update web application models. Instead of using DOM, React Native leverages Native APIs to give users a native app-like feeling.
React uses local storage to store and maintain, which does not have an expiry date. It uses AsyncStorage by default as well as provides libraries to store data locally.
While developing applications using React, SEO stands as a great factor. It provides lots of tools to optimize your app based on SEO. React Native does not have any SEO uses. It particularly depends on you how you will build native UIs.
React web applications are deployed via browsers to web servers. On the other hand, React Native apps are deployed on app stores such as Google Play.
As it is primarily used for web pages, web navigation uses the React Router library. Mobile applications, on the contrary, utilize libraries like React Navigation, which provides a native-like user experience.
Advantages and limitations of React and React Native
Both React.js and React Native have their advantages and a few limitations.
Advantages of React:
React uses reusable components that can be used multiple times on various platforms, making development faster and efficient
React is SEO friendly. React is one of the few JavaScript libraries that support SEO features. As React components are a lot similar to JSX components, they can be used without implementing a heavy setup.
If you are familiar with coding, especially JavaScript, React is much easier to learn as a beginner. A React component can be created by a developer quickly just by learning JSX. Learning React state management will help the developer to create dynamic component that updates the elements whenever state changes automatically
React is used to handle large applications. It combines smaller components to build a larger component, grouping them under a common category that can be used on multiple platforms
Limitations of React:
React library has its documentation on its primary website. Although it covers the basic concept with few examples, it does not provide an in-depth explanation that can confuse beginners.
React requires additional libraries or features such as Redux, React Router, etc.
Initial setup can be complicated for beginners. When you try to use SEO, you have to do additional setup to use SEO optimized functionalities
React environment updates frequently, which can often lead to compatibility issues and can be puzzling for beginners to keep up with
Advantages of React Native:
React Native utilizes pre-built Native components that can be reused on various platforms, helping you to develop fast, efficient, and highly scalable mobile applications.
React Native helps you write a single codebase, reducing development time and providing cost effectiveness.
Powered by Meta and loved by a large community of developers, it provides various tools, features, and libraries to ease the development process.
There is a feature called hot reloading that helps developers see code changes or updates immediately, helping coders boost productivity.
Last but not least, React Native provides a Native-like feeling to users as it uses Native components rather than webviews.
Limitations of React Native:
While React Native's performance is generally lovely, in a few cases with heavy, complex code, you may face occasional lags compared to Native apps.
Frequent updates can break compatibility and confuse beginners.
As of now, React Native still lacks some elements, and others are still under development. Thus, you might have to build your solution from scratch, which can be troublesome.
You have to be very cautious while working on React Native as it forces developers to pay extra attention to use short, precise, and clean code.
Conclusion: Which is the best option for you?
In conclusion, both React and React Native are powerful tools, each designed for their different purposes.
Focus on your goal or purpose while choosing the right tool for your project. If your project's goal is to build dynamic, interactive SEO-driven web applications such as Saas platforms, dashboards, e-commerce websites, or blogs, then React.js is the right tool for you.
If your main purpose is building applications for iOS or Android, and you want to save development time, resources by using a single codebase while giving it a Native-like experience, then React Native is the way to go.
Understanding your goals and user needs will help you make the right decision and build scalable, highly efficient, cost-effective applications.
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