React Vs. React Native: Key Features, Differences & Advantages

Explore which technology is better for your project, React or React Native?

Blog overview: Explore the differences between React and React Native in our comprehensive blog by Clarion Technologies. Gain insights into key features, differences, and advantages to make informed decisions for your project. Whether you're considering web or mobile app development, this comparison will guide you through the intricacies of these popular frameworks.

Interested in building cross-platform mobile applications? You might know two popular technologies: ReactJS and React Native. Everywhere you go, you will notice React Native and ReactJS in the development arena. So what’s all this hype about?

Is the hype worth it?

In this blog, we will share everything about React Native and ReactJS, as well as their features differences and advantages, so that you can make an informed choice that is best suited for your next project.

• What is ReactJS
• What is React Native?
• What is the Difference Between ReactJS and React Native?
• Advantages and Disadvantages of React Native vs ReactJS.

• React vs. React Native - Based on Project Requirements

• Which Companies use React and React Native? 

• React Native or ReactJS: Which to Choose?

What is ReactJS?

React, often known as ReactJS, stands out as an open-source JavaScript library that plays a pivotal role in single-page application development services. Unleashing its power in 2011, React was crafted and nurtured by the tech giants at Facebook, quickly earning its stripes and establishing a formidable presence in the development landscape.

As per Statista, ReactJS is the world’s second-most-used JS library, while another research by BuiltWith states that there are currently 11,908,579 websites built on ReactJS.

Backed by Facebook, it's a JavaScript library designed to build highly flexible and scalable websites and apps. It allows developers to create reusable UI components that can be used across different parts of a web application. As a result, ReactJS's developers can quickly build complex web applications and improve performance by rendering pages on the server side.

What is React Native?

React Native is a full-fledged framework for building mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms using JavaScript. Similar to ReactJS, React Native is the second most used mobile app framework. React Native developers build mobile applications that look and feel like native apps. The advantage is a single codebase. Popular apps built with React Native are Facebook, Instagram, Walmart, and Bloomberg.

What is the Difference Between ReactJS and React Native?

1. Syntax

React.js is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces on the web, while React Native uses a similar syntax but is designed for building cross-platform mobile applications using native components.

2. Cost of Development: ReactJS vs React Native

3. Features

React JS offers a wide range of features for web development, including server-side rendering, component-based architecture, and the ability to work with a wide range of libraries and APIs. In addition, React Native provides features specific to mobile application development, such as platform-specific components, touch handling, and native modules.

Let's consider the Features of ReactJS and React Native 18:

ReactJS Features:

React boasts several compelling features that contribute to its widespread adoption and appeal among developers and businesses.

1. Open-Source Nature

An inherent advantage of React is its open-source nature, which fosters a vibrant developer community and offers extensive flexibility. This characteristic empowers developers to modify and enhance React freely, ensuring continuous development and reducing the risk of abandonment.

2. One-Way Data Binding

React employs a one-way data binding model, facilitating controlled data flow from parent to child components via props (short for properties). This approach enhances data control and mitigates inadvertent data mutations within components.

3. Virtual DOM

Central to React's efficiency is its utilization of a Virtual Document Object Model (Virtual DOM), a lightweight representation of the actual DOM stored in memory. This Virtual DOM is synchronized with the real DOM using libraries like ReactDOM, a process known as reconciliation, optimizing component rendering.

4. Declarative Programming

React embraces a declarative programming paradigm, wherein developers specify the desired UI state, and React manages DOM manipulation and updates accordingly. This abstraction streamlines development by obviating the need for manual DOM manipulation and event handling.

5. Component-Based Architecture

Fundamental to React is its component-based architecture, enabling the creation of modular, reusable UI elements. Components, whether functions or classes, can be composed to form intricate user interfaces, facilitating code organization and scalability.

Other important features of ReactJS:

• #1. Virtual DOM: Boosts performance by selectively updating UI, minimizing re-rendering for efficiency.
• #2. Components: Enable modular and reusable UI elements for simplified code organization and maintenance
• #3. Unidirectional Data Flow: Ensures precise and predictable data paths, simplifying debugging and enhancing code maintainability.
• #4. JSX: Simplifies UI element creation with HTML-like code in JavaScript, improving readability and development ease.
• #5. React Hooks: Streamlines state management and side effects, simplifying component logic and behavior sharing.
• #6. Context API: Description: Enables efficient data sharing between components, reducing the need for prop drilling in state management.
• #7. Concurrent Mode: Enhances user experience by maintaining application responsiveness during heavy computations, ensuring smoother interactions.

React Native 18 Latest Version Features:

As one of the foremost mobile frameworks in use today, let's delve into the defining characteristics of React Native that underpin its popularity and distinguish it from its counterparts.

1. Platform Flexibility

React Native empowers developers to build apps for iOS, Android, and desktop platforms using a singular codebase, thus optimizing efficiency and resource utilization. This cross-platform compatibility facilitates code sharing, reducing development overheads and expediting time-to-market.

2. Open-Source Nature

Mirroring React's ethos, React Native operates as an open-source initiative under the auspices of Meta. Its vibrant developer community fosters innovation and collaboration, enhancing the framework's robustness and accessibility. Furthermore, its open-source nature facilitates easier troubleshooting and resource acquisition, bolstering its appeal among developers.

3. Performance Optimization

React Native applications are compiled into native code, ensuring comparable performance to apps developed using platform-specific tools like Java or Swift. Moreover, React Native provides seamless access to device-specific features such as the camera or GPS, augmenting performance and enabling a diverse range of application functionalities.

4. Hot Reloading

React Native incorporates hot reloading, allowing developers to observe real-time code changes without necessitating manual app rebuilds or refreshes. This feature enhances developer productivity and expedites iterative development processes.

5. Streamlined Development Experience

Creating projects in React Native is straightforward, particularly for developers proficient in React and JavaScript. Additionally, React Native facilitates the creation of reusable components, promoting code modularity and scalability across applications.

Now that you have a brief insight into both technologies, let's delve into a comparative analysis encompassing their respective strengths and weaknesses where one outweighs the other. This comprehensive examination aims to equip you with the knowledge needed to make well-informed decisions regarding the selection of the appropriate technology for your project endeavors.

Other important features of React Native:

• #1. New Concurrent Rendering Engine: React Native 18's new concurrent rendering engine improves app performance by efficiently managing and prioritizing UI updates, resulting in a smoother user experience.

• #2. <Suspense> Component Optimization: Optimized for server-side rendering, allowing partial rendering and hydration for faster page reloads.

• #3. Opt-in Upgrade Process: Allows developers to adopt new features while selectively ensuring compatibility with existing code.

• #4. Automatic Batching and Transitions: Improves performance, with automatic batching for component state management and transitions for prioritizing UI updates.

• #5. New Hooks (useTransition, useId, useDeferredValue): Introduces new hooks for improved application robustness. 

Table illustrating the Difference Between ReactJs vs. React Native 18

Advantages and Disadvantages of React Native vs ReactJS.

Advantages of React Native - How can React Native 18 Benefit Businesses?

1. User-friendly learning curve

React Native utilizes JavaScript, akin to React.js, as its foundational language. This familiarity fosters a seamless transition for developers, enabling them to leverage their existing skills while exploring the iterative and flexible nature of React Native development. This framework serves as a platform for honing developers' proficiency in crafting React Native applications.

2. Code reusability

A notable advantage of React Native lies in its capability to facilitate cross-platform app development. By harnessing code reusability, developers can employ a single codebase to deploy applications across both Android and iOS platforms, streamlining the development process and bolstering efficiency.

3. Reduced error occurrence

Deploying a React Native application across multiple platforms entails fewer debugging and optimization requirements. The inherent compatibility of React Native across various platforms translates to reduced testing and refinement needs, minimizing the occurrence of errors during the development lifecycle.

Other advantages of React native:

• Provides developers with additional tools for building more resilient applications.
• Improved rendering performance, leading to a better overall user experience.
• Faster page reloads enable users to have a great application experience.
• Smooth transition to newer versions, avoiding disruption to ongoing projects.
• Enhanced application performance and smoother UI transitions.

Advantages of ReactJS - How can ReactJs Benefit Businesses?

1. Accessibility of learning

Learning ReactJS is facilitated by an abundance of online tutorials, guides, articles, and documentation. These resources contribute to a swift grasp of React JS concepts, particularly for developers with foundational JavaScript knowledge.

2. Component reusability

ReactJS facilitates the reuse of components throughout application development, with each component encapsulating its unique logic and rendering capabilities. This modularity significantly expedites the development process by enabling the reuse of predefined functionalities.

3. Virtual DOM optimization

The incorporation of Virtual DOM in ReactJS delivers heightened performance by efficiently updating a lightweight replica of the actual DOM. This optimization enhances overall efficiency and usability, resulting in a smoother user experience.

Other advantages of ReactJS:

1. Improved application performance, leading to a better user experience.
2. Accelerates development, making maintaining and scaling applications easier.
3. Easier management of data in applications, enhancing development efficiency.
4. Streamlines UI development, making it more intuitive for developers.
5. Improved state management, leading to cleaner and more maintainable code.
6. Simplifies state management in larger applications.
7. Provides a more responsive UI, enhancing user satisfaction.

Disadvantages of ReactJS

1. JSX usage

React employs JSX (JavaScript XML), an extension enabling developers to incorporate HTML code directly within React. While JSX streamlines development, some developers find its documentation challenging, particularly for novices.

2. Library updates

React's frequent library updates have been a concern for developers, impacting app development speed. Nevertheless, recent updates prioritize enhancing libraries and overall code robustness.

3. Third-party integration

Despite offering various third-party modules and plugins, React has limited native modules. Integrating third-party solutions allows developers to merge HTML and CSS code seamlessly into JSX, albeit with added complexity.

Other important disadvantages of Reactjs 

• Messy Data Hierarchy: React.js code navigation is complex, requiring traversal from parent to child code.
• Non-Vigilant Focus on UI: ReactJS is UI-centric, handling only the view in apps with a view controller model, necessitating other controller and model features tools.

Disadvantages of React Native

1. Custom module shortage

Applications with extensive features may encounter development slowdowns due to the scarcity of native modules, necessitating reliance on third-party libraries. Additionally, creating custom modules leads to separate codebases for React Native, iOS, and Android platforms.

2. Update frequency

React Native undergoes continuous enhancement, introducing new ported native components and performance enhancements. While updates are beneficial, developers should carefully evaluate their impact, particularly when compared to more mature cross-platform frameworks.

3. Load time concerns

React Native developers often grapple with prolonged application load times, primarily attributed to JavaScript thread execution delays during deployment. This issue remains critical and warrants attention to optimize app performance.

Other disadvantages of React Native:

• Dependency on Third-Party Libraries: Limited native React Native libraries may lead to reliance on third-party resources, potentially posing security risks.
• Costly Native Workarounds: Building highly customized apps without library components may involve coding in native languages or creating React Native components from scratch.
• High Loading Time: Initialization of the runtime, even on advanced devices, results in extended loading times for React Native apps.

React vs. React Native - Based on Project Requirements

Which Companies use React and React Native? 

Websites Built with React -

Websites Built with React Native - 

• React Native confirmed in its latest Tweet that Amazon used React Native.

 

We are excited to have Amazon added to the React Native showcase. Amazon has been using React Native for years for many apps, including the main Amazon Shopping app!https://t.co/QYREkgVuzr https://t.co/aSff33tuFu

— React Native (@reactnative) November 7, 2023

React Native or ReactJS: Which to Choose?

Depends. React is a JavaScript library. At the same time, React Native is a full-fledged framework for developing mobile and web apps.

If you want to build a high-performance web interface, then React JS is a good choice. Whereas, if you want to focus on mobile platforms, then React Native wins.

Contact Clarion Technologies to hire React Native developers and time-consuming React JS developers to help you build your apps. With a commitment to quality, we have a team of top 5% React and React Native talent that can help you gain an edge over the competition. Start today.

FAQs

What is the primary difference between React and React Native?

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces (UIs) primarily for web applications, while React Native is a framework for building mobile applications, including both iOS and Android platforms. React focuses on web development, whereas React Native is specifically designed for mobile app development.

Is React Native the same as React?

No, React Native is not the same as React. They share similar syntax and principles, but React is for web development, while React Native is specifically for mobile app development.

Can I reuse code between React and React Native?

While React and React Native share similar syntax and principles, they are designed for different platforms. However, you can reuse some code logic and components between them, particularly business logic and utility functions. Yet, the UI components need to be adapted to fit the specific platform's requirements.

Which one should I choose for my project: React or React Native?

The choice between React and React Native depends on your project requirements and target platforms. If you're developing a web application, React is the ideal choice. For mobile app development targeting iOS and Android platforms, React Native offers a more efficient solution. Consider factors such as development resources, platform-specific features, and project timelines when making your decision.