React JS and React Native. Differences and Distinctive Features of Both

For the most detailed analytics, you need to get to know both platforms better. Let’s start with React JS. React consists of three main components

• React API – an application for React, a list of components for constructing applications;
• Virtual DOM. The middle block is where the reconciliation mechanism takes place;
• Render DOM. This block renders various Javascript objects directly through HTML markup.

React Native development isn’t too different – the only difference is that the third point has been replaced with a JS renderer that uses JS to program the rendering of objects. Due to this, there will be no native DOM components (for example, divs and spans) in the application code. Their place will be taken by more universal objects such as View or Text. The entire design layer can be created from the usual CSS flexbox.

Pros of React JS

The main advantages of developing web applications on the React JS platform are:

• Build complex, layered applications with simple methods. At the moment, creating applications using only HTML or CSS is an impossible task, so using React JS optimizes this process, giving novice programmers a chance to create extremely complex and functional applications;
• Reuse of components. React JS has many components in its arsenal with a wide variety of elements and logic, providing the ability to build entire applications in the same way as using React Native;
• Enhanced performance. The virtual DOM model built into React JS has many performance benefits. All components written in React JS become a Virtual DOM as a result. Thus, the performance of the application will be significantly improved;
• Availability of SEO-friendly components. Developers working with React JS get a lot of related SEO tools along with the product. Thanks to this feature, every programmer can try himself as an SEO specialist and assemble a product that will be highly indexed in search results and has all the advertising benefits of a professional advertising wrapper.

Pros of React Native

The ability to reuse code makes React Native extremely flexible to use across multiple projects. Thanks to a common code base, the programmer will eventually be able to develop applications in a pipelined mode, simply assembling applications from ready-made blocks. 

At the same time, it should be noted that developing an application on the React Native platform is very similar to cooking a dish from a single ingredient. In a practical sense, it’s impossible to build an app using just React. The programmer will need a separate webpack to create an application, a certain design model in CSS.

Also, during React Native development, programmers actively use diverse software components. Their list is made up of the most trending software aspects inherent in the top platforms on the Internet. Often in their list, you can find quite serious plug-ins that radically change the operation of the program, optimizing its functionality. Many interface modules and absolute integrability with most frameworks make React Native so popular among programmers from all over the world.

Also, the advantages of the React Native platform include:

• Live overload. The main distinguishing feature of the React Native platform is the ability to track all changes in the code when the program is reloaded. Thanks to the live capacity testing, React Native is an excellent framework for testing a program for stability at an early stage of development;
• High performance. React Native was created specifically for mobile-first development, so almost all plugins and modules developed in React Native have enviable performance and functionality when launched on mobile devices;
• Profitability. React Native has a code reuse feature, thanks to which programs can be practically stitched together from ready-made components;
• Community. React Native was developed by an independent community of players, thanks to which the framework is constantly being developed and improved by the community of developers.

React Native Rendering

A special mention is the rendering mechanism in react native. During application startup, a separate JS thread is created, in which the entire JS script is loaded. The JS compiler parses the code and loads it into the target framework. Thus, it takes a lot of time to parse the code – but this problem is widely known to many programmers.

To create a functional and convenient UX, you need an additional engine – and there is one. It’s called Hermes and Facebook is behind its development. The parsing of the JS file is performed almost simultaneously with the assembly of the application, which significantly reduces the time spent on working out the correctness of the code. Hermes is available on both Android and iOS, although it is turned off by default.

Verdict 

React Native and React JS are two completely different platforms that give programmers the ability to quickly assemble ready-made programs consisting of many components. Given the continued support of the community and the ability to reintegrate the code, as well as unique modules that even include trendy SEO promotion models, both platforms deserve a high place among the most modern development tools.

More information – on the Zenbit.tech website.