What is React and how does it really work? – Wingdings Translator Online

It is one of the most popular libraries for the development of mobile and web applications. Created by Facebook, React contains a collection of reusable JavaScript code snippets used for user interface (UI) construction called components.

It is important to note that ReactJS is not a JavaScript framework. This is because it is only responsible for rendering the view layer components of an application. React is an alternative to frameworks like and , which allow you to create complex functions.

In this article, we’ll explore the features of React, explain how it works, and review its benefits for front-end developers. We will also cover the differences between ReactJS and React Native regarding their functions in the web and mobile app development industry.

Finally, we will talk about the steps to deploy a React app on ‘s hPanel.

Features of React

React has a few main features that make it stand out from other JavaScript libraries. In the following sections we will introduce these features and explain how they contribute to mobile and web app development.

JSX

JSX is an extension to the JavaScript syntax used in creating React elements. Developers use it to embed code in JavaScript objects. Because JSX accepts valid JavaScript expressions and function embedding, it can simplify complex code structures.

Let’s look at a code block that shows how to embed an expression in JSX:

const name=”John Smith; const element = h1>Hello, {name}/h1>; ReactDOM.render( element, document.getElementById(“root’) );

In the second line, we call the variable yam inside a React element by putting it inside curly braces.

Meanwhile, the function ReactDOM.render() renders the React element in the Document Object Model (DOM) tree, describing the UI.

JSX also helps fight attacks Cross Site Scripting (XSS). By default, React DOM converts embedded JSX values to strings before rendering. Therefore, third parties cannot via user input unless explicitly written in the application.

Later in the article, we’ll discuss JSX’s role in building React components in detail.

virtual DOM

The Document Object Model (DOM) presents a web page in a data tree structure. ReactJS stores virtual DOM trees in memory. By doing so, React can apply updates to specific parts of the data tree, which is faster than re-rendering the entire DOM tree.

Every time there is a data change, ReactJS will generate a new virtual DOM tree and compare it to the old one to find the fastest way to implement the changes to the real DOM. This process is known as diffing.

Components and Props

ReactJS breaks the UI into isolated, reusable pieces of code known as components. React components work similar to JavaScript functions in that they accept arbitrary input called properties or props.

The React elements returned determine how the UI looks on the client side. Here’s an example of a function component that returns a React element:

function Welcome(props) { return h1> Hello, {props.name}/h1>; }

It is possible to have as many components as you need, without cluttering your code.

State Management

A state is a JavaScript object that represents a part of a component. It changes each time a user interacts with the app, rendering a new user interface to reflect the changes.

State management refers to the practice of managing React application states. It includes the storage of data in third-party state management libraries and the activation of the re-rendering process every time the data changes.

A state management library facilitates communication and data exchange between React components. There are currently several third-party state management libraries, being Redux Y recoil the two most popular.

Redux

The state management library have a centralized system that keeps an application’s state tree predictable. The library also reduces data inconsistency by preventing two components from updating the application state simultaneously.

Redux’s architecture supports error logging for easy debugging and has a strict code organization method, which simplifies maintenance. In addition, it has a large number of plugins and supports all user interface layers.

That said, Redux is quite complex and therefore not optimal for small applications with a single data source.

recoil

is a JavaScript status management library released by Facebook. It uses pure functions called selectors to compute the data of the updatable units of state known as . Multiple components can subscribe to the same atom and thus share a state.

Using atoms and selectors avoids redundant states, simplifies code, and removes excessive repetition from React and any child components. Recoil is more recommended than Redux for beginners, as its basic concepts are considerably easier to understand.

Programmatic Navigation

Programmatic navigation refers to cases where lines of code create an action that redirects a user. For example, login and registration actions programmatically navigate users to new pages.

React’s standard library for routing, provides multiple ways to safely programmatically navigate between components, without requiring the user to click a link.

The use of a component Redirect is the main method of programmatic navigation, being history.push() another approach.

Long story short, the React Router package syncs the UI with the URL, allowing you to control the look of your React apps without relying on bindings.

Why use React?

Hundreds of large companies around the world, such as , Y , they use React to create their web applications. In the following sections, we’ll look at the reasons why so many developers choose ReactJS over its competitors.

1. Easy to use

Developers with JavaScript knowledge can learn React in no time as it is based on plain JavaScript and a component-based approach. It is possible to start developing web-based applications with React after just a couple of days of study.

Even if you’re not familiar with JavaScript, many websites offer free. Once you know the basics of JavaScript, read up on ReactJS to streamline your front-end development process.

2. Supports reusable Java components

React allows you to reuse components that have been developed in other applications. As ReactJS is open source, it is possible to pre-build components, which reduces the development time of complex web applications.

In addition, React allows you to nest components among others to create complex functions without bloating the code. Since each component has its own controls, it’s easy to maintain them.

3. Make it easy to write components

Thanks to the JSX integration, it’s easier to write React components: users can create JavaScript objects combined with typography and HTML tags. JSX also simplifies the rendering of multiple functions, keeping the code simple without reducing the capabilities of the application.

Although JSX is not the most popular syntax extension, it has proven its worth in developing special components and dynamic applications.

The official React command line interface (CLI) tool, called , further streamlines the development of single-page applications. It features a modern build configuration process with preconfigured tools and is great for learning ReactJS.

4. High performance

As we discussed earlier, the virtual DOM allows ReactJS to update the DOM tree as efficiently as possible. By storing the virtual DOM in memory, React eliminates excessive re-rendering that can hurt performance.

5. SEO friendly

ReactJS can improve the (SEO) of web applications by increasing their performance. The implementation of the virtual DOM is one of the factors that influence higher page speeds.

Also, React helps search engines navigate web applications through server-side rendering. This addresses one of the biggest problems with JavaScript-heavy websites, as search engines often find them difficult and slow to crawl.

How does react work?

One of the biggest advantages of using React is that you can .

Users can create a representation of a DOM node by declaring the function Element in React. The following code contains a mix of HTML and JavaScript:

React. createElement(“div”, { className: “red” }, “Child Text”); React. createElement(MyCounter, { count: 3 + 5 });

You may have noticed that the syntax of the HTML code above is similar to that of XML. That said, instead of using the traditional DOM class, React uses className.

JSX tags have a name, children, and attributes. Numeric values and expressions must be enclosed in braces. Quotes in JSX attributes represent strings, similar to JavaScript.

In most cases, React is written using JSX instead of standard JavaScript to simplify components and keep code clean.

Here is an example of React code written using JSX:

MyCounter count={3 + 5} />; var GameScores = {player1: 2,player2: 5}; DashboardUnit data-index=”2″> h1> Scores/h1> Scoreboard className=”results” scores={GameScores} /> /DashboardUnit>;

Here’s a breakdown of the above HTML tags:

MyCounter: represents a variable called “count” whose value is a numeric expression.
Game Scores: is an object literal that has two pairs of prop values.
DashboardUnit: is the XML block that is rendered on the page.
scores={GameScores}: is the scores attribute. Gets its value from the object literal GameScores previously defined.

A React app typically has a single root DOM node. Rendering an element in the DOM will change the interface…