React is a library of JavaScript, which you can use for building interactive and fast user interfaces for mobile and web applications. This is a front-end, component-based and open-source library. The responsibility of ReactJS is limited to the application's view layer only. In Model View Controller or MVC architecture, the view layer is liable for the feel and looks of the application.
React makes it easy to debug the code by dividing the UI in multiple components. This provides each component with its own functions and properties. ReactJS is a complete package for building mobile and web applications. It's secure, scalable, and fast, providing an amazing developer and user experience. If you are choosing a technology for your project, ReactJS is the best option.
Functions that ReactJS performs
With ReactJS, you can build UIs and their components. This includes everything such as specifying the logic, binding the date to elements, putting together all the visual elements. You can use ReactJS to create user interfaces for different platforms in JavaScript. You can develop mobile application with React Native, web application by using ReactDOM, and by using Electron, you can create cross-platform hybrid desktop applications. Microsoft has released its own React Native for Windows.
ReactJS is a technology for front-end programming but you can also use it for back-end development and for desktop applications. You can possibly use modern JavaScript frameworks with two approaches:
- Client-side rendering (In which the browser renders the UI by downloading the code)
- Server-side rendering (In which rendering of the UI is done on the back-end)
Java takes much more of the document manipulation and logic as though it wasn't server-rendered. That is the difference between other technologies and the JavaScript solution, such as ReactJS.
The most important and main feature of ReactJS is its flexibility, which makes it different from other JavaScript frameworks. To make a simple view or page, you can grab the library and use it for the display. But if you want a complex application, you can lay the foundation by combining ReactJS with other tools. ReactJS is more than a library, as it consists of a vibrant ecosystem with various approaches, libraries, and tools. You can use them as custom toolsets and frameworks.
Now that we know the basics of ReactJS and its advantages, we can go through some big and popular web applications that use ReactJS.
8 Popular Products That Use ReactJS
ReactJS library was originally created by Facebook so its developers are using it for their webpage, and obviously, for their mobile application. Their website is built with React; the script and application code are blended together. Facebook’s mobile app is built with React Native, which is a version of React and is also similar to it in many ways. However, it is responsible for displaying native components rather than DOM elements for iOS and Android. They have recently opened a beta, called React Fiber, which is a complete rewrite of ReactJS.
Facebook owns Instagram, which makes it obvious that Facebook developers would use ReactJS for programming Instagram too. The developers have used ReactJS more aggressively for building Instagram than they have for Facebook. You can notice that because it uses different features and API's, such as search engine accuracy, geolocations, Google Maps API's and much more.
Netflix
Netflix also uses a version of React. They especially use it on their platform called Gibbon. Gibbon is used for low-performance television devices, not like the DOM, which is used in web browsers. Netflix explains in an official blog post how ReactJS library helps its modularity, runtime performance, startup speed and whatnot.
Since its beginning, WhatsApp developers have been using ReactJS for building the user-interface of their app. They use the same engines that Facebook uses, such as Velocity.js and Underscore.js, as these engines are efficient. The WhatsApp Web application is also using React in the same way as Facebook uses it for its web experience.
Dropbox
After noticing the many benefits and rising popularity of ReactJS, Dropbox also switched to ReactJS. The reason why they switched to ReactJS is because of the small file size, virtual DOM, long term support, and many other advantages that it offers.
New York Times
A while ago, the New York Times designed a new project where they simulate various stars. This makes it clear that they used ReactJS for designing this project's interface. We must admire the use of the re-rendering in ReactJS by New York Times.
Asana
Asana is a tool for project management and available on mobile and web. This application helps improving team performance by simplifying organization, collaboration and internal communication. In 2009, Asana's developers did not have many framework options, so they decided to make their own, which was called Luna.
However, as they added new features, Luna got heavy, making the application slower. Therefore, in 2013, they changed the framework to ReactJS and TypeScript for front-end programming. This improved their UX and UI incredibly.
Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo also uses React for its mail client. As you know, Facebook owns Yahoo, so they incorporate ReactJS in as many pieces and bits as possible in order to run the user interface effectively. The idea of a unified and robust architecture upgraded the front-end of our old mailing buddy, Yahoo.
You can see in this YouTube video how the developers are making the work easy with the code and improving it tremendously with ReactJS. You can see how the architecture is made with the help of React.
Wraping up the ReactJS development
We understand at this point that React is a library of JavaScript used mostly for websites. It offers many advantages, such as SEO friendliness, small file size, virtual DOM, and many more. It also accommodates high-quality UX and UI elements for the web application. If you are creating an application and want the front-end to look trendy and classy without being too resource-intensive, you should definitely consider ReactJS as an option.
