Considering the advantages and disadvantages of ReactJS is crucial when selecting a JavaScript framework. Today, partnering with a ReactJS development company is becoming increasingly popular since it provides the appropriate flexibility and efficiency. At the same time, some other popular and widely used frameworks are Node and Angular.
ReactJS serves as a Javascript library dealing with the view layer of different mobile and web applications. It was publicly released in 2013, and now, engineers utilize it as an open-source JavaScript framework. Software development companies like Exoft prefer using ReactJS for creating powerful user interfaces running more effectively compared to other frameworks.
Below, we’ve analyzed the most critical pros and cons of ReactJS, which may help you decide whether to implement this framework for your project.
Pros of ReactJS
ReactJS, as a popular JavaScript framework, is a crucial component of front-end web development. To better understand its key features, we need to check the pros of applying ReactJS to your project.
Easy to learn
Since ReactJS is an open-source tool, every software engineer can write detailed tutorials, training materials, and other critical documents to help programmers learn. Also, developers with a JavaScript background can understand all the nuances of ReactJS in some days.
In addition, business owners or recruiters will spend less effort to find engineers with ReactJS expertise because this tool is open-source. After all, relevant development improvements are made continuously, which allows developers to keep updated on the latest changes.
Virtual DOM
The virtual DOM (document object model) ensures higher efficiency and faster performance and provides a better user interface than the traditional one. You do not need to rewrite the whole DOM tree when users make changes. Instead, a virtual DOM only creates updates to the manipulated components.
For instance, suppose you work with a checklist containing ten items. Traditional DOM rewrites and re-renders all items after checking one item. But in the case of a virtual DOM, it will rewrite only the single item, not the whole list.
No doubt, interactive websites mean more complexity compared to simple lists. Therefore, a virtual DOM is more effective for rendering a high-performing UI. Finally, developers consider it the primary reason that allows ReactJS to build robust user interfaces.
Reusable components
Engineers often regard writing code for a large project as an incredibly time-consuming task. Typically, developers cannot efficiently reuse code components. That is because changes to a particular one will affect all its copies.
With ReactJS, each component is isolated. It means that changes and updates to a relevant component instance will not affect others related to the same component. Thus, ReactJS enables engineers to reuse design components efficiently. That allows for saving a lot of time and making the code more accurate.
One-way information flow
The majority of JavaScript frameworks offer a multi-directional information flow. So, changing data in a child element will affect the information of the larger parent element housing it. Such an issue provokes the possibility of creating unstable code.
Fortunately, ReactJS can simplify this problem since it binds all information to downward motion. With the particular structure, changes will not affect parent information in child elements. That allows for creating a more stable code and provides software engineers with more control in large, complex development projects.
SEO-friendly
Nowadays, business owners believe that search ranking is critical for efficient web development. But typical JavaScript-heavy websites are hard for search engines to read, which is also the main complaint of web engineers.
Using ReactJS helps mitigate the problem of such overly heavy websites. This framework is also easily readable by Google and many other popular search engines. If your organization takes care of your web application’s performance on Google, you have to utilize specific indexing tools on Google Search Console. That enables you to know how your site is read by Google and understand how you can improve it.
Cons of ReactJS
We’ve briefly described the main advantages of implementing ReactJS, including high performance, reusable elements, easy-to-learn syntax, and SEO friendliness. But you should also know about some disadvantages. That allows for obtaining a complete picture of using ReactJS before you start working with this framework.
JSX
Although many developers consider the JSX syntax a helpful factor, another group of software engineers regards JSX as a ReactJS drawback. For instance, they claim that the JSX code is too complex, which makes it hard to grasp. Also, many new programmers say that JSX is a relevant barrier to mastering the framework, even though it allows for protecting the code from injections. After all, JSX has no negative impact on ReactJS performance or UI capabilities.
Development pace
Often, software developers argue about the fast development pace as an important con of using ReactJS. That is because they must continuously relearn how to utilize ReactJS and find it hard to stay updated. Besides, numerous updates affect the overall library and recent features. Thus, engineers are unhappy because of emerging changes and do not feel comfortable when keeping up with them. On the other hand, the quick evolution of ReactJS means that new updates will enhance the framework and enable it to perform better.
Documentation
Such a disadvantage is connected with the previous one – fast development pace. Because of rapid changes in ReactJS, there is a lack of educational documents, guides, and other valuable resources that cover all the recent updates. ReactJS is an open-source framework, and engineers can create the necessary support documentation on their own. Thus, since anyone has a chance to provide such resources, developers often find the poor ones offering little help. But also, many of the available support documents are helpful.
Conclusion
To sum up, ReactJS is an efficient development framework helping software engineers to build faster applications with more robust user interfaces. Of course, there are some critical advantages and disadvantages associated with using ReactJS. But in the case of cons, many exist because people do not like rapid changes and have their own preferences. After all, effective development is among the strongest pros that promote using ReactJS instead of other frameworks.
