Since we don’t have a “Frequently Asked Questions” section, we’ll use this space to answer questions that often come up among potential clients. Today, we’ll take a look at React vs React.js vs React Native, since these technologies tend to come up a lot.
The terms "React" and "ReactJS" are often used interchangeably, but there is a clear distinction between "React," "ReactJS," and "React Native." Here's a breakdown of these terms:
React or ReactJS:
Type: JavaScript library.
Purpose: Building user interfaces, specifically for web applications.
Platform: Web browsers.
Main Features: It uses a virtual DOM for efficient updates and rendering. Developers can create reusable UI components, which is one of the main advantages of using React.
Usage: Employed for building the front-end of web applications. Developers utilize React to create web components, manage the state, and handle the application's lifecycle.
React Native:
Type: Framework.
Purpose: Building native mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms.
Platform: Mobile (iOS, Android, and more recently, other platforms like Windows with community support).
Main Features: Allows developers to write their app's UI as React components. Under the hood, native platform components render these components. This means a React Native app will have the look, feel, and performance characteristics of a native mobile application.
Usage: Employed for creating mobile applications that run on multiple platforms but need performance and access to platform-specific features that are close to native apps. When direct access to device functionality (such as the camera) is necessary, React Native leverages native modules.
Sometimes, when people refer to "React" in the context of React Native, they are talking about the core principles and methodologies of React (like component-based architecture, state management, lifecycle methods, etc.) that they appy within the React Native environment.
Our developers have extensive experience in ReactJS and React Native. In fact, we chose React as the front-end technology for our products.
Here are a few examples of recent projects that involve React:
React (or ReactJS):
Ella (Education Technology)
FileString (File Sharing)
Bionex (Aquaculture)
React Native
KnowledgeDesk (Knowledge Management)
The component-based architecture and efficient rendering of React.js have contributed to its significant popularity and widespread use in various applications. If you’re building an app in one of these areas, then React.js is probably a good choice:
Single Page Applications (SPAs): React's ability to efficiently update and render components makes it an ideal choice for SPAs, where content is loaded dynamically without full page reloads.
E-commerce Platforms: Companies like Shopify and Magento have leveraged React to build interactive and efficient e-commerce platforms.
Interactive Dashboards: React’s component-based structure makes it easy to build interactive dashboards with reusable components.
Social Networks: Both Facebook and Instagram, for instance, utilize React in various parts of their platforms.
Real-time Apps: React’s efficient update and re-render mechanism make it apt for real-time applications like chat applications or live sports scores.
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): You can use React with service workers and other PWA technologies to build apps with offline capabilities and native-like performance.
Server-Side Rendered Applications: Using frameworks like Next.js, React can be rendered on the server side, allowing for better SEO and faster initial page loads.
Entertainment Platforms: Netflix uses React for its user interface due to its performance and modularity.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: With libraries like React 360, developers can create immersive VR and AR experiences.
Educational Platforms: React's interactive nature can make educational content more engaging.
React's flexibility and community support have enabled its use across various applications. Its component-driven approach simplifies the development process, making it a popular choice among developers.
And as always, if you’d like to discuss further, please feel free to contact us.
In a no-risk discovery we look at how your work moves between your systems today and show what one connected system would do differently. You pay only if you proceed. Or see how we approach it.
More on the same problem:
WhatsApp CRM Integration: The Native Zoho Setup, Step by Step (article)
Software Maintenance Costs, Explained: What You'll Actually Pay After Launch (article)
Progressive Web Apps vs Native: An Honest Build Decision (article)
Business logic, data handling, state management and API calls can be shared in a common package, because both run JavaScript. The user interface cannot, because React renders to browser elements and React Native renders to native platform components. Teams that need one codebase for web and mobile either accept separate UI layers over shared logic or use a framework that maps React Native components to the web, with trade-offs in fidelity.
For most business applications, such as forms, lists, dashboards and portals, the difference is not noticeable to users. Animations and heavy graphics, very large lists, and features that lean on specific device hardware are where a native build still has an edge. React Native can call native modules for those parts, so the usual answer for a company app is React Native with native code only where measurement shows it is needed.
Usually yes, because one team maintains one codebase and ships to both stores, which roughly halves the ongoing cost compared with two native apps. The cases where it is not are apps built mainly around device hardware, games, or apps where platform-specific design is itself the product. For an internal tool, a customer portal or a field app, React Native is a common and reasonable default.
No. React is one of several mature libraries for building browser interfaces, and plain server-rendered pages still suit content sites and simple forms. React earns its place when the interface updates frequently without page reloads, when the same components appear across many screens, and when the team wants a large ecosystem of tools and developers. For a brochure website it adds complexity for no benefit.
Whether the product is used in a browser, on a phone, or both. Whether it needs device features such as the camera, push notifications or offline storage. Whether the team already knows React, because the skills transfer. And whether the app must be in the app stores. A browser-first product points to React; an app-store product for both platforms points to React Native; many products end up with both over a shared backend.
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