React VS React Native: Which One to Choose For App Development?

When you need a cross-platform frontend framework, you may consider React Native. But then there is React, too. So, the entire React vs React Native debate has become significant in the modern app development paradigm. React is a JavaScript library for building dynamic user interfaces for web applications, while React Native is an extension of React.

It enables developers to create native-quality mobile experiences across multiple platforms. React focuses on web development, while React Native targets mobile app development. React Native offers React’s essence, allowing you to craft native-quality mobile experiences across platforms.

What seems to be an advantage for React Native can be confusing for many IT companies and developers. This guide will be a definitive document for all entrepreneurs, startups, IT companies, and developers who are confused about which to choose between React Vs React Native.

React vs React Native: Which One is Better?

React is an open-source library based on JavaScript for creating web app UIs. On the other hand, React Native is used to create rich mobile app UIs with declarative components. There are specific similarities and differences between React Native vs React that you need to understand.
For starters, here are some of the similarities to expect between React vs React Native,

• Core React concepts, component lifecycle, and composition
• React architectural concepts, state management, and orchestrating HTTP requests
• Performance optimization approaches specific to React
• Tools you use for monitoring, error reporting, and analytics.
• Pure JavaScript libraries like lodash and axios can be used in React and React Native.

Now, here are some of the differentiators between React vs React Native that are instantly visible.

• While CSS concepts translate over, the CSS engine in React Native is more basic compared to the full browser support available in web development
• CSS-based UI libraries don’t make as much sense for mobile, so new options like NativeBase and React Native Elements become the go-to.
• Some web-based UI libraries do have React Native-specific versions, such as react-native-material and Tailwind RN
• The standard navigation approach in React Native, react-navigation, is very different from web-based solutions like react-router router.
• Working with the bundler, Flipper, and AsyncStorage debugging differs for both frameworks.
• Deploying to production is more restricted on mobile, as developers have to deal with the app stores, which can be cumbersome and slow, especially for the initial release and approval process.
• The CI/CD workflows are different for mobile apps than web applications.

Now that you have some idea of the similarities and differences between React vs React Native here is an overview of both frameworks

ReactJS Vs React Native: An Overview

Understanding ReactJS and React Native individually with advantages will allow you to assess the strengths of each framework.

What is React?

React is an open-source front-end Javascript library created by Meta (Facebook) in 2013 to simplify the development process. With 222k stars and 45.3K forks on Github, ReactJS is the best choice for developing single-page, web, and server-side applications.

It offers a simplified plugin and library integration process, easy accessibility to the development community, and web design automation. Further, ReactJS provides developers immense freedom to build apps with an unopinionated approach.

Choosing ReactJS development services can help you deliver scalable and feature-rich web applications in a minimum development timeframe.

Advantages of ReactJS

• Highly efficient in updating and rendering user interfaces in web applications.
• Allows the creation of reusable and independent components, contributing to a modular and maintainable codebase.
• A direct approach to state management and component rendering makes it a preferred choice for developers.
• Virtual DOM improves performance by minimizing unnecessary DOM manipulations.
• Simplifies the development process by breaking complex UIs into smaller, more manageable components.
• ReactJS components are highly testable, which helps maintain code quality and reduce bugs.
• Flexible allows developers to use a combination of JavaScript and HTML-like syntax (JSX) to build user interfaces.
• A large and active community of developers provides a wealth of resources, libraries, and support.

What is React Native?

React Native is an open-source front-end development framework created by Meta (Facebook) in 2015. It is widely used to develop mobile applications across Windows, Android, and iOS. React Native facilitates cross-platform mobile app development with a reusable codebase, minimizing development efforts and time.

This has made React Native one of the popular cross-platform app development frameworks, with more than 116K stars and 24 K forks on GitHub. Unlike React’s virtual DOM manipulation, React Native communicates with a native platform through serialized data over asynchronous bridges.

React Native has pre-built UI libraries that eliminate the need to create app UI from scratch. One of the best features of React Native is Hot reloading, which allows the developer to view the changes in live environments. Compared to other front-end frameworks, React Native has seen considerable steady usage growth throughout the years.

Advantages of React Native

• Enables developers to create native mobile apps for both iOS and Android using a single codebase.
• Delivers native-like performance by utilizing the underlying platform’s UI components and APIs.
• Provides code reusability between web and mobile applications
• Offers a cost-effective solution for businesses targeting iOS and Android platforms, especially those with limited budgets
• Hot reloading feature facilitates quick iterations and faster development cycles.
• Offers a wide array of pre-built components and libraries
• Enables developers to leverage their existing knowledge of React and JavaScript, reducing the learning curve.
• Provides access to platform-specific features and APIs, allowing for the development of feature-rich mobile apps.

React Vs. React Native: How different is React from React Native?

When you think of React, the first thing that comes to mind is DOM manipulation. While mostly virtual DOM is considered the reason behind faster React, the real benefit is piqued performance.

Question for the day #React .

What is the significance of the virtual DOM in React?

a. Improves SEO for React applications.

b. Enhances server-side rendering.

c. Optimizes DOM manipulation for better performance.

d. Simplifies state management.

Answer: [Thread 🧵].

— Akash Mathad (@Akash_Mathad) January 15, 2024

A faster and more high-performance framework is the first choice for every developer. So, is ReactJS ahead of React Native in popularity among developers, IT companies, and businesses? If you compare React Native Vs. React in terms of popularity, ReactJS has an edge.

But does React Native have a counter to the DOM manipulation benefit of React? Here is a comparison between ReactJS and React Native to help you decide which framework is best for your project.

Here is an overview comparing React Native Vs. ReactJS

Let’s expand on each differentiating factor to compare ReactJS Vs React Native.

From the installation to developing UI and feasibility, here are some key differences between React Native and ReactJS.

1. Ease of Installation

ReactJS is a JS library, so installation is straightforward. Just integrate the React library in the HTML page with a <script> tag, and you’re done! You can create React components and incorporate them into your HTML website.

Use bundler to leverage React for large projects. If you are using NextJS, the create-react-app command, or other such tools, the webpack is already configured. However, if it’s not, you may have to configure it manually.

Conversely, React Native requires a development environment like Android Studio or Xcode to develop native-based apps. You must also install Node, React Native CLI, JSDK Watchman, and more.

2. Bridge Vs. DOM: Rendering Performance

ReactJS uses the all-powerful virtual DOM for data manipulation, providing superior rendering performance. However, React Native, too, has bridge communication, ensuring native modules are connected with JavaScript code for high rendering performance.

In React Native, when a user interacts with the application, JavaScript executes the necessary logic computing changes. These changes are sent to the bridge through JavaScript threads as commands. The bridge translates the JSON-based commands into native-compatible syntax. This translation is where the bridge ensures there is no performance lag.

Due to the asynchronous communication with the bridge, commands are processed in parallel. Thus, rendering performance is on par with ReactJS. Virtual DOM (Document Object Model) in ReactJS is more like a pattern representing webpage structure and content.

The virtual representation of real DOM keeps the UI synchronized in memory to manage quick changes and updates while creating a dynamic UI. The lightweight copy of the actual DOM minimizes the load and maximizes the speed.

When comparing rendering speeds between React Native and ReactJS, React Native has the upper hand. React Native has faster UI rendering speeds at 28-30 FPS compared to 44 FPS of ReactJS.

3. React Native Vs. ReactJS: The Battle of UI

ReactJS renders UI in the browser’s DOM using HTML and CSS, a combination of HTML markup and CSS styles. On the contrary, React Native uses UI components provided by operating systems like iOS and Android. It does not render web components but instead renders UI components using native APIs and rendering engines.

This allows React Native apps to feel and look exactly like native applications, making them ideal for cross-platform app development. To optimize the component-based UI, you can look for a React Native development company with experience designing structured interfaces using components.

Some React Native UI components that you can use are,

• React Native Paper is a highly customizable, feature-rich UI library that adheres to Material Design guidelines.
• React Native Elements is a comprehensive UI library offering ready-to-use components, including buttons, icons, forms, and other UI elements.
• React Native UI Kitten provides a set of customizable UI components inspired by the Eva Design System.
• React Native Reusables offers reusable UI components such as buttons, modals, and form elements, enabling developers to build consistent and maintainable user experiences.
• React Native UI Lib offers essential components for building React Native applications, including buttons, text inputs, and sliders.

4. Learning Curve of ReactJS Vs. React Native

The more used to JavaScript you are, the easier it is for you to learn ReactJS. Developers from front-end development can quickly learn about JavaScript and component-based architecture with Virtual DOM.

ReactJS is returning to make it a simpler technology; its vast documentation, widespread use, and giant dev community are driving forces for a flattened learning curve. Meanwhile, the learning curve for React Native may be steeper, especially if you do not have experience developing mobile apps.

5. React Native Vs. ReactJS in Terms of Feasibility

React Native and ReactJS are based on principles developed by Facebook, but they serve different purposes. ReactJS is a JavaScript library for building dynamic, efficient, scalable web applications. Its strength is creating highly interactive and performant user interfaces on web platforms.

On the other hand, React Native extends ReactJS to mobile application development, allowing developers to build cross-platform apps for iOS and Android using JavaScript. This significantly improves development efficiency by eliminating the need to write separate codebases for different platforms.

ReactJS is best suited for projects focused on web applications, aiming to create an interactive interface with robust performance characteristics. On the other hand, React Native is more feasible for projects focused on delivering a seamless mobile experience across multiple platforms.

You can hire React Native developers to reduce the cost of native development and create a reusable codebase. The choice between the two depends on the target platform and the project’s specific needs.

Now that you know the differences between ReactJS Vs. React Native, let’s examine the use cases.

Use cases React and React Native

There are tons of web solutions out there that are built using different tech stacks. So, here we have listed a few web app solutions built using React and React Native. You might be one of the prime users leveraging and appreciating the app’s performance. Now is your time to deliver a similar user experience to your end users.

Examples of ReactJS

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Netflix
• WhatsApp
• The New York Times
• Dropbox

Example of React Native

• Facebook Ads
• Bloomberg
• Skype
• Walmart
• Soundcloud
• Discord

What to Choose From ReactJS Vs. React Native?

Both React and React Native have their USPs. React is best for building fast and scalable user interfaces for websites and applications, while React Native is best for cross-platform applications.

ReactJS has the upper hand regarding installation, learning curve, and feasibility. However, if you compare React Vs. React Native in terms of rendering performance, native development capabilities, and UI components, React Native has the upper hand.

So, whether you need a web interface or a full-fledged mobile app will always be subjective. However, deciding whether you need React or React native requires a thorough business requirements analysis.

This is where Excellent Webworld’s experts can help by providing a comprehensive solution that includes requirement analysis for design and development. Contact us now to learn more about our React Native development services.

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Article By

Paresh Sagar

Paresh Sagar is the CEO of Excellent Webworld. He firmly believes in using technology to solve challenges. His dedication and attention to detail make him an expert in helping startups in different industries digitalize their businesses globally.