How React Native is different from React.js?

@kenton React.js was developed in 2011 by Facebook. The tech giant wanted to address its needs for a high-performing and dynamic UI (user interface). To achieve this, Jordan Walke and co. had to release the React JS. Well, this is a JavaScript library aimed at bringing together JavaScript’s speed. It also brought a new way to render pages so the user input could be dynamic and responsive. React Native was released in 2015 and a couple of years after Jordan and his team open-sourced React.js.

In this article, we give a basic comparison of React.js and React Native so you can know which one is good for your project.

React.js Explained

React.js is a JavaScript library developed to support both the server and front end. Plus, you can use it to create UI for websites and mobile apps.

The advantages of React.js include:

• Component-based architecture introduced by React.js saves plenty of time
• A massive ecosystem of developer tools
• Incredibly fast speed with Document Object Model (DOM)
• Gives a power boost to search engine optimization (SEO) and helps attract more organic traffic

React Native Explained

React Native can be described as a cross-platform mobile framework, which relies on React.js to build websites and apps. It is a type of technology that compiles native app components to allow programmers to come up with mobile applications, which can run on a wide range of platforms (including iOS, Android, and Windows) in JavaScript.

The advantages of React Native include:

• Allowing you to generate a platform-specific code
• Giving front-end developers an easy time creating apps
• The hot reloading feature makes the development process fast, thereby, saving time
• Supporting ready-to-use UI libraries, which, in return, ensures a smoother UI experience

Conclusion

React.js is perfect for a programmer looking to build a high-performing, responsive, and dynamic user interface for SAAS applications and web interfaces. React Native, on the other hand, comes in handy for someone looking to give their mobile apps a nice native feel.

@kenton 

The main difference between React Native and React.js lies in their purpose and target platforms.

React.js is primarily used for building user interfaces for web applications. It is a JavaScript library that allows developers to create reusable UI components. React.js uses a virtual DOM (Document Object Model) to efficiently update and render components. It is widely used in web development and has a large ecosystem of developer tools and libraries.

React Native, on the other hand, is used for building mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms. It is a framework that allows developers to write mobile apps using JavaScript and React.js syntax. React Native uses native components instead of web components to create a more native look and feel. It allows developers to write platform-specific code and provides access to the device's native APIs.

While both React.js and React Native share a similar syntax and component-based architecture, they have different target platforms and use cases. React.js is more suitable for web application development, while React Native is designed for mobile app development.