ReactJS vs React Native: Key Differences

Mobile apps and their popularity have practically sky-rocketed as these nifty little devices continue to become increasingly prevalent. This has put the spotlight on the tools and resources we use to build such apps. Reactjs and React Native are two incredibly popular technologies in the app development industry today. While both these tools have similar names and were launched by Facebook, they have maintained a consistent fan base since their launch. In fact, people in the market for development tools are often torn up about choosing between ReactJS, which is an open-source JavaScript library that enables the development of UI for web apps, and React Native, an open-source JavaScript framework that enables app development of apps for Android and, Windows, iOS, etc.

You would agree while it is clear that one is a framework for web development and the other is for the mobile environment. But apart from that, what would differentiate them? If you too are caught in this conundrum, here is a quick list of pointers that will help you understand precisely which of these two solutions you should pick.

We’ll take a bird’s eye view of the business advantages and limitations of both platforms and outline the key differences when it comes to choosing between Reactjs vs React Native.

    • ReactJS gets a virtual DOM, which is faster than the complete refresh model, since the virtual DOM (document object model), which ensures only specific parts of the page are refreshed. The point of this feature is to ensure that developers can check out how tweaks and updates reflect on the app without necessitating downtime for the app. 

    • ReactJS allows developers to reuse code components, which, as you can imagine, is a huge time saver for developers and companies that have to work on different apps.

    • ReactJS ensures that the pages are rendered properly across the chain, i.e. starting from the server to the browser. This, in turn, ensures that the app’s performance in the context of SEO receives a significant boost.

    • ReactJS is quite quick when it comes to debugging, thus making things easier for developers.

    • React Native is amazingly simple for developers who know how to use JavaScript. In fact, with this programming tool, even front-end web developers can double up as mobile developers. However, for it to work, you will need to be acquainted with the platform’s APIs, specific native UI elements, JavaScript, and other platform-specific design patterns among other things.

    • Simply put, React Native offers developers pretty much the same benefits as ReactJS. However, the key point of difference is that ReactJS remains more focused on the UI.

    • Using React Native to build an app means developers don’t have to necessarily make the same app over and over again for individual operating systems, such as iOS, Android, etc. This is because, with React Native, developers gain the ability to put the common logic layer to work across the code database for all targeted OS’.

    • While some may associate native app development as an inefficient and time-consuming process, React Native can address the issues associated with this type of development. It facilitates quick responsiveness, agility, high speed of development, effective processing, etc. to address the challenges associated with native app development, while also ensuring the delivery of high-quality user experiences.

Suffice it to say that there are plenty of differences between ReactJS and React Native, even though both of them make compelling choices. However, given the benefits each one stands to offer, it is amply clear that React Native is the better choice out of the two since it enables you to build mobile apps that deliver a truly native experience to the apps’ users. Now, where does one go from here? Well, the next step should be to start looking for a trusted React native development company with proper experience and the requisite expertise. 

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