Summary: Is React the same as React Native? You might have felt this question popping up in your mind gazillions of times, haven’t you? If you are, this article’s all about your needs. It contains a comprehensive analysis of Reactjs Vs. React Native. Let’s read between the lines!

How to compare React Native Vs. React Js? Are Reactjs And React Native the Same? And a lot more. How many times did you find this question popping up in your mind? I bet you did it hundreds and thousands of times whenever you got into thinking about which one to choose. Let me resolve it!

React JS and React Native are two different technologies in the tech industry. You may find these two technologies similar, but they are different. React is a JS library for web development, whereas, React Native is a mobile application development framework.

Besides these, there are several facets based on which React.js and React Native differ. In this article, we’ll be performing an intense, more detailed exploration of Reactjs Vs. React Native that involves introductions, differences, drawbacks and use cases, and so on. Let’s explore!

ReactJS vs React Native: Market Perspective

ReactJS and React Native are both open-source JavaScript libraries developed by Facebook for building user interfaces. While they share a similar name and many of the same concepts, they are used for different purposes and have different strengths.

ReactJS (also known as React or React.js) is a JavaScript library for building web user interfaces. It is primarily used for building complex and dynamic web applications using a component-based architecture.

React Native, on the other hand, is a JavaScript library for building mobile user interfaces. It allows developers to build mobile apps for iOS and Android using the same codebase, making it an efficient option for cross-platform mobile development.

Here are some statistics comparing ReactJS and React Native:

ReactJS is more popular than React Native when it comes to web development. According to the 2021 Stack Overflow survey, React is the most popular JavaScript library for front-end web development, with more than 70% of developers indicating that they have used it.

• Around 42.62% of developers who responded to the survey use React.JS
• 70% of developers said they have used React.JS

React Native, on the other hand, is more popular for mobile app development. According to the 2020 Stack Overflow survey, React Native was the most popular technology for mobile app development, with around 30% of developers indicating that they had used it.

• ReactJS has a larger developer community than React Native. React.js has over 134k stars on GitHub and React Native has around 96k stars on GitHub.
• ReactJS is slightly older than React Native. React.js was first released in 2013, while React Native was first released in 2015.
• React Native has a slightly better performance than ReactJS. React Native uses native components which are faster than web components.

Please note that the above statistics are based on the data from 2021 and 2020, which might have changed by now.

What’s Reactjs?

Before we step into understanding the differences between React JS and React Native, we need to know the basics of each of these two. Let’s get to grips with Reactjs first! React, aka React.Js, Or Reactjs, is a well-known JavaScript library to develop single-page web applications with simple components.

class HelloMessage extends React.Component {
  render() {
    return 
Hello {this.props.name}
;
  }
}
root.render();

It has been over a decade since this JavaScript library got launched, and it’s now popular among developers. Many businesses use Reactjs to carry out development activities, and businesses of all sizes prefer using this library for creating applications.

Want to create a feature-rich ReactJS Web Application? Connect with Our Expert

Top Application Built Using ReactJS

Reactjs is one of the best libraries assisting developers in crafting interactive and dynamic user interfaces. It’s used to build a viewable layer of apps with reusable components to form a robust structure. Followings are some of the well-known applications built using React!

• Facebook
• WhatsApp
• Netflix
• Dropbox
• Instagram

Advantages Of Reactjs

• Easy to learn and use
• SEO friendly
• Reusable components
• Support of handy tools
• Server-side rendering
• Compatibility
• Strong developer community
• One-way data flow
• Virtual DOM

Take a sneak peek at the advantages of Reactjs:

• Easy-To-Learn And Use— A good supply of documentation, tutorials, and resources, make Reactjs easy to learn and use for its users. However, the library is easy to learn for everyone, a developer from a JavaScript background can feel it is more convenient to learn, understand and use Reactjs in a matter of a few days.
• SEO Friendly— However, the traditional JavaScript framework has SEO-related issues; Reactjs is the remedy to this obstacle. Applications built based on Reactjs can run on different servers, making navigation on various search engines easy.
• Reusable Components— Reactjs apps are considered to be multi-component applications. A Reactjs web application is made using multiple components, and each of them has its own controls and logic. All these components are accountable for outputting a small and reusable HTML code that you can use wherever you need to.
• Support Of Handy Tools— The presence of a set of handy tools is another advantage of Reactjs. These tools make the task of developers understandable and more straightforward.
• Server-side rendering— React offers server-side rendering, which is a great way to improve the SEO and performance of your applications.
• Compatibility— React can be easily integrated with other libraries and frameworks, making it a versatile choice for building complex web applications.
• Strong developer community— React has a large and active developer community, which means that there are plenty of resources available for learning and troubleshooting.
• One-way data flow— React follows a one-way data flow architecture, which makes it easier to manage and debug application state.
• Virtual DOM— React uses a virtual DOM (Document Object Model), which optimizes updates and improves app performance.

Stumbling Blocks, And Limitations Of Reactjs

Here are some of the disadvantages of this JavaScript library!

• The high Pace Of Development— Since constant changes are occurring in the framework, it might be an uphill task for developers to learn new things on a regular basis. Besides, they may not always be able to adapt to all the changes.
• Need For Another Technology— As Reactjs covers only the UI layers of applications, there’s always the need to select another technology for the rest part of the development.
• Poor Documentation— With fast and constant updation, proper documentation always remains a myth with Reactjs– as it isn’t easy to make. Poor documentation is another disadvantage of Reactjs.
• External Library Support— However, Reactjs supports a multitude of third-party libraries, and there are a limited number of native libraries for Reactjs. External libraries can allow developers to make use of HTML, And CSS functionalities and develop them into JSX, which has steep learning curves and complexities involved.

What’s React Native?

Let us begin by revealing the truth -React Native does not build a native app, albeit it can deliver an app that gives native-like experiences. We have explained and compared React Native vs Swift which you give your incisive analysis. As the name suggests, React Native combines the best parts of Native development with React. Simply put, React Native is written in JavaScript while the app is rendered in Native code, as the example suggests.

import React from 'react';
import {Text, View} from 'react-native';
import {Header} from './Header';
import {heading} from './Typography';

const WelcomeScreen = () => (
  Step One
      Edit App.js to change this screen and turn it
      into your app.
    See Your Changes
      Press Cmd + R inside the simulator to reload
      your app’s code.
    Debug
      Press Cmd + M or Shake your device to open the
      React Native Debug Menu.
    Learn
      Read the docs to discover what to do next:
    
);

Now, we have React Native to explore. Similar to Reactjs, React Nativeis an open-source framework created by Facebook. The framework got launched in 2015 and became one of the best frameworks for building native mobile applications that run on multiple platforms.

React Native provides reusable components competent enough to run on various platforms. Using this framework, organizations across the globe can build applications for platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows, and so on with reduced hassle.

Top Applications Built Using React Native

React Native is developed with the intent to be used to develop UI components for mobile apps. The framework powers more than 25,000 applications across the world. Some of the popular applications developed using React Native are:

• Facebook Ads
• Walmart
• SoundCloud
• Bloomberg

Need more clarification about React Native? Keep worries aside! We’ve already done a detailed analysis and suggested the top 10 reasons to use React Native for app development, where you can find the answers to most of your questions.

Advantages Of React Native

• Reliability
• Native experience
• Less development time
• Platform-specific code
• Ready to use UI libraries
• Extensive community support
• Accelerated MVPs development

Take a look at some of the advantages of using React Native!

• Reliability— A reliable framework developed by Facebook with the most preferred programming language (JavaScript) in the world. You can count on it for amazing more exceptional functionality.
• Native Experience— One of the biggest advantages of using React Native is that it provides the next level of a native experience. The framework provides equal stability and fluidity irrespective of the platforms.
• Less Development Time— React Native supports hot reloading features. Hot reloading enables you to see the changes you made in the code with no need to load your entire application. It accelerates the development process while lessening the time invested in development.
• Platform-Specific Code— One of the significant advantages of React Native is the capability to generate platform-specific codes. When you use this framework to build an application, it detects the platform it runs on. In this way, it generates the appropriate code for the right platform.
• Ready To Use UI Libraries— React Native has component UI libraries that can be used to get an unparalleled UI experience. UI libraries, including Native Base, Shoutem, Expo, and so on, eliminate the need to develop apps from scratch, saving a massive amount of time that can be spent on resolving other issues.
• Extensive Community Support— React Native is backed by a wider community. This means you can find any answer you need in a heartbeat reducing the time and effort associated with app development.
• Accelerated MVPs development— Because of its inherent cross-platform approach, React Native enables you to develop MVPs for both Android and iOS in a reduced amount of time and expense. Furthermore, the maintenance of MVPs is also faster and cost-effective for its users.

Stumbling Blocks And Limitations Of React Native

• New & Immature— React Native is still new and immature compared to other tech stacks. The framework is still in its improvement stage, which has a negative influence on the applications.
• Lower Performance Compared To Native— React Native is inefficient in squeezing specific platforms’ capability. A native app can maximize performance and functionality to deliver a high-end user experience. React Native is considerably slower than a native app.
• More Time To Initialize— Another drawback of React Native is it takes a long time to initialize the runtime for devices. That’s because the JavaScript thread takes more time to initialize.
• Lack Of Native Library— It’s another disadvantage of React Native. Because of lacking a native library, the framework is likely to slow down the development process when you have an app wit