ReactJS vs React Native – Key Difference, Advantages, and Disadvantages

Web development is a very important concept in the 21st century. Every business, product developer, support provider, or marketer needs a website or a web application to interact with customers and share their brand, product, or service with the world. With such a high significance, it is important that you know the top formations of the day and how they compare to each other. JavaScript has been an important part of web development since its inception. React and React Native are among the top JavaScript frameworks that have taken the world by storm and created several trends, jobs, and aesthetically pleasing websites! It is essential that you understand the comparison between ReactJS vs React Native.

Difference Between ReactJS and React Native

ReactJS vs React Native

ReactJS vs React Native: Installation Process

ReactJS is a JavaScript library used on any web platform. It is easy to set up and get started with and has a large community of users and developers. Learn about React certification here.  

However, ReactJS does not natively support mobile devices, so you will need to use a third-party toolkit like React Native or Cordova to create mobile apps with ReactJS.  

On the other hand, React Native is a mobile-specific framework that can create cross-platform apps. It is more difficult to set up than ReactJS. Still, it provides better performance and a more consistent user experience across platforms. 

ReactJS vs React Native: Efficiency   

ReactJS is considered more efficient than React Native when displaying dynamic content. It is because ReactJS uses a virtual DOM (Document Object Model) that allows faster rendering times.  

Conversely, React Native uses a real DOM, which can slow down performance when rendering complex pages.  

In addition, ReactJS is more lightweight than React Native, which can further improve efficiency.  

As a result, if you are looking for the most efficient option, ReactJS is the way to go. 

ReactJS vs React Native: Technology Base

Regarding the technology base, ReactJS and React Native differences are as follows.  

ReactJS is based on JavaScript, while React Native is based on Objective-C or Java. This can significantly affect performance, as native code is faster than interpreted code.  

In addition, ReactJS uses a virtual DOM, which can be slower than working with the actual DOM API. However, this trade-off is worth it for virtual DOM's increased flexibility. 

ReactJS vs React Native: Feasibility   

ReactJS is a framework that is well-suited for developing web applications. On the other hand, React Native is better suited for mobile app development.  

However, both frameworks are still viable choices for application development, depending on the project requirements. 

ReactJS vs React Native: Compatibility   

ReactJS is a JavaScript library used for building user interfaces and is compatible with a broad range of browsers, including Internet Explorer. In contrast, React Native is a framework used to develop native mobile apps. It is only compatible with the two major mobile platforms, iOS, and Android. It provides a better user experience thanks to its native components. 

ReactJS vs React Native: Navigation   

ReactJS uses a traditional browser-based approach, while React Native relies on native platform navigational components. This can impact the overall user experience, as well as the development process itself.  

ReactJS is more suited for applications that will be used primarily in a web browser. At the same time, React Native is a better choice for creating native mobile applications.  

However, some hybrid approaches combine elements of both frameworks, so the decision of which to use is only sometimes clear-cut.  

The best way to choose between ReactJS and React Native is to evaluate the project's specific needs and determine which framework will provide the best overall experience for users. 

ReactJS vs React Native: Storage   

ReactJS is a good choice for projects that require high-performance storage, such as dynamic web applications.  

It is also a good choice if you need to store large amounts of data. However, ReactJS can be difficult to scale, so it is not the best choice for large projects.  

React Native is a better choice for projects that need to be able to scale easily. It also has better support for offline storage and cross-platform compatibility. 

ReactJS vs React Native: Search Engine-friendly 

ReactJS is more search engine friendly than React Native. This is due to several factors, including the fact that ReactJS uses standard HTML tags, which are easier for search engines to index.  

ReactJS code is typically more organized and easier to read than React Native code, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index.  

However, this does not mean React Native cannot be made search engine friendly - achieving good SEO with this framework is more challenging.

What is ReactJS?

ReactJS is a JavaScript library that combines the speed of JavaScript and a new way of rendering web pages, making them highly dynamic and responsive to user input. As a result, this product significantly changed the development approach of Facebook. After the library was released as an open-source JavaScript tool in 2013, it became prevalent due to its revolutionary approach to UI programming, leading to a long-standing relationship between React and Angular, another popular web development tool.

What is React Native?

Two years after releasing ReactJS as an open-source tool, Facebook engineers introduced React Native, a hybrid app development framework for iOS and Android. The tool was based on the same principles as ReactJS and was soon accepted by the engineering community and companies adhering to the mobile-first strategy.

React Native is a cross-platform mobile framework that uses ReactJs to build unique websites and applications. It helps your developers to build mobile apps by compiling native app components into JavaScript, having the ability to run on various platforms like Android, Windows, iOS.

The more exciting part is that React Native builds the Reactjs framework under its own framework and Reactjs helps build components with React Native.

Introduction to React Native

Many people use React Native, from beginners who have just started their career in programming to advanced iOS developers. React Native is a framework developed by Facebook for creating native-style apps for iOS and Android under a common language, JavaScript. Facebook only introduced React Native to support its iOS system for the first time. However, with its recent (January 20, 2021) support for the Android operating system, the library can now offer mobile UIs for both platforms.

Features of React Native

Platform-Specific Code: One of the significant benefits of using React Native is writing platform-specific code for developing custom business applications and websites. As a framework, React Native automatically builds the application by detecting the platform it runs on. This helps your business build the correct code for the right platform, thereby improving your development process.

Accelerated Application Development: Most of the code available in React Native is JavaScript which helps front-end developers to build applications faster. With such a web development framework, developers only have to learn about the platform API, platform-centric design, some native user interface elements, and JavaScript. Even if you are not a great developer, you can quickly get started with React Native and turn your business idea into tangible reality.

Hot Reloading Feature: With React Native, your development team will gain the ability to reload a mobile application seamlessly. This gives your business enough freedom to lift the loading time and user experience.

Intuitive UI Experience: The React Native Framework consists of component UI libraries that businesses can use to provide a seamless UI experience to their users. Sharing UI libraries like Expo, Shout On, etc., saves a lot of time to build them from the beginning. Using React Native lets you focus entirely on innovation. Instead of curating libraries from scratch, you can focus on building your business.

Components of React

React allows you to reuse code components at different levels, saving time. The designers constantly reuse the same assets. If they didn't, they would have to make a company logo, for instance, over and over again. It's clear: reusing components is a design efficiency. In programming, this process is a bit more complicated. System upgrades often become a headache, as each change can affect the performance of other system components.

It is easier for developers to manage updates because all ReactJS components are isolated, and changes made in one do not affect the others. This makes it possible to reuse components that do not change to make programming more accurate, ergonomic, and comfortable for developers.

Data workflow in ReactJS

ReactJS allows working with other components directly and uses data backlinking to ensure that child structures do not affect their parents. This makes the code stable.

The most complex view model systems of JS representations have an important but understandable flaw - the data flow structure. For example, in a view model system, child elements can affect the parent if they are changed. Facebook removed these issues in React JS, making them only visible.

Instead of using explicit data binding, ReactJS uses the data flow in one direction-down, meaning a structure of child elements cannot affect the parent elements. Thus, only a developer needs to change its state and apply updates to modify an object. Accordingly, only authorized components will be upgraded.

Usage of React Native

Applications developed on React Native work well with Android and iOS systems. React Native provides cross-platform accessibility, and that is the best part. Let's look at some more reasons why people like to use React Native:

1. Live Reloading

One interesting feature of React Native is the availability of live reloading. Any changes you make to the application's code will be replaced during the development process. Any changes in logic are recorded on the screen, and you can see these changes almost immediately.

2. Strong performance capability

React Native strongly caters to the needs of developers working on mobile applications. It provides a framework for improved performance using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).

3. Budget-friendly and saves cost

Like React JS, React Native can also reuse code components. Reuse would mean that it would save a lot of time and money needed to develop an application from scratch.

4. Community Driven

React Native was developed through a developer's community hackathon. This means that the framework is constantly developed and supported by the community. The presence of a team helps to structure expertise from diverse minds.

Expo and React Native

Expo is a universal React app building platform that helps you rapidly develop, build, deploy and iterate mobile apps. It provides a range of tools that make developing with React Native simpler. Although you don’t require Expo to build React Native apps, it helps developers remove the need for basic native knowledge.

• Expo Go is an app that you can download to your phone to "see" your app in development.
• Expo CLI is a tool to build, manage and develop your apps.
• The Expo SDK is a set of modular packages that access native APIs such as Camera and Notifications.
• Expo Snack refers to a web-based playground. You can write and run React Native snippets in the browser.

You will sometimes see a mention of Expo in the React Native documentation. It's the easiest way to start building your app, and there's no lock-in. Once you get started with Expo, you can always eject back into React Native.

How does this work?

Two important threads run in every React Native application. One of them is the main thread, which runs in every standard native app. It displays the elements of the user interface and processes user gestures.

The second one is specific to React Native. Its function is to execute JavaScript code in a separate JavaScript engine. JavaScript is used to deal with the business logic of the app. It also defines the structure and functionality of the user interface. These two threads never communicate directly and block each other.

Advantages of using React Native

• To avoid separate development, the logic layer can be reused to build the same app for both Android and iOS.
• React Native renders some code components with native APIs.
• If you know how to work with JavaScript, then you can easily work with React Native.
• To repair old applications, you only need to add React Native UI components, and there is no need to rewrite them.
• React Native adds React to applications, allowing easy use across various tools.
• It helps in creating an effective user experience without much effort.

React Native VS React.js: Applications

Famous applications using React and React.js

Statistics

How are they similar?  

ReactJS and React Native are two popular choices for building user interfaces. Both frameworks are based on React, a JavaScript library created by Facebook. As a result, there are many similarities between ReactJS and React Native. To learn more about similarities or differences, click on upGrad React Certification. Here are six key ways in which these two frameworks are similar: 

• ReactJS and React Native use declarative syntax, making code easy to read and understand. 
• Both frameworks support using components that can be reused throughout an application. 
• Both frameworks offer a virtual DOM, which improves performance by batching updates. 
• ReactJS and React Native are open-source, meaning they can be used without incurring costs. 
• Both frameworks have large ecosystems with many available plugins and tools. 
• Finally, both ReactJS and React Native is backed by strong community support. 

React Native for a Mobile-First World

The main reasons to consider using React Native technology are the low app development cost and the potential for rapid application development. React Native works well if you are looking to build a single mobile application for two platforms, such as iOS, and Android, where speed of operation is not important.

Since React Native enables rapid application development, it is also a good tool for prototyping and rapidly delivering the idea to the market for business validation.

Another advantage of this framework is that it allows us to provide new functionality on supported platforms quickly.

React Native uses the popular JavaScript language and ReactJS framework, which means that the number of experienced software developers available in the market is huge.