A Complete Comparison of React vs React Native for Modern Apps

The decision about which framework to select will influence your development process and can lead to higher productivity or wasted time and cost. While these frameworks share similar architectural principles though code cannot be directly reused across platforms without significant rewriting. 

React is the most widely used JavaScript library in the world with an great adoption rate of 44.7% among developers supported by a strong ecosystem that improves scalability, reusability and overall performance.

On the other hand, React Native is a new technology but fast growing platform that enables developers to build mobile apps using JavaScript and run them effectively across multiple platforms making it growingly practical choice for cross platform development.

React: Understanding Overview, Advantages and Limitations

React is one of the most popular JavaScript libraries that developers use for developing modern web apps. In this section we will understand what React is with its pros and cons so that you can get a clear picture about its application in practical programming scenarios.

What is React?

React is a library of JavaScript built by Meta to build user interfaces especially for web apps. The library works on a component based design where the interface is divided into components that are reusable to simplify the creation, management and scalability of the application.

Advantages of React

• Reusable Components: React allows developers to create small UI pieces that can be reused throughout the app that reduces repetition of code and reduces development time.
• Virtual DOM: React only modifies the parts of the user interface that require modification. This increases efficiency and maintains interactivity.
• Strong Community Support: The large community of developers helps to solve problems and provide other support.
• Easier Maintenance: The component based approach that keeps the source code more organized, making coding much easier.
• Rich Ecosystem & Flexibility: React has an extensive ecosystem and offers great flexibility in building various kinds of applications.
• Fast Rendering Performance: React updates only the required parts of the UI which results in faster rendering performance

Limitations of React

• Fast Changing Ecosystem: Due to regular updates, Developers need to learn continuously about new technologies and approaches.
• Steep Learning Curve: The fundamentals are easy to understand but more complex topics like hooks and state require more effort.
• UI Focused Library: React manages only the user interface side which means that developers must rely on other libraries for tasks like routing and state.
• Documentation Consistency: Documentation changes with time that means developers must check whether the sources are up to date.

Also Read: Why React JS Is A Picture Perfect Choice For Enterprise App Development?

React Native: Understanding Overview, Advantages and Limitations

React Native is one of the most popular frameworks that enables users to develop mobile applications through JavaScript and React technologies. This part will define React Native and discuss its major benefits and drawbacks.

What Is React Native?

React Native is an open source framework developed by Meta for creating mobile applications for the iOS and Android platforms with one set of code. In other words, developers do not have to write separate codes for each platform but utilize reusable components to create mobile applications.

Advantages of React Native

• Single Codebase: A single codebase applies to both iOS and Android that saves time.
• Reusable Components: You can reuse the components throughout your application.
• Strong Community Support: A large community presence is beneficial for getting help when needed.
• Cost Effective Development: It is cheaper to develop on multiple platforms using a single team.
• Hot Reloading: You can see the results immediately without recompiling the application.

Limitations of React Native

• Performance Constraints: May not perform as well as fully native apps in complex or high performance situations. 
• Dependency on Native Modules: A good understanding of native code is required for advanced features. 
• Debugging Complexity: Troubleshooting requires Knowledge of JavaScript and Native Code. It’s quite complicated. 
• Limited Native API Access: Some APIs are not natively available and may require custom or third party solutions. 

Also Read: Why Is React Native Good For Mobile App Development?

Differences Between ReactJS and React Native

While ReactJS and React Native follow identical concepts, they target two different platforms, one is web development and second is mobile app development. The differences are explained below.

ReactJS vs React Native Comparison

Key Insights

ReactJS is the preferred choice for building fast and scalable web applications, while React Native is better suited for mobile apps that need cross platform development with near native performance.

How ReactJS and React Native Differ in Architecture

ReactJS and React Native use the component based approach, they are designed for different environments which changes how they render and update the user interface. Web applications run on a browser but React Native applications run on a mobile runtime for iOS and Android.

It is important to understand the architecture of UI definitions as a process flow instead of only looking at their definitions in isolation.

Architecture Flow of ReactJS (Web)

• The React code executes in the browser environment.
• The HTML-based structure and CSS styling build the UI.
• A Virtual DOM is made in-memory to represent the UI.
• When data is modified, React checks the Virtual DOM with the real DOM.
• The browser only re renders the sections of the page that have changed.

This makes ReactJS an efficient choice for dynamically updating webpages.

Architecture Flow of React Native (Mobile)

• React code runs in a mobile environment instead of the browser
• The UI is created using native components of iOS and Android
• The JavaScript code interacts with native modules through a bridge
• The bridge receives commands for rendering native UI components
• Finally, the result appears similar to a native mobile app

This is how React Native achieves native like features despite using JavaScript.

Difference Between Core Architecture

• ReactJS uses the browser Virtual DOM for updates.
• React Native utilizes a bridge to communicate with native components on mobile.

Need expert help building your React or React Native app?

eSparkBiz delivers experienced developers to help you build scalable web and mobile applications faster.

Talk to our Expert →

Which One Should You Choose: ReactJS or React Native?

Selecting between ReactJS and React Native ultimately depends on what kind of product you plan to create and on which platform the application will run.

For developing web-based applications such as dashboards, SaaS products, online stores or other similar products ReactJS is a perfect fit. The framework is specially made to provide fast and responsive user experience on web based interfaces.

React Native would be the most suitable choice if your intention is to develop mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms. Such an option would be beneficial in case you want to build a social network, food or package delivery service, booking system etc.

In brief ReactJS is ideal for web based products whereas React Native is more suitable for mobile applications.

Learning Curve for ReactJS and React Native

The information about the learning curve helps the developers to start learning the frameworks from the point they need to begin based on their goals. Although these frameworks are based on similar technology still there will be some difference in terms of the learning process with them.

Steps to Learning ReactJS

Begin with JavaScript essentials then understand how UI is built using components and data flow. Move on to handling logic with hooks and managing multi page navigation.

1. JavaScript Fundamentals
Start by learning the basics of JavaScript including variables, functions, arrays, objects and ES6 syntax because ReactJS is based on modern JavaScript.

2. React Basics
Learn how you can use components to create an interface and how to pass data by the props. You should learn how you can manage dynamics in the interface using state.

3. Hooks and Component Logic
Learn about hooks like useState and useEffect that can help in handling the state and side effects in the functional components.

4. Routing and Navigation
Learn routing and navigation among components and routes to navigate between pages.

5. Application Structure and Scaling
Learn how you can design applications and manage state when scaling applications.

Steps to Learning React Native

Start with React basics then shift to mobile specific UI building blocks. After that focus on screen navigation, platform behavior and access to device capabilities.

1. JavaScript and React Basics
Start with the basics of JavaScript and react concepts such as component, prop, state and hook because React Native is based on them.

2. Mobile UI Components
Study React Native components including View, Text, Image and ScrollView rather than HTML tags commonly used in web development.

3. Navigation System
Learn how to navigate between screens of mobile applications using stacks, tabs and other navigation components.

4. Platform Differences (iOS vs Android)
Familiarize yourself with platform specific behavior of UI and learn how to handle it with a single codebase.

5. Device Features and Native Modules
Develop skills for interacting with device hardware like camera, GPS and file system access and learn how to implement native code modules.

Common Mistakes Developers Make When Choosing

The decision to select ReactJS or React Native often comes with mistakes that can cause problems for developers.

• Picking React Native simply because it works on both iOS and Android devices regardless of the application’s complexity.
• Thinking that ReactJS codes can be easily ported into a mobile application which cannot happen as mobile applications have a different user interface.
• Neglecting the aspects of long term support and differences in ecosystems prior to beginning development.
• Failure to evaluate whether the application is primarily web based or mobile based before making a decision on which framework to use
• Thinking that ReactJS and React Native can be used interchangeably because of their similarities

How ReactJS and React Native Are Supported by Their Ecosystems

The ecosystem and community help in efficiently creating and maintaining applications. Both ReactJS and React Native have been supported by Meta Inc., but there exists a difference between their ecosystems.

ReactJS Ecosystem & Community

• ReactJS has a very developed ecosystem owing to its popularity and use over many years. There are plenty of external libraries that cater to routing, state management, UI frameworks, form and data handling among other aspects.
• The community is huge in size and comprises several million people, all actively developing ReactJS through open source and updating regularly.
• ReactJS is used in numerous enterprise level products such as Meta, Netflix, and Airbnb which implies advanced tools and performance optimization in the development process.

React Native Ecosystem & Community

• React Native has an emerging ecosystem centered around mobile application development, providing various navigation, animation, gesture and UI libraries. It also supports device integration capabilities such as camera, GPS, and storage operations.
• The React Native community has grown over the years due to the emergence of mobile first companies that develop cross platform applications using React Native.
• React Native is used in many enterprise level software applications like Facebook, Instagram and Walmart that means it involves advanced tools for developing efficient mobile applications.
  

Planning your next web or mobile app project?

Choose the right tech stack between React and React Native to reduce development time and improve performance.

View Development Options →