In the exciting world of web development, it is essential to choose the right framework to build our applications, this essentiality makes it easier for developers to give the most impressive and responsive web result. Companies today want to develop high-quality web applications within a short period of time. As the world of the web continues experiencing an increase in recognition and demand, the number of tools and frameworks available simultaneously increases.
Many JavaScript frameworks are available today that you can choose from to implement a good web application. React and Vue are recognized as two of the most popular frameworks today in the web sphere. However, there is an underlying question that often arises, this question queries both frameworks as to which is the best option.
In this article, we will extensively compare Vue vs. React in a head-to-head comparison. So, if you’re a developer just starting a project, this guide will help you make the right decision. And if you’re a business owner looking to hire developers, this guide will inform your decision on what choice to make.
A Complete Comparison between React and Vue
In the developer community, VueJS and React JS are prominent front-end frameworks that alternate through the years at the top of the “most liked, adopted, or successful” list. While both technologies provide developers with a convenient method to build various web applications, each has its ideal usage scenarios and meets unique business requirements.
Why compare Vue vs. React in the first place? Time is the essential factor. Both models can provide comparable results, are popular in the neighborhood, and are employed by successful companies. However, they offer variations that affect the degree of difficulty, deployment duration, and best-usage scenarios.
As a programmer, you already understand that learning to code can seem complicated. However, you can avoid becoming a handyman with fragile experience by carefully choosing a few technologies to focus on.
Likewise, if you are a business or technical director, you must choose the best technology for your project to reduce future risks and eliminate unnecessary costs.
What is Vue?
Vue is a flexible and lightweight JavaScript-based framework that provides powerful web tools for developing cutting-edge modernist web designs. Vue is also considered a flexible and evolutionary JavaScript framework, as it allows changes to be made to an application’s code without affecting any fundamental characteristics, allowing the creation of a progressive UI. Vue’s high flexibility also provides custom modules and visual components to be added to the web application’s functionality.
History
Vue was designed by Evan You after collaborating with Google on several projects that used AngularJS. He later summarized his thought process as follows: “I figured, what if I could just isolate the part I liked about Angular and build something incredibly lightweight.” The project’s first source code commitment was in July 2013, and Vue was published in February of the following year.
What is React?
React is an open-source JavaScript library that can be used to create web applications with sophisticated user interfaces. React allows developers to build custom reusable components, enabling faster development times. Furthermore, its ability to load a web page quickly makes it even more search engine friendly. Overall, it’s an excellent library that encourages the creation of both simple and advanced enterprise applications.
History
Compared to AngularJS and Vue programming frameworks, React is the oldest JavaScript library. It was created by Facebook in 2013 as a tool to create a dynamic interface for various websites. The virtual DOM, which is a representation of DOM elements built with React components, is the foundation of React.
Vue vs React: Similarities
Let’s first start by looking at their characteristics before discussing their main distinctions.
- JavaScript
Let’s start with JavaScript as the first similarity in comparing Vue vs. React. Vue employs both ECMAScript 5 and 6, while React focuses on ECMAScript 6. Since there are techniques like Babel, it doesn’t matter much. But you can also employ ES5 with React.
- TypeScript
TypeScript is another similarity in comparing Vue vs. React. Regarding the code, it is essential to note that both React and Vue support TypeScript and dataflow.
- Rich frontend experiences
Both are excellent at creating fantastic user interfaces. In essence, we can use Vue and React to specify the user experience for a machine if it knows JavaScript. You can create React apps using React JS.
- Virtual DOM
The virtual DOM is another big similarity when comparing Vue vs. React. Both use Virtual DOM, a collection of procedures that allow you to speed up your front end by eliminating heavy DOM activity. You can use a minimal JavaScript entity that resembles the virtual DOM tree because of this.
- Component-based lightweight architectures
React and Vue have component-based architectures, they are fast and lightweight frameworks. They offer lifetime functions. Given how similar they work, the variations are too small to mention. Both approaches can be used even if a web application is not a single-page application. Experienced developers can use these frameworks to develop high-quality mobile apps.
- Large and active communities
React and Vue have sizable active communities, another big similarity when comparing Vue vs. React. They also have an abundance of handy tools and resources.
Vue vs React: Differences
Let’s take a look at the differences in comparing Vue vs. React.
- Language
React is written in pure JavaScript, while Vue is written in JavaScript with HTML-based template syntax.
- Architecture
React is a library that focuses on building user interfaces, while Vue is a comprehensive framework that provides a complete framework for application development.
- Responsiveness
The two frameworks use different approaches to managing responsiveness. React uses a prop-based approach, while Vue uses an observer-based reactivity system.
- Dataflow Libraries
One key difference in comparing Vue vs. React is that both are paired with different data flow libraries. The React dataflow library is called Redux and the Vue dataflow library is called Vuex, which allows you to organize the maintenance of application state management.
- State Management
Another distinction in the Vue vs. React comparison we’ll talk about is state management. User state management is not something React JS can provide. Redux can be used as a state management tool when dealing with React applications. Redux can also be used to build React apps as a state management tool. While VueJS offers a state management tool for the Vue team.
- Scalability
When considering the use of React over Vue for large applications, React has an advantage, due to its scalability and lightness. This is because React applications only use JavaScript (JSX) as well as the ability to reuse existing components.
VueJS is also scalable, but it’s more often used for small applications (although the size of the application depends of course on the architecture). Due to its dynamic architecture, we often have to use external Vue.js libraries to overcome certain limits of the framework.
- Flexibility
React only offers basic functionality which can then be extended with plugins. This offers a lot of flexibility to developers who can then choose the libs to implement. So, to handle things like routing, server-side rendering, or mobile app development, you’ll have to go through additional libs. Unlike React, Vue offers a richer toolset that allows developers to do a lot more without using additional libs.
- Template Management
Vue and React do not handle templates in the same way. React only uses JSX. This means that HTML and CSS are produced from JavaScript. You have to see JSX as a full-fledged development language that is perfectly integrated into modern IDEs.
For VueJS, the approach is a little more traditional with single components and separate blocks for HTML, CSS, and JS templates. This separation is more natural and facilitates, for example, the migration of an existing project to Vue. Vue of course allows you to use SCSS instead of raw CSS, to pre-process your code or simply to dispense with templates to code everything in JSX.
- Mobile development
To create reaction apps like mobile apps, reaction programmers use React Native. In particular, cross-platform app development uses React Native. However, Vue leverages NativeScript to build cross-platform apps.
Similar tasks are performed by NativeScripts and React Native respectively. However, NativeScripts apps work much better than React Native apps. Experienced developers can quickly customize parts and give them a great look using React Native.
- Community Support
React, the JavaScript library, benefits from strong backing by Facebook, the world’s largest social media platform. This advantage stems from the presence of a dedicated team within Facebook, whose primary focus is the continuous development and improvement of React. As a result, numerous internal Facebook products are built using React.js.
Due to Facebook’s substantial involvement in React’s development, implementation, and promotion, the library has gained widespread attention and popularity worldwide throughout its existence.
In contrast, Vue.js lacks support from a major organization like React’s association with Facebook. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean Vue lacks community support or popularity. The Vue community, though not as large as React’s, is vibrant and engaged.
Vue emerged around 9 months after the introduction of React and initially gained popularity primarily in its home country, China. However, it gradually built a loyal global audience over the following years and is now on a path to success.
Advantages of Vue vs. React
Again, we must emphasize the terminological distinction when discussing the primary merits in comparing Vue vs. React.
- React JS is a library, while Vue is a JavaScript framework.
- Prebuilt and counterpart tools are other areas where React and Vue diverge. DOM interaction, declarative component programming, and competency-based architecture are all features of React. All additional resources are created and maintained by community members.
- Vue uses SFC (Single File Component) to build components while React employs JSX as a component format.
- The method used to render data to the Document Object Model also differs. While React makes excellent use of JSX, Vue also employs HTML templates.
Disadvantages of Vue vs. React
As with all technologies, both Vue and React have their share of weaknesses. Below are some of the drawbacks of each.
The biggest disadvantages of Vue include:
- Two-way link challenges
- Mobile support challenges
- limited plugins
- limited scalability
- Programmers with limited experience
- Too much flexibility in coding
- Community use has some limitations
The biggest disadvantages of React include:
- Due to the rapid pace of growth, the environment is always changing, which makes it difficult for programmers to adapt.
- With such a quick update and acceleration, good documentation is hard to come by.
- ReactJS only handles the app’s UI layers, so you’ll need to use other tools for other parts of the development.
- If there are many templates and they overlap, JSX can be confusing.
Conclusion
In terms of their respective use cases, React and Vue are pretty spectacular. You’ll want to figure out what your use case is and then match it to the features of those platforms.
React is a tried and true leader with enterprise backing and a large open-source group. The library is more scalable, allowing you to build more complicated enterprise-level applications. As a library, React allows its users extra options, such as manual rendering. It makes extensive use of functional programming techniques, as evidenced by the manipulation of library state and interaction between components.
Vue is a growing sensation of cutting-edge development. It features a more classic syntax, which makes porting existing projects to Vue easier. It has the best documentation in the industry. The core team has added more built-in functionality and partner libraries to Vue as a framework. This simplifies the development process to go more easily.
Which do you plan to use for your next project — Vue or React? Whatever choice you make, we have a team of developers at Hidden Brains who are ready to jump into your project and sprinkle their expertise on it.
Want to hire our Vue developers? Click here: https://www.hiddenbrains.com/vue-js-development.html
Need React developers at the moment? Go to: https://www.hiddenbrains.com/hire-reactjs-developers.html
