Most software developers and companies are familiar with the popular programming languages and frameworks such as Java, Python, PHP, etc.
One of the most talked-about web frameworks at the moment is ReactJS, with over 40% developers preferring to use it. SaaS-based products commonly use it to build user interfaces. Big companies that use ReactJS include Facebook and Instagram.
ReactJS is known for its large community constantly working on the framework to add more functionalities. It is best known for being an SPA framework, but you can also use it for server-side rendering. In this blog, we will discuss why ReactJS is the best fit for SaaS product development.
Top Features of ReactJS
1. Component structure
React is a JavaScript library that helps you build web apps with data-binding and a component hierarchy. It's important to understand the basics of components to understand how React works and how you can use it in your projects.
Components are the building blocks of React. They're reusable components that can be nested within other components to create a hierarchical structure (for example: "Header" contains "Navbar," which contains "Left Nav").
Components can also pass data down through their hierarchy using props (the equivalent of instance variables or properties). You can think of props as being like HTML attributes. They are immutable by default, but you can modify them by passing an object containing new values down from parent component(s) to child components.
2. JSX
JSX is a JavaScript syntax extension. It allows you to write HTML-like code in JavaScript. With JSX, you can create components by composing them from other components and expressing their state, properties, and behavior as properties. This makes it easy for others to understand your codebase and make changes when required.
3. One-way Data Binding
One-way data binding is a technique that uses force to update the view when the data changes. The advantage of one-way data binding over two-way data binding lies in its simplicity and performance. In two-way binding, when you change something in your model, you also need to bind it with a new value in your view.
So, with one-way data flow, you only have to set up changes from your model to your view—not vice versa. This means if someone adds an item into an array or removes it from an array by calling the delete method on the same array object itself. Then, you won't see any effect in your view.
There was no promise made during initialization time which ensures removal or addition of items into arrays etc.
Hence, they have not reflected on the DOM automatically.
4. Virtual DOM
As you may have noticed, ReactJS uses the concept of a Virtual DOM to do all its calculations. The Virtual DOM is a JavaScript object that represents the HTML DOM. It calculates the difference between the current and previous Virtual DOM.
The reason for using this approach is that it allows ReactJS to avoid modifying the real DOM unless necessary. That way, any changes made by ReactJS can be undone if need be—or another part of your application could overwrite them if you choose to do so (e.g., by setting state). This makes writing components considerably easier since you only need to worry about how they render data, not how they interact with other parts of your application or manipulate their data over time.
5. Performance
ReactJS is fast and efficient. It's one of the fastest frontend frameworks out there because it uses a virtual DOM to make your apps run faster. The virtual DOM means that ReactJS only updates the parts of the page that need to be updated, rather than repainting everything on your screen every time you act. This also helps reduce memory usage by storing only what's necessary at any given time in memory.
It also achieves this feat by being optimized for mobile devices—even before they were popular (we're talking about 2010 here). Its optimizations allow React apps to run as smoothly as native apps while maintaining cross-platform compatibility across all major browsers and devices.
6. Native Approach
The second feature that makes React so popular is the native approach to rendering. The "native approach" means that React can render HTML and other content without a browser, which means you can run React on the server. This has several benefits:
You can share code between the client and server, making it easier to manage your application.
Since React renders with JavaScript, it's easy to customize the user interface or create new components from scratch.
Top Reasons for Using ReactJS for SaaS Product Development
Talk about some startup scenarios where it becomes necessary to choose something like React. This is bland.
1. Open Source
React is free to use and licensed under the MIT license, meaning you can use it for whatever you want. Facebook maintains the library and provides an ecosystem of tools and services around it. Still, the core library is open source and maintained by Facebook, individual developers in the community, and other companies like Instagram, Netflix, and Airbnb (all of which are on Github).
2. Easily scalable
Scalability is a key aspect of any SaaS product, and ReactJS makes it easy for you to expand your offerings without overhauling the entire app. This is because ReactJS allows developers to create self-contained components that you can reuse throughout the application.
For example, suppose you want to add a new feature that displays charts in real-time. In that case, you must build this charting feature once and then reuse it multiple times across your application. You can do it without having to rewrite any code or change existing functionality.
With this approach, you can save time and increase scalability. You can ensure that each component has responsibilities and can be independently tested and maintained. It is easily attainable while providing seamless interaction with other parts of your system.
3. SEO
To stay one step ahead of the competition, your Google rankings and user experience must be appealing to users. The faster rendering speed of React allows your webpage to load up more quickly and optimize based on the amount of traffic you are getting.
One of the essential aspects of customer satisfaction is that a webpage will load entirely in a matter of seconds. This is a highly competitive area that many corporations try to achieve, and having a system that can manage high-volume websites will increase your chances of not being left behind.
4. Full flexibility with an awesome interface
ReactJS is not a framework. It is a library. This means that you can use React without any additional libraries or frameworks. It is also very small and lightweight, so it does not cause any performance issues.
ReactJS is the view layer, not the entire front end. React focuses on user interface and interaction with the user but doesn't include anything else in its core implementation like routing, state management, etc.
You need to use other libraries or frameworks such as Redux or Mobx for these purposes (but again, those are just libraries).
ReactJS is a pure JavaScript library developed at Facebook in 2011 by Jordan Walke, who worked on it along with Instagram's team. He made it an open-source platform on which to build after creating their version, Falcor (still used by them today).
ReactJS works by setting up an initial component tree consisting of React components and other parts such as HTML elements or text contained within them (in case you need them). Once this setup has been created using JSX syntax, which allows you to mix HTML markup inside your JavaScript code. The next step would be to render this component tree into a DOM element using the "render()" method provided by the react-dom package, which takes care of rendering everything inside the browser.
5. Server side rendering compatibility
React is compatible with server-side rendering, meaning you can render your components on the server. This way, when a user visits your site for the first time, their experience will be much better than waiting for Javascript to load. This is especially true when many people visit your website at once (e.g., during launch).
Isomorphic rendering: Another option is to use an isomorphic architecture where both sides of your application execute in Node and communicate via events/data over a REST API (or GraphQL if you want). You can also use a SPA framework like Angular or React without worrying about whether it's being rendered on the front or backend because everything gets rendered on both sides.
Universal Rendering: Universal rendering allows you to extend your apps across all devices—mobile phones, laptops, and even TVs—by creating one codebase that will work perfectly well everywhere, regardless of what device someone uses.
6. Virtual DOM
The virtual DOM is a JavaScript object that represents the HTML document and is used to render it. It's also what you use to compare the old version of your HTML document with the new version of your HTML document.
The library uses the concept of components to build the GUI. Components used in ReactJS are similar to multiple pages loaded in the browser. Hence it's called "Virtual DOM." Every change made in the UI after the initial page load takes place in this virtual DOM. Hence, only affected parts of the DOM are updated, which helps in the pages' faster rendering.
The Virtual DOM makes ReactJS more efficient than its counterparts, such as AngularJS and VueJS. ReactJS uses one-way reactive data binding, whereas other frameworks use two-way data binding, which can be inefficient and slow down performance. It's because two-way communication requires data to travel back and forth between the client and server.
Wrapping Up
ReactJS is something that you should look into further. More and more companies are constantly using it. The benefits it provides shouldn't be ignored; new companies are developing apps around React almost daily.
ReactJS offers numerous advantages for SaaS product development. It's a popular, ever-evolving platform supported by a large and talented community of developers. It combines the performance of a mature library with the ease of use of a framework, making it an attractive solution for quickly getting your new app off the ground. If your business is considering launching a SaaS product in 2022, you may want to consider ReactJS as your frontend framework seriously.
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