React.js is a front-end JavaScript library that is used by lots of web developers around the globe. Although well-known tech giants like Instagram, Netflix, and Facebook use the library, it can also benefit web developers who are taking on smaller projects too. React offers users several advantages, which is why lots of folks prefer it over other popular frameworks like Angular.js.
The library was created to help build fast and interactive user interfaces, which can be used to develop and maintain websites and mobile applications. Jordan Walke, the software engineer behind the unique tool has been employed by Facebook for many years. Initially, it was introduced to help Facebook, but now it is readily available so others can benefit from it.
So, what is it that makes React so popular?
Brief History
The world’s most powerful and most popular social networking platform, Facebook, created React in 2011. Initially, Facebook planned on using it only on its platform, but in 2012, another well-known social media network also owned by Facebook called Instagram decided to use React.
A year later, Facebook made React open-sourced. Although a lot of developers didn’t like the tool because it used Javascript and Markup in a single file, it didn’t stop them from experimenting with it. After a while, they started to embrace it and found the tool beneficial.
In 2014, lots of well-established companies started to use React, and it began making a name for itself.
Today, it’s used by lots of well known companies everywhere, which encouraged Facebook to build a team of React developers. They spend each day upgrading React, fixing bugs, creating blog posts, and enhancing the popular tool.
Easy to Use
Unlike other frameworks, React is well designed and easy to use. If you have worked with JavaScript in the past, it shouldn’t take you long to master.
Creating complicated codes without React can take a lot of time. It doesn’t require a lot of coding to create dynamic web applications, and it functions well.
Finding React support is easy. There are several online React courses available, and there are tons of tutorials posted to streaming platforms like YouTube. If you have any questions about the tool, check out StackOverflow. Lots of web developers and experts post questions and answers on the platform, so you should have no problems finding solutions to any queries you might have.
Toolset
React also provides its users with a developer toolset. You can use the tool to help with design and debugging. You can also download a React browser extension that will run on popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox.
The toolset helps web developers to observe component hierarchies, find child and parent components, and lots more. The toolset is what makes React so easy to use, and makes learning React simple. This is one of the reasons why so many developers figure out how to master React in just a few days.
Community Support
There is a fantastic community that provides the tool with strong support. The community is focused on improving the frontend framework. There are over one thousand regular contributors on board to help React improve. React has also managed to attain over one hundred thousand stars on Github.
Millions of people have searched for free React tutorials on Google’s search engine. You will find a wealth of information about React online, and there are lots of sites dedicated to React development services. React experts regularly publish quality content online to help others use it.
SEO Friendly
User experience is of vital importance when it comes to your site’s ranking on major search engines. React is great at helping developers build interactive sites and apps that load and function quickly. Visitors to a site that has been built with React will find navigating through each page easy and fast. React helps increase the user’s overall experience on a website.
React provides users with a SPA, also known as Single Page Application. SPA requires Javascript to display the content found on the site. However, Google’s crawl bot is designed to detect the user’s experience, and it does so by scanning through pages added to Google’s search engine. In the past, it had difficulty understanding websites that contain Javascript in comparison to sites that use basic HTML coding. Luckily, for site owners that developed pages with Javascript, changes were made to Google’s crawl bot, and it now can render websites with Javascript.
It is important that you use tools that are SEO-friendly when it comes to developing websites. The higher your site is ranked on search engines like Google, the more organic visitors you will get. The popular tool has the ability to solve common SEO failures automatically, which is one of the reasons so many developers are taking React on board.
