Ever since a software engineer named Jordan Walke developed React.js in 2013 to make Facebook’s news feed, it has become a standard in website development.
React is an open-source JavaScript library for creating user interfaces that allows developers to create reusable React components that can also be combined to create user interfaces that are beautiful and complex.
It’s simple, but has been used to create many popular applications, like Netflix, Airbnb, and even Instagram.
It can even be used to create native apps on mobile devices.
As one of the most popular JavaScript libraries, here are some of the top uses for React.js.
Single page applications (SPAs)
Many apps are built with a single page that dynamically updates as a user interacts with the page.
These single page applications are ideal for React’s highly efficient update and rendering system.
With React, SPAs can have complex, interactive user interfaces with data that updates in real-time.
Mobile applications
Using React Native, developers can create robust mobile apps for iOS and Android by using a single JavaScript codebase.
Being able to reuse code significantly cuts down development time.
Typically, it would take more work and separate code bases to build apps for each operating system.
E-commerce websites
E-commerce websites have some pretty specific needs, and React can meet many of them. For example, React renders quickly and offers server-side rendering, which is excellent for search engine optimization (SEO). Since React is also ideal for interactive user interfaces, it’s a popular choice for business owners who want better user retention and higher conversion rates.
Social media platforms
There are many social media platforms currently built with React, including Facebook. The biggest draw for this use case is the real-time updates and interactive user interfaces, since that’s basically what social media is all about. On the back end, websites that have a high user engagement and dynamic content benefit greatly from the way React uses a virtual DOM to optimize updates while avoiding unnecessary re-renders.
Popular social media platforms that use React include:
- Facebook. Facebook uses React.js for news feeds, posts, comments, notifications, profiles, and a host of other interactive components. The Facebook mobile application is built using React Native. Since React was developed by Facebook, it should be no surprise that the company also uses it to power their internal dashboards and other tools employees use to run the business.
- Instagram. Considered one of the most impressive use cases for React, Instagram makes use of React in a wide range of features, including geolocations, increasing search engine accuracy, Google Maps APIs, and tags without hashtags attached. Since Instagram requires high performance, the server-side rendering plays a big role in an optimal user experience.
Content management systems
Approximately 67% of websites are built with a content management system (CMS). According to some data sources, that amounts to around 1.2 billion websites. Although only a handful of CMS platforms have the majority of the market share, like WordPress, Drupal, and Shopify, there’s always room for more. This is especially true when you need a way to manage content that exceeds the capabilities of pre-made solutions. React happens to be one of the best choices for creating enhanced user interfaces
Some business owners choose to create their own content management systems, either for their website or for their company’s intranet. There are many advantages to having a custom CMS developed compared to using an existing platform. The most important benefit being the ability to support specific workflow needs. A custom CMS can also provide you with features that don’t come with pre-made options. Sometimes it’s possible to add individual features to an open-source CMS, but you can’t easily change the UX/UI without a major overhaul.
The biggest benefit of using a custom CMS is related to its functionality. A typical CMS only serves a simple purpose, and that is to make it easy to manage all the pages and media on a basic website. However, a standard CMS isn’t capable of handling websites with more advanced functionality, like Facebook, for example. You can get plugins that will turn WordPress into a social media site, but it’s only surface-level and would be a disaster long-term.
If you need to build a high performance website, whether it’s a social media platform, an information repository, or an e-commerce store, it will require more work than a typical website. Trying to force an existing CMS into working for your needs will result in a sub-par product and will take you longer than having a custom CMS solution developed from scratch.
File management
Most people have at least one cloud data storage account, and React is an excellent choice for this type of platform. For example, React is the reason Dropbox was able to become a leader in the cloud-based storage industry. It’s not easy to manage large volumes of data while implementing updates, but React’s virtual DOM makes updates easy without compromising speed and flow. Most impressively, Dropbox uses React to make their services work on Internet Explorer 8, which ensures anyone using this outdated browser will still have access to their files. It’s hard to imagine anyone still using IE8, but apparently, it’s still in use on older machines.
Project management platforms
One of the main reasons developers choose React.js for project management platforms is being able to provide real-time changes as well as powerful user interfaces. While the best project management and task management applications appear simple on the surface, it takes a lot of planning and organizing on the back end to make it that smooth. Where a project management React app is concerned, React is commonly used to build the front end, while Node.js is used on the back end.
Collaboration tools with real-time syncing
Tools for collaboration are essential in today’s world, but it’s no longer acceptable to require a browser refresh for people to see updated content. That’s where React comes into play. Collaboration applications built with React, like chat applications, online editors, and even some task management solutions, are updated regularly without forcing a browser refresh. This feature is essential for ensuring all users see changes in real-time as they use the tool to collaborate.
WhatsApp and Skype both use React to build their user interfaces. For example, WhatsApp uses React in both its mobile app and desktop application, in addition to Electron.
Customer relationship management (CRM) applications
CRM applications are an essential part of how companies do business online, and you can’t have a good marketing strategy without one. React is one of the top choices for CRMs because it meets all the requirements of a good CRM, including an engaging user interface, real-time data, interactive elements, interactive dashboards, and more.
React is highly flexible, and pairs seamlessly with other web development resources, like Ruby on Rails, Go, and Node. Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of a React-powered CRM is the fast rendering.
Learning platforms
React is perfect for online learning platforms, whether it’s from an accredited institution, or a self-learning platform, like Skool, where anyone can create an account and start teaching what they know. Having a good user interface is crucial for e-learning sites, and React is often a developer’s first choice to build features like quizzes, interactive lessons, and interacting in real-time.
Both Codecademy and Khan Academy use React. For example, Khan Academy’s math keypad is bult using React components, which makes the functionality and design consistent no matter where you go on the site. Khan Academy actually migrated from Backbone.js to React when they realized it held so much more power.
Codecademy has been using React since 2014, and the company says it makes SEO easy for them and is compatible with legacy code. Despite React not being a full framework, it has the power to change the way React developers approach front-end web development.
Dashboards and data visualization
Whether you’re creating a dashboard for your employees or your clients, React makes dashboards and data visualization easy. The component-based architecture in your React library is what makes it possible to make dashboards interactive, which is a great complement to making real-time data available in graphs and charts.
Control panels for smart devices
Every smart device that connects to the IoT world has some sort of control panel, whether it’s built into the device or in a remote control. React’s super lightweight and component-based architecture makes it an excellent choice for IoT device control panels.
React is also in use by The New York Times, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Mail, The BBC, and National Geographic, which is perhaps one of the most impressive use cases. Essentially, National Geographic created an entirely new subscription platform using React. It was a complete overhaul for the entire user interface as well as the backend. The company researched user experience in-depth to find out how they should build their user interface, and React made it possible for them to create a simple, intuitive UX/UI. As a result, they increased their new customer acquisition by 20%, boosted revenue by 30%, and their application’s time-to-market shot up by 450%.
Developers love React
React is a powerful tool for developing a wide range of applications, from single-page apps to larger systems, like CRMs. It’s perfect for web developers who need to build interactive and robust applications with complex user interfaces and the ability to refresh in real-time for every user. React’s main superpower is enabling developers to create large web applications with continually-changing data without having to reload the page to get the new, updated data. It’s a simple, fast, and scalable JavaScript runtime that has been proven to support the needs of many web development projects.
Why do tech giants choose React to create their apps?
- Reusable components. React relies on a React component-based architecture, where each part encapsulates a specific function and can be used anywhere to create a consistent user experience. Reusable code also saves time, makes the development process more efficient, and allows for the creation of complex user interfaces.
- Cross-platform consistency. React JS can be used to build web apps or native mobile apps, which enhances consistency in the user experience across different platforms.
- Efficient updates. React’s virtual DOM (document object model) elements minimize direct DOM manipulation, which improves rendering performance. The result is a smoother user experience when updates take place.
- Integrations. React easily integrates with a range of existing architectures, frameworks, and libraries.
- Declarative syntax. With imperative UI components manipulation, developers have to figure out the details regarding how to achieve new states, and this process is complicated. React’s declarative syntax is more intuitive and only requires developers to focus on what the user interface should look like in different states. The main benefit here is cleaner code that reduces the chance of UI errors.
- Optimized performance. React provides lazy loading, memorization, and code splitting, which all contribute to an optimized performance.
- Developer tools. It’s easy to inspect hierarchies, debug, and track state changes with React’s developer tools. The result is fewer bugs and problems for users to deal with.
Although it’s not perfect, there’s no doubt that React JS will continue to be one of the top choices for web developers. React.js offers the flexibility needed to scale and the power required to create the complex, interactive interfaces people have come to expect from today’s software developers.
Make DEV your React.js development partner
If you’re looking for a React.js developer to create your React app, reach out to us and tell us about your project – we’d love to be your web development partner!
- How to Take on More High-Paying Marketing Web Design Projects With Ease - October 17, 2024
- Top Uses for React.js - October 1, 2024
- How to Choose the Right Bubble.io Developer for Your NoCode App - September 27, 2024
