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The difference between React JS and React Native

React JS

Released in 2011, the first version of React was developed by the Instagram team with the goal of creating a technology that would make it possible—through a single codebase—to build native apps for iOS and Android.

Given that, React is classified as a library that uses JavaScript—one of the main technologies in the web development ecosystem.

Today, React is one of the most sought-after libraries in front-end development, aiming to create user interfaces (UI) by representing the “views” of an application.

Representing “views” means the library focuses on organizing and presenting the latest screens to the user, without having to handle everything else directly.

In addition to enabling high-performance sites, React is flexible and allows code to be separated into reusable components. HTML code can be distributed across a site, making work easier and reducing development timelines.

One advantage worth highlighting is how React works with the DOM (Document Object Model), updating components according to their state. In a traditional application, the developer would have to figure out what data changed and then manually update the DOM.

With React, it’s possible to work with a virtual DOM. Every time a component is rendered, React updates the DOM based on the changes—faster and more efficiently.

Based on these procedures for building websites, it’s also possible to build native applications through React Native—another important advantage—targeting both iOS and Android.

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React Native

Released in 2015, the first version of React Native was developed by Facebook engineers with the goal of creating a fast and responsive technology.

React Native allows a single codebase—written in JavaScript—to create native applications for iOS and Android, similar to React JS.

The code is converted into the native language of the operating system, providing a mobile and accessible structure. It also allows developers to contribute to the project in an open-source model.

React Native uses JSX, a JavaScript extension used to define layouts in an HTML-like syntax. Changes made in this platform cause constant updates in the data flow.

As a responsive technology, React Native changed the development experience by providing access to interface components.

For native users, this characteristic made it easier to apply layout styles across different mobile platforms and also brought performance benefits.

To understand React Native, it’s useful to understand the difference between native and hybrid applications:

- Native applications are developed for each platform using system-specific code (Android, iOS, etc.). They are characterized by speed and optimized performance on mobile devices.

- Hybrid applications, in turn, use web technologies and are developed to run across different platforms—for example, React Native as a specific framework.

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- Custom software: 5 advantages for your company