Last updated on September 3rd, 2022 at 08:31 am
Vue.js and React.js development services are increasingly growing in popularity in the modern software engineering world. Each provides developers with an efficient approach to creating different web applications. At the same time, both have their own best use cases and satisfy various business requirements. That is why it will be helpful to compare these two technologies. Of course, Vue.js and React.js can show similar results. Although successful software companies like Exoft utilize both, they differ in terms of the learning curve, implementation time, and perfect use cases. Below, we will compare these frameworks and define the perks making them unique.
Vue.js story
Vue.js was created and released by engineer Evan You in 2014. The key objective of the relevant open-source frontend framework was to enhance the already existing JavaScript tools. So, You aimed to build a framework that would combine the most effective approaches to frontend development depending on Angular, Ember, and React.js with robust features making web app development faster and easier. Today, the Vue.js Core Team develops and maintains its framework.
React.js story
The goal of building React.js was to target specific needs at Facebook. After all, this global tech giant continues to maintain the framework. Although in the previous years, the developer community had doubts related to React’s license, it operates depending on the MIT License. Therefore, it is an open-source one. And thanks to significant corporate backing, React.js ensures its future stability and long-term support.
What makes Vue.js and React.js similar
No doubt, numerous reasons are contributing to the prominence of both technologies in the engineering landscape. However, before analyzing the existing distinctive features deeper, let’s check what Vue.js and React.js share that makes both so widely used.
- Virtual DOM. With React.js or Vue.js, there is no need to re-render the entire page, which is usual for regular DOM. Instead, both technologies allow for updating only the objects changed. It helps save time and resources that will be consumed by heavy DOM manipulations in other cases.
- Component-based UI development. The two frameworks offer high-quality libraries of components facilitating code reuse, improving developer productivity, and speeding up the development process.
- Emphasis on the view library. Both technologies have separate issues with routing, state management, etc.
- JavaScript utilization. React.js and Vue.js partially depend on JavaScript. So, developers familiar with it will find it easy to learn the relevant two frameworks.
What is the key difference between React.js and Vue.js?
The answer is syntax. One of the most critical factors differentiating Vue.js and React.js is how the view layer is created. For instance, Vue.js deals with HTML templates by default. However, developers can also write using JavaScript Expressions (JSX).
When it comes to React.js, it uses JSX solely. At the same time, Vue.js may be an easier framework for frontend beginners to start creating web applications since it provides typical division into HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Besides, most web designers know how to work with HTML templates. That improves cooperation between them and developers.
In the case of React.js, its JSX contains a combination of HTML and CSS. Such an XML-like syntax enables software engineers to create self-contained UI components, including view-rendering instructions.
React.js and Vue.js: in-detail comparison
Here, we will compare React.js and Vue.js in terms of three critical factors:
- popularity and developer community
- scalability
- guidance and documentation
Popularity and developer community
The Stack Overflow 2021 survey reports that React.js and Vue.js are among the most loved web frameworks. But the first technology was four places before. According to the 2022 survey, React occupies the sixth position, and 68% of respondents say they enjoy utilizing it. In the case of Vue.js, 18% of respondents like using the framework.
On the other hand, the JetBrains 2021 survey shows that the usage of Vue.js is significantly growing. For example, the share of this framework’s users increased from 34% in 2020 to 43% next year. Meanwhile, React.js faced a decrease from 64% to about 49%.
Scalability
The purpose of Vue.js is to build interactive multi-page applications. So it allows for importing a relevant library quickly and implementing the technology to your current apps. Moreover, the Vue CLI offers ready-made scaffolding, which makes it possible to start the project immediately. When installing project dependencies, you deploy them as plugins. Therefore, even when particular standards change, all you need is to update dependencies.
What about React.js? With its outstanding community, it can offer a lot of valuable things. React.js is lightweight, which allows for creating multi-page and single-page applications easily. Thus, React.js is a perfect choice for developing scalable web apps like Facebook. But compared to Vue.js, React provides no ready-made solutions. It means you have to utilize different third-party libraries.
Guidance and documentation
As the Vue.js community is incredibly active, the framework has a lot of appropriate and organized documentation. So, developers find it easy to learn the technology and address different problems they may face. Lastly, great documentation is among the most significant benefits of Vue.js.
Unfortunately, React.js documentation is not as accessible and structured as Vue.js offers. Although it covers basics and advanced uses, the lack of appropriate guidance and navigation through the material is crucial. What is more, React.js provides no overview of its ecosystem.
Wrap up
To conclude, Vue.js and React.js are efficient tools used to build interactive user interfaces. If you want to select which one is a perfect option for your future project, you have to consider some critical factors. They include a specific use case, business requirements, environment, engineer availability, budget, and deadlines.
Thus, it is hard to find the correct answer when choosing between these two frameworks. After all, you must depend on your developers’ skills and experience or your ability to hire the necessary ones.
