JavaScript vs React: What Should Front-End Developers Choose?

JavaScript vs React: Here we will see which one will be an ideal option for front-end developers

Front-end web development, also known as client-side development is the practice of producing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a website or Web Application so that a user can see and interact with them directly. But the question arises JavaScript vs React, which one is the best option?

The challenge faced by front-end developers is that the tools and techniques used to create the front end of a website are constantly changing and so the front-end developers need to constantly be aware of how the field is developing. A web designer is a professional who creates a website's appearance and design using web technologies that run on the Open Web Platform or act as compilation input for non-web platform environments like React Native. A front-end developer architects and develops websites and applications by using front-end programming languages such as CSS, HTML, JavaScript, React, etc. To answer the question "JavaScript vs React, which one is the best option" we have to first dive deep into both the technologies, their functions, and how they can be used. Let's have a look:

JavaScript vs React: What is the Difference?

User interfaces are the direct link between a person and an application. In social media sites, you can easily spot the UI by looking at the text and navigation tools you interact with to perform the desired action. These are called graphical user interfaces, which are essentially a subset of UIs. Because of the high demand — and even necessity — of UIs to make the user experience more seamless, tech companies created libraries to simplify UI development. And one such library is React. But before we tackle this popular JavaScript library, we have to discuss its foundation first.

What Is JavaScript?

JavaScript is a client-side scripting language developed in 1995 by programmer and technologist Brendan Eich. It is one of the three main components that create the web pages we see every day, the other two components being HTML and CSS. On its own, JavaScript can execute different types of dynamic features on websites. If you see real-time updates, animation, multimedia, and other complex elements on a web page, then you can bet JavaScript had a hand in it. But creating UIs with plain JavaScript involves complicated work and results in wasted time.

What Is React?

React is a JavaScript library specifically made to help developers design UIs. Thanks to React, the process of UI development can be broken down into reusable and more manageable components. But did you know the idea for this JavaScript library came from the emergence of Facebook ads? In 2012, Facebook needed a better way to manage the influx of ads and updates on the application. It was then that software engineer Jordan Walke developed React, leading to the success that the library is today. Eventually, React became available to developers and tech companies. And many of the applications we use today are a result of React. 

Conclusion:

In today's digital-first world, websites and apps are becoming increasingly dynamic and complex. As a result, new tools and libraries such as React have been built to speed up the process of developing apps. And this is the reason that after learning JavaScript, many developers turn to React.