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Introduction

React, is an open-source JavaScript library for building user interfaces (UIs) or user interface components. It was developed by Facebook and is now maintained by both Facebook and a community of individual developers and companies. React was first released in 2013 and has since gained widespread popularity for its efficiency and flexibility in creating interactive and dynamic web applications.

Key features and concepts​

  1. Component-Based Architecture:-- React encourages the development of UIs using a component-based approach. Components are self-contained, reusable building blocks that can represent everything from a simple button to a complex data-driven view.

  2. Virtual DOM (Document Object Model):-- React uses a virtual DOM to improve performance. Instead of directly manipulating the actual DOM, React creates a lightweight virtual representation of it. When changes are made to the UI, React updates the virtual DOM first, then efficiently compares it to the previous version to determine the minimal set of real DOM updates needed. This minimizes the number of DOM manipulations and results in faster rendering.

  3. Declarative Syntax:-- React uses a declarative syntax to describe how the UI should look at any given time, based on the current state of the application. Developers specify what the UI should look like for a given set of data, and React takes care of updating the actual UI to match that description.

  4. Component Lifecycle:-- React components have a lifecycle that consists of methods that get called at various points during the component's existence. This allows developers to perform actions such as initializing state, fetching data, and cleaning up resources at specific points in the component's lifecycle.

  5. One-Way Data Flow:-- In React, data flows in a unidirectional manner, from parent components down to child components. This makes it easier to understand how data changes propagate through the application, which in turn makes it easier to debug and maintain.

  6. JSX (JavaScript XML):-- React uses JSX, a syntax extension for JavaScript that allows developers to write HTML-like code within their JavaScript files. JSX is transpiled into standard JavaScript by tools like Babel before it's executed in the browser.

  7. React Router:-- React Router is a popular library for handling routing in React applications. It allows developers to define the navigation structure of their application and update the UI based on the current URL.

  8. State Management:-- While React provides a way to manage component-level state, for complex applications, developers often use additional libraries like Redux or MobX to manage global state and handle data flow between components.