ReactJS is an open-source JavaScript library used to build the user interface for Web Applications. It is responsible only for the view layer of the application. It provides developers to compose complex UIs from a small and isolated piece of code called "components." ReactJS made of two parts first is components, that are the pieces that contain HTML code and what you want to see in the user interface, and the second one is HTML document where all your components will be rendered.
React Native is an open-source JavaScript framework used for developing a mobile application for iOS Android, and Windows. It uses only JavaScript to build a cross-platform mobile app. React Native is same as React, but it uses native components instead of using web components as building blocks. It targets mobile platforms rather than the browser. In March 2015, Facebook announced that React Native is open and available on GitHub.
Advantages of React Native
Cross-Platform Usage: It provides the facility of "Learn once write everywhere." It works for both platform Android as well as iOS devices.
Class Performance: The code written in React Native are compiled into native code, which enables it for both operating systems as well as it functions in the same way on both the platforms.
JavaScript: JavaScript knowledge is used to build native mobile apps.
Community: The large community of ReactJS and React Native helps us to find any answer we require.
Hot Reloading: Making a few changes in the code of your app will be immediately visible during development. If the business logic is changed, its reflection is live reloaded on screen.
Improving with Time: Some features of iOS and Android are still not supported, and the community is always inventing the best practices.
Native Components: We will need to write some platform specific code if we want to create native functionality, which is not designed yet.
Existence is Uncertain: As Facebook develop this framework, its presence is uncertain since it keeps all the rights to kill off the project anytime. As the popularity of React Native rises, it is unlikely to happen.
Disadvantage of React Native
React Native is Still New and Immature: React Native is a newbie in Android and iOS programming languages and is still in its improvement stage, which can have a negative impact on the apps.
Learning is Tough: React Native is not easy to learn, especially for a fresher in the app development field.
It Lacks the Security Robustness: React Native is a JavaScript library and open-source framework, which creates a gap in the security robustness. When you are creating banking and financial apps where data is highly confidential, experts advice not to choose React Native.
It Takes More Time to Initialize: React Native takes a lot of time for initializing the runtime even for the hi-tech gadgets and devices.
| ReactJS | React Native | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The ReactJS initial release was in 2013. | The React Native initial release was in 2015. |
| 2 | It is used for developing web applications. | It is used for developing mobile applications. |
| 3 | It can be executed on all platforms. | It is not platform independent. It takes more effort to be executed on all platforms. |
| 4 | It uses a JavaScript library and CSS for animations. | It comes with built-in animation libraries. |
| 5 | It uses React-router for navigating web pages. | It has built-in Navigator library for navigating mobile applications. |
| 6 | It uses HTML tags. | It does not use HTML tags. |
| 7 | It can use code components, which saves a lot of valuable time. | It can reuse React Native UI components & modules which allow hybrid apps to render natively. |
| 8 | It provides high security. | It provides low security in comparison to ReactJS. |
| 9 | In this, the Virtual DOM renders the browser code. | In this, Native uses its API to render code for mobile applications. |
