I don't understand how React is so popular, still. With Svelte and Vue, I don't think anybody should do a new project with React.
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It’s also just not an interesting issue. In my experience, the actual coding (and later maintenance) of a web application is the least challenging, least interesting part of the project. At that stage, all the interesting problems have generally been solved in workflow, process, data structure design and general de-risking. Classes? Hooks? Binding style? Tabs or spaces? I really couldn’t care less. Just be consistent so you can all build and develop skills together.
I admit that when I was younger this kind of thing seemed to matter to me. I dunno if it’s because I’m now more focused on big picture or if I’m just tired and don’t care anymore. Maybe both!
Some e-commerce apps use React in WebView on Android and the apps will become unresponsive after visiting several product pages (more than 10 probably). They have to be force closed and opened to be used again
If I need to hit a certain performance because the business has concluded that it matters, and React can’t get us there, then I’m likely switching to Svelte or whatnot.
If none of my tools can do the job, I’m going to the store and buying a new tool and learning how to use it. I don’t feel ideologically attached to my palm sander. I’ll buy a belt sander if the palm doesn’t make sense for a task.
Though the desire to improve without external pressure could be considered ideological
As a seasoned React dev of 10 years (aka a heavily biased person) I would claim 99% of this issue is better explained by: - React is the most popular choice => used in all kinds of places by all kinds of people - with varying skill - under all kinds of business pressure to deliver features => a lot of slow apps in React
I'm not saying a case for specific areas where React is slow can not be made, these anecdotes just don't do it for me.
We do have the synthetic framework benchmark, where React is indeed one of the slower candidates. I have yet to build an app with functionality akin to adding 10s of millions of rows, so it has not been an instructive decision driver for technology choice. The project I have been working on (also in Vue, Svelte, SwiftUI) had their bottlenecks in other places.
The non-synthetic argument in favor of React passing the performance test is billions of people using FB, Insta, Netflix, MS Office (to name some of the big React apps), about which I have not much in terms of complaints.\ This is usually where the second big React critique kicks in: it being a Fortune-500 framework. That has not been my non-fortune-ate experience.
I think a residual argument can still survive this: I/my org has not been able to write performant React. I'd be curious to read someone go into the details of where it broke down and how switching view layers solved for that specific situation (I hope that does not read cynical, I'd really be curious).