React vs Vue: Comparison Guide of Leading JavaScript Frameworks

React and Vue.js are both most popular javascript frameworks which are used for building user interfaces. Both these frameworks have garnered significant popularity and adoption, but they definitely differ in multiple aspects- whether it is approach or learning curves, ecosystems, performance, and community support.

The comprehensive comparison in this blog aims to delve into the nuances of React and Vue.js.

What is React?

React is a free and open source Javascript framework for building interfaces based on components. React allows developers to create dynamic and interactive UI components. These components efficients update when the data changes.

React follows a component-based architecture, in this, UIs are broken down into reusable pieces, which further makes it easier to handle complex applications.

  React is widely used for building web applications. 

 Pros of Using React:

1. Flexibility
2. Large ecosystems
3. Performance
4. Community support

 Cons of using React:

1. Learning Curve
2. Boilerplate
3. State Management

Famous Web app developed using React Framework:-

Example of Component Structure React.js

Also Read: A Complete Guide to React Components

What is Vue.js?

Vue.js is a progressive Javascript framework for building frameworks and single-page applications. It is designed to be adoptable, which basically means that you can start using it for smaller parts of your project and then further incorporate it into larger applications. 

This framework emphasizes more on flexibility and simplicity, offering features like reactive data binding, component based architecture, and a straightforward syntax. 

 Vue.js is well known for its ease of integration, so developers can use it alongside other libraries and frameworks. 

 Pros of using Vue.js: 

1. Easy to Learn

2. Opinionated Approach

3. Performance

4. Integration

 Cons of using Vue.js:

1. Smaller ecosystem

2. Community size

3. Less flexibility

List of Mobile/Web app developed using Vue.js

Example of Component Structure Vue.js

Key Features of React and Vue.js:

Learning Curve:

REACT - React is known to have a steeper learning curve, especially for beginners due to its reliance on JSX (javascript XML) syntax and its opinionated nature. This requires developers to make more detailed decisions about how to structure their application.

VUE.js - Vue is often seen as an easy to learn framework specifically by those who are familiar with HTML, CSS, Javascript. This is mainly because of its straightforward syntax and clear documentation.

Approach:

REACT - React follows a component based architecture, wherein UIs are built using reusable components. It is more focused on providing a library for the view layer and state management further leaving routing and other functionalities to third-party libraries.

VUE.js - Vue also follows a component based architecture but it provides more out of the box solutions for tasks like state management, routing. Vue is often described as more opinionated- which basically means that it offers more guidance on how to structure and build the application.

Ecosystems:

REACT - React takes its pride in a large ecosystem of third-party libraries and tools, including state management solutions like MobX and Redux and Routing libraries like React-Router and testing frameworks like Jest.

VUE.js - Vue’s ecosystem is now growing rapidly and includes libraries like Vuex for state management and Vue Router for Routing. While not as extensive as React’s ecosystem, Vue’s ecosystem is well-integrated and provides solutions for most common development tasks.

Performance:

REACT - React is renowned for its performance. All the credits goes to its use of virtual DOM, which allows it to efficiently update the UI by only re-rendering components when necessary.

VUE.js - Vue, too, utilises a Virtual DOM for efficient rendering and update, and the performance is often comparable to React.

Community and Support:

REACT - React has a large and active community, with many resources, tutorials and community-driven initiatives available for developers.

VUE.js - Vue community is comparatively smaller than React's but is rapidly growing with strong and active supporters.

Similarities of React and Vue.js:

React and Vue have several similarities, and these similarities are often highlighted even in the Vue.js official documentation. 

Component-Based Architecture

Both React and Vue follow Component-Based architecture, Where UI are built using reusable components. Components encapsulate the structure, behavior and style of UI components, promoting code reusability and maintainability. 

Virtual Dom 

React and Vue both utilize the Virtual Dom to efficiently update the UI. The Virtual Dom is a lightweight representation of the actual DOM, allowing the framework to minimize the DOM manipulations and optimize rendering performance.

Reactivity:

React and Vue enable automatic UI updates based on changes in  the application state. React uitilize one-way data flow and state management, while Vue employs a reactive data model with getters and setters.

JSX/Template Syntax

React uses JSX for component templates, Vue uses HTML based syntax. Both are declarative syntax similar to HTML for building UI’s.

Single File Components:

React and Vue both use a single file component, building template, script, style for better modularity.

State Management:

React and Vue provide built-in and external options for managing components and global state. React commonly uses Redux and Context API, while Vue includes VueX for global state management. 

Vue vs React Performance

Duration in milliseconds ± 95% confidence interval.