Node JS vs React JS: Which is the best Javascript framework for developing custom web applications? The answer is they both are best – but for different things.
Got confused? Let’s sort the confusion.
The question comparing Node and React haunts many SMBs and entrepreneurs while planning to develop a web app. No doubt the popularity of JavaScript has multiplied many folds after the arrival of numerous JavaScript frameworks. But, because of the same, a highly competitive war has also started between them.
Which framework you should choose for developing your web app depends on a number of factors like features you need in it, the technologies you are planning to integrate in the same and the budget you are planning to spend on its development.
Also, it is important that you select the right one for your project in order to get maximum benefits. While there are a number of JS frameworks you can choose from and each one of them has its own Pros and Cons – the best two that are right now popular in the market are Node JS and React JS.
Now, the question that will ring a bell in your mind is – ReactJS or NodeJS? To find out which out of these two will fulfil your requirements in the best possible way, let’s explore both of them and find out their pros and cons.
What is React JS and Why It Is So Popular?
React JS is a JavaScript Library launched by Facebook and maintained by a community of millions of developers. It is used to develop the front-end of a web and mobile application and works depending on Model View Controller or MVC.
Developers use React as a base for creating single-page applications and afterward they utilize different libraries to give additional support to their web applications. Here are a few reasons why enterprises and startups love React JS:
It is Fast and Cost-Effective
Time-to-advertise is one of the most critical components of any business, be it a startup or an enterprise. Organizations are continually searching for technologies that help them to develop software they need – on time and within their budget.
React JS has plenty of reusable components that help app developers to create and maintain an application easily and effectively. In addition, React also powers React Native, which is a reliable cross-platform app development framework. Having such a relationship helps organizations to build a solid mobile presence too, alongside the web while using React.
It Is Highly Stable
The technology that you use to develop software for your business must remain in-trend and stable for at least a few years. With new technologies being released fast, it is possible that the tool you use to build your app gets outdated later on.
Having been used by a number of developers around the globe and big enterprises like Facebook and Instagram, the chances of getting React Native out-dated are almost negligible. React JS has been a stable innovation even with growing competition every day.
Also Read: Flutter Vs React Native: Which Is The Best Framework For Cross Platform App Development?
It Has Reusable Components and Virtual DOM
Reusability of components while working on an application acts as a magic bullet for developers. It enables them to reuse the components to build some different applications with similar functionality. It diminishes the development efforts and ensures that the components perform faultlessly.
It helps you make data structure cache memory inside a memory unit, which enables you to update the browser DOM all the more effectively.
It is SEO Friendly
Excluding the big brands, each organization requires to do SEO on their sites. They must rank higher on search engines to get the traction. React can render on servers effectively. It helps search engines to crawl the web applications easily, making it simpler for website pages to get indexed appropriately.
No doubt there are some technologies that can produce similar results, they are shaky and unsuitable for complex applications. React JS has been tried and tested by a number of organizations in the world for making high-quality and reliable front-end of apps and for making the site SEO-friendly.
It Offers Advance Performance
React JS is the master of all JS frameworks when it comes to handling graphics on a variety of devices, for example, smartphones, tablet, or desktop. It flawlessly loads any website page on either of the devices mentioned previously. React does it via automatically updating the on-page applications that don’t require a reload for redrawing UI.
Because of all the advantages that React JS comes with, it is now used for everything – from content-based websites like The New York Times to apps like Twitter – brands are using it and are gaining popularity. Instagram is another example of successful React usage.
Now, that we know all about React JS, let’s put some spotlight on its biggest competitor Node JS to explore all that it has to offer.
What is Node JS and Why It Is So Popular?
Node JS is an open-source runtime environment for running JavaScript code outside of a browser. You have to keep in mind that NodeJS is neither a framework nor a programming language – it is a runtime environment. The majority of the business owners get confused and think that it is just like React JS. But, the reality is that it is entirely different from React JS and is used for different purposes.
While you can use ReactJS for front-end development NodeJS is used for the back-end. App developers use Node.js for developing back-end services like APIs for web or mobile apps. It’s utilized in production by big brands, like, Uber, Paypal, Netflix, etc. Here are a couple of reasons why enterprises and startups love Node JS:
It Offers High Performance
NodeJs has become a standard for enterprise-level organizations because of the reason that it offers high performance. It is made upon Google Chrome’s V8 runtime, written in C++ and is super fast. Both NodeJS and V8 are regularly updated with security, performance optimizations and support for cutting-edge JavaScript features.
PayPal used NodeJS, and has reported multiplying the number of requests it receives per-second and a decrease in response time by 35%. WalMart also reported an amazing experience after using NodeJS when they shifted to Node to increase their Black Friday sales.
All these examples clearly show the performance capability of Node JS.
It is Lightweight
All the Node.JS apps use a basic event-driven architecture. It implies everything executed on it, including every single operation, is called as a progression of asynchronous callbacks.
This permits Node.JS to run single-threaded applications effectively unlike other web technologies where the new string is produced as per the request by the client. This not just makes the applications lightweight, but in addition makes the foundation for non-blocking I/O feature in Node.JS.
It is Lightning Fast
NodeJS is powered by JavaScript and V8 versions. V8 offers the capacity to execute and compile JavaScript with speed since it complies JS codes into native machine code. Moreover, NodeJS has the event loop which is magical – a single string playing out all the I/O activities in a synchronized way. This feature makes it lightning fast.
A Single Language for All Layers
Another key advantage of Node.js is language re-use. Other technologies like ASP.NET require developers to have knowledge in another language to compose code on the server-side, be it .NET, C# or Java. This implies all functions incorporate two languages – one on the server-side and the other on client-side.
However, in reality, the Node utilizes JavaScript for both. In this way, web developers need to interact in a single language over all layers. Adding to it, this can be reused again and again for future communications.
Currently, Node.js is utilized by a number of brands and has several big clients, like Netflix, Uber and Trello. Now that we know a lot about both of these JS frameworks, let’s see how they compare with each other.
Node JS vs React JS: The Ultimate Comparison
A number of people search for Node JS vs React several times on Google. However, if you dig deep, you will find out that there is nothing that you can compare these technologies.
They both are used to develop different parts of an app and have their advantages. While React is a full-fledged framework to develop beautiful UIs Node JS is simply a JavaScript runtime that is lightweight and fast. It is mainly created to build fast and scalable network applications.
Below is a comparison of React JS and Node JS that will give you a bigger picture:
| Node JS | React JS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Definition | It is a JavaScript Runtime Environment | It is a JavaScript library |
| 2. | Purpose | It is mainly used for building the Back-End of applications | It is mainly used for building beautiful User Interfaces |
| 3. | Latest Version | 12.9.0 / August 20, 2019 | 16.8.6 / May 6, 2019 |
| 4. | Popularity | 63,976 stars on Github | 135,401 stars on Github |
| 5. | Architecture | Event-Driven | Uses Controller View Pattern |
| 6. | Environment | Run-Time | Open-Source JS Library |
| 7. | Use Cases | It can handle real-time data streaming effectively.It is well-suited for an API service.It is used mainly for web development. | It is a great option for project with a number of components.It is used to build websites with complex structures.It supports both – Android and iOS. |
| 8. | How They Are Different? | It is used for back-end development. | It is used for front-end development. |
| 9. | Examples of Brands Using These Technologies | Uber, Walmart, Linkedin | Facebook, Instagram, Netflix |
Now that you have seen how Node JS and React JS are different from each other – you can easily choose the one for your application. Or, you can also use these technologies together for building a robust app.
Suppose if you are planning to develop a Blog which is supposed to have crud functionalities along with a few pages like a list of blog posts, blog post details, contact us page and some other pages. You can use NodeJS in its backend and ReactJS in its frontend. You can create the front-end of the web app with React and back-end with Node js, just like Netflix did.
NodeJS can be used for handling data in such types of projects – for example, for getting user profile, id, password, the blogs published by him/her, etc. You can also use APIs built in NodeJS to fetch data from the back-end to the front-end. While, on the other hand, React JS can be used to develop beautiful UIs.
Now, you must be clear about the purpose that both of these technologies serve. If you still have confusion and want the help of experts, please feel free to reach out to Appcentric. We have a team of 100+ developers that are proficient in using Javascript frameworks for developing the robust application.