JavaScript Library

React

Meta's component-based UI library — the most widely used way to build interactive web interfaces.

Official site

Overview

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces out of composable components. It is deliberately narrow in scope: it handles the view and its state, and leaves routing, data fetching and build tooling to the surrounding ecosystem or a meta-framework like Next.js.

That focus, plus a massive ecosystem and Meta's backing, made React the default choice for a huge share of the web. Modern React centres on function components, hooks, and increasingly server components for rendering work that happens before code reaches the browser.

What it is

React lets you describe UI as a function of state. You compose components, manage state with hooks, and React efficiently updates the DOM when that state changes. It is a library, not a full framework — you assemble the rest.

  • Function components and hooks (useState, useEffect, and friends)
  • Server Components and Suspense for server-first rendering
  • The largest UI ecosystem in JavaScript

When we reach for it

React is our go-to when a client wants the largest possible hiring pool and library ecosystem, or when we build on top of Next.js. It shines for highly interactive product UIs where flexibility matters more than built-in structure.

Trade-offs

React gives you freedom and therefore decisions: routing, state management, data fetching and build setup are all choices you make (or inherit from a meta-framework). Two React codebases can look nothing alike, so conventions and discipline matter more than with Angular.

Common questions

React — questions

Straight answers on how this fits your marketing and build.

Not strictly — React is a UI library focused on the view layer. You add routing, data fetching and tooling yourself, or adopt a meta-framework like Next.js that bundles those decisions for you.

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