React (software)

{{For|the open-source mobile application framework|React Native}}

{{Short description|JavaScript library for building user interfaces}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{More citations needed|date=May 2024}}

{{Self-published|date=May 2024}}

}}

{{Infobox software

| name = React

| logo = React Logo SVG.svg

| logo size = 130px

| author = Jordan Walke

| developer = Meta and community

| released = {{Start date and age|2013|5|29}}{{cite web|access-date=22 Oct 2018|first1=Tom|first2=Jordan|last1=Occhino|last2=Walke|title=JS Apps at Facebook|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW0rj4sNH2w|website=YouTube|date=5 August 2013 |archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531133559/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW0rj4sNH2w|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=2021-04-12 |title=Is React a Library or a Framework? Here's Why it Matters |url=https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/is-react-a-library-or-a-framework/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=freeCodeCamp.org |language=en}}

| ver layout = stacked

| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|edit|P348}}

| latest release date = {{start date and age|

{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}

}}

| latest preview version = 19.0.0-rc.1

| latest preview date = {{Start date and age|2024|11|14}}{{cite web|url=https://react.dev/blog/2024/04/25/react-19#whats-new-in-react-19|title=What's new in React 19|access-date=2024-05-12|archive-date=2024-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512195006/https://react.dev/blog/2024/04/25/react-19#whats-new-in-react-19|url-status=live}}

| programming language = JavaScript

| platform = Web platform

| genre = JavaScript library

| license = MIT License

| website = https://react.dev/

}}

React (also known as React.js or ReactJS) is a free and open-source front-end JavaScript library{{Cite web |title=React – A JavaScript library for building user interfaces. |url=https://reactjs.org |url-status=live |access-date=7 April 2018 |website=reactjs.org |language=en-US |archive-date=April 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408084010/https://reactjs.org/ }}{{Cite web |title=Chapter 1. What Is React? - What React Is and Why It Matters [Book] |url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/what-react-is/9781491996744/ch01.html |url-status=live |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=www.oreilly.com |language=en |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506100446/https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/what-react-is/9781491996744/ch01.html }} that aims to make building user interfaces based on components more "seamless". It is maintained by Meta (formerly Facebook) and a community of individual developers and companies.{{cite web |last=Krill |first=Paul |date=May 15, 2014 |title=React: Making faster, smoother UIs for data-driven Web apps |url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608181/javascript/react--making-faster--smoother-uis-for-data-driven-web-apps.html |access-date=2021-02-23 |website=InfoWorld |archive-date=2018-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141516/https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608181/javascript/react--making-faster--smoother-uis-for-data-driven-web-apps.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Hemel |first=Zef |date=June 3, 2013 |title=Facebook's React JavaScript User Interfaces Library Receives Mixed Reviews |url=https://www.infoq.com/news/2013/06/facebook-react |url-status=live |access-date=2022-01-11 |website=infoq.com |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526082114/https://www.infoq.com/news/2013/06/facebook-react/ |archive-date=May 26, 2022}}{{cite web |last=Dawson |first=Chris |date=July 25, 2014 |title=JavaScript's History and How it Led To ReactJS |url=https://thenewstack.io/javascripts-history-and-how-it-led-to-reactjs/ |url-status=live |access-date=2020-07-19 |website=The New Stack |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806190027/https://thenewstack.io/javascripts-history-and-how-it-led-to-reactjs/ |archive-date=Aug 6, 2020 }}

React can be used to develop single-page, mobile, or server-rendered applications with frameworks like Next.js and Remix{{Efn|Merged into React Router since React Router v7{{Cite web |last=Lybrand |first=Brooks |date=2024-05-15 |title=Merging Remix and React Router |url=https://remix.run/blog/merging-remix-and-react-router |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=remix.run |language=en}}}}. Because React is only concerned with the user interface and rendering components to the DOM, React applications often rely on libraries for routing and other client-side functionality.{{sfn|Dere|2017}}{{sfn|Panchal|2022}} A key advantage of React is that it only re-renders those parts of the page that have changed, avoiding unnecessary re-rendering of unchanged DOM elements.

Notable features

= Declarative =

{{Cite web |date=2017-09-27 |title=React Introduction |url=https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/reactjs-introduction/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=GeeksforGeeks |language=en-US}} React adheres to the declarative programming paradigm.{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|76}} Developers design views for each state of an application, and React updates and renders components when data changes. This is in contrast with imperative programming.{{sfn|Schwarzmüller|2018}}

= Components =

React code is made of entities called components.{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|10-12}} These components are modular and can be reused.{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|70}} React applications typically consist of many layers of components. The components are rendered to a root element in the DOM using the React DOM library. When rendering a component, values are passed between components through props (short for "properties"). Values internal to a component are called its state.{{cite web |title=Components and Props |url=https://reactjs.org/docs/components-and-props.html#props-are-read-only |url-status=live |access-date=7 April 2018 |website=React |publisher=Facebook |archive-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407120115/https://reactjs.org/docs/components-and-props.html}}

The two primary ways of declaring components in React are through function components and class components.{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|118}}{{sfn|Larsen|2021}}{{rp|10}}

= Function components =

Function components are declared with a function (using JavaScript function syntax or an arrow function expression) that accepts a single "props" argument and returns JSX. From React v16.8 onwards, function components can use state with the useState Hook.

= React Hooks =

On February 16, 2019, React 16.8 was released to the public, introducing React Hooks.{{cite web

|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-intro.html

|title=Introducing Hooks

|publisher=react.js

|access-date=2019-05-20

|archive-date=2018-10-25

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025163202/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-intro.html

|url-status=live

}} Hooks are functions that let developers "hook into" React state and lifecycle features from function components.{{Cite web|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-overview.html|title=Hooks at a Glance – React|website=reactjs.org|language=en|access-date=2019-08-08|archive-date=2023-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315054047/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-overview.html|url-status=live}} Notably, Hooks do not work inside classes — they let developers use more features of React without classes.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-16 |title=What the Heck is React Hooks? |url=https://soshace.com/2020/01/16/what-the-heck-is-react-hooks/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531133601/https://blog.soshace.com/what-the-heck-is-react-hooks/ |archive-date=2022-05-31 |access-date=2020-01-24 |website=Soshace |language=en}}

React provides several built-in hooks such as useState,{{Cite web|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-state.html|title=Using the State Hook – React|website=reactjs.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2022-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730180312/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-state.html|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Larsen|2021}}{{rp|37}} useContext,{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|11}}{{Cite web|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-state.html|title=Using the State Hook – React|website=reactjs.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2022-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730180312/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-state.html|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Larsen|2021}}{{rp|12}} useReducer,{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|92}}{{sfn|Larsen|2021}}{{rp|65-66}} useMemo{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|154}}{{sfn|Larsen|2021}}{{rp|162}} and useEffect.{{Cite web|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-effect.html|title=Using the Effect Hook – React|website=reactjs.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2022-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801212858/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-effect.html|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Larsen|2021}}{{rp|93-95}} Others are documented in the Hooks API Reference.{{Cite web|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-reference.html|title=Hooks API Reference – React|website=reactjs.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2022-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805061010/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-reference.html|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|62}} useState and useEffect, which are the most commonly used, are for controlling state{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|37}} and side effects,{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|61}} respectively.

== Rules of hooks ==

There are two rules of hooks{{Cite web|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-rules.html|title=Rules of Hooks – React|website=reactjs.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2021-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606174151/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-rules.html|url-status=live}} which describe the characteristic code patterns that hooks rely on:

  1. "Only call hooks at the top level" — do not call hooks from inside loops, conditions, or nested statements so that the hooks are called in the same order each render.
  2. "Only call hooks from React functions" — do not call hooks from plain JavaScript functions so that stateful logic stays with the component.

Although these rules cannot be enforced at runtime, code analysis tools such as linters can be configured to detect many mistakes during development. The rules apply to both usage of Hooks and the implementation of custom Hooks,{{Cite web|url=https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-custom.html|title=Building Your Own Hooks – React|website=reactjs.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2022-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717175155/https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-custom.html|url-status=live}} which may call other Hooks.

= Server components =

React server components (RSC) {{Cite web|url=https://react.dev/blog/2023/03/22/react-labs-what-we-have-been-working-on-march-2023#react-server-components|title=React Labs: What We've Been Working On – March 2023|website=react.dev|language=en|access-date=2023-07-23|archive-date=2023-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726201006/https://react.dev/blog/2023/03/22/react-labs-what-we-have-been-working-on-march-2023#react-server-components|url-status=live}} are function components that run exclusively on the server. The concept was first introduced in the talk "Data Fetching with Server Components".{{Cite web |last1=Abramov |first1=Dan |last2=Tan |first2=Lauren |last3=Savona |first3=Joseph |last4=Markbåge |first4=Sebastian |date=2020-12-21 |title=Introducing Zero-Bundle-Size React Server Components |url=https://react.dev/blog/2020/12/21/data-fetching-with-react-server-components |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=react.dev |language=en}} Though a similar concept to Server Side Rendering, RSCs do not send corresponding JavaScript to the client as no hydration occurs. As a result, they have no access to hooks. However, they may be asynchronous function, allowing them to directly perform asynchronous operations:

async function MyComponent() {

const message = await fetchMessageFromDb();

return (

Message: {message}

);

}

Currently, server components are most readily usable with Next.js.

= Class components =

Class components are declared using ES6 classes. They behave the same way that function components do, but instead of using Hooks to manage state and lifecycle events, they use the lifecycle methods on the React.Component base class.

class ParentComponent extends React.Component {

state = { color: 'green' };

render() {

return (

);

}

}

The introduction of React Hooks with React 16.8 in February 2019 allowed developers to manage state and lifecycle behaviors within functional components, reducing the reliance on class components.

This trend aligns with the broader industry movement towards functional programming and modular design. As React continues to evolve, it is essential for developers to consider the benefits of functional components and React Hooks when building new applications or refactoring existing ones.{{Cite web |last=Chourasia |first=Rawnak |date=2023-03-08 |title=Convert Class Component to Function(Arrow) Component – React |url=https://codeparttime.com/convert-class-to-function-arrow-react/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=Code Part Time |archive-date=2023-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815131020/https://codeparttime.com/convert-class-to-function-arrow-react/ |url-status=live }}

= Routing =

React itself does not come with built-in support for routing. React is primarily a library for building user interfaces, and it does not include a full-fledged routing solution out of the box. Third-party libraries can be used to handle routing in React applications.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-12 |title=Mastering React Router – The Ultimate Guide |url=https://www.devban.com/react-router-ultimate-guide/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726063450/https://www.devban.com/react-router-ultimate-guide/ |url-status=live }} It allows the developer to define routes, manage navigation, and handle URL changes in a React-friendly way.

File:VirtualDOM with respect to realDOM.png

= Virtual DOM =

Another notable feature is the use of a virtual Document Object Model, or Virtual DOM. React creates an in-memory data-structure cache, computes the resulting differences, and then updates the browser's displayed DOM efficiently.{{cite web |title=Refs and the DOM |url=https://reactjs.org/docs/refs-and-the-dom.html |access-date=2021-07-19 |website=React Blog |archive-date=2022-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807171328/https://reactjs.org/docs/refs-and-the-dom.html |url-status=live }} This process is called reconciliation. This allows the programmer to write code as if the entire page is rendered on each change, while React only renders the components that actually change. This selective rendering provides a major performance boost.{{Cite web |title=React: The Virtual DOM |url=https://www.codecademy.com/articles/react-virtual-dom |access-date=2021-10-14 |website=Codecademy |language=en |archive-date=2021-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028172953/https://www.codecademy.com/articles/react-virtual-dom |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Aggarwal |first1=Sanchit |title=Modern Web-Development using ReactJS |url=https://ijrra.net/Vol5issue1/IJRRA-05-01-27.pdf |website=International Journal of Recent Research Aspects |access-date=11 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417143754/https://ijrra.net/Vol5issue1/IJRRA-05-01-27.pdf |archive-date=17 April 2024 |pages=133–137 |date=March 2018 |url-status=live}}

Updates

When ReactDOM.render{{Cite web |title=ReactDOM – React |url=https://reactjs.org/docs/react-dom.html |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=reactjs.org |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108104936/https://reactjs.org/docs/react-dom.html |url-status=live }} is called again for the same component and target, React represents the new UI state in the Virtual DOM and determines which parts (if any) of the living DOM needs to change.{{Cite web |title=Reconciliation – React |url=https://reactjs.org/docs/reconciliation.html |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=reactjs.org |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108105122/https://reactjs.org/docs/reconciliation.html |url-status=live }}

File:React-example-virtual-dom-diff.svg

= Lifecycle methods =

Lifecycle methods for class-based components use a form of hooking that allows the execution of code at set points during a component's lifetime.

  • ShouldComponentUpdate allows the developer to prevent unnecessary re-rendering of a component by returning false if a render is not required.
  • componentDidMount is called once the component has "mounted" (the component has been created in the user interface, often by associating it with a DOM node). This is commonly used to trigger data loading from a remote source via an API.
  • componentDidUpdate is invoked immediately after updating occurs.{{Cite web |title=React.Component – React |url=https://legacy.reactjs.org/docs/react-component.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=legacy.reactjs.org |language=en |archive-date=2024-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409075058/https://legacy.reactjs.org/docs/react-component.html |url-status=live }}
  • componentWillUnmount is called immediately before the component is torn down or "unmounted". This is commonly used to clear resource-demanding dependencies to the component that will not simply be removed with the unmounting of the component (e.g., removing any setInterval() instances that are related to the component, or an "eventListener" set on the "document" because of the presence of the component)
  • render is the most important lifecycle method and the only required one in any component. It is usually called every time the component's state is updated, which should be reflected in the user interface.

= JSX =

{{Main|JSX (JavaScript)|l1=JSX}}

JSX, or JavaScript XML, is an extension to the JavaScript language syntax.{{cite web |date=2022-03-08 |title=Draft: JSX Specification |url=https://facebook.github.io/jsx/ |access-date=7 April 2018 |website=JSX |publisher=Facebook |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402072504/https://facebook.github.io/jsx/ |url-status=live }} Similar in appearance to HTML,{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|11}} JSX provides a way to structure component rendering using syntax familiar{{sfn|Wieruch|2020}}{{rp|15}} to many developers. React components are typically written using JSX, although they do not have to be (components may also be written in pure JavaScript). JSX is similar to another extension syntax created by Facebook for PHP called XHP.

An example of JSX code:

class App extends React.Component {

render() {

return (

Header

Content

Footer

);

}

}

= Architecture beyond HTML =

The basic architecture of React applies beyond rendering HTML in the browser. For example, Facebook has dynamic charts that render to tags,{{cite web |last=Hunt |first=Pete |date=2013-06-05 |title=Why did we build React? – React Blog |url=https://facebook.github.io/react/blog/2013/06/05/why-react.html |access-date=2022-02-17 |website=reactjs.org |language=en-US |archive-date=2015-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406072833/http://facebook.github.io/react/blog/2013/06/05/why-react.html |url-status=dead }} and Netflix and PayPal use universal loading to render identical HTML on both the server and client.{{cite web |date=2015-04-27 |title=PayPal Isomorphic React |url=https://medium.com/paypal-engineering/isomorphic-react-apps-with-react-engine-17dae662379c |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208124143/https://www.paypal-engineering.com/2015/04/27/isomorphic-react-apps-with-react-engine/ |archive-date=2019-02-08 |access-date=2019-02-08 |website=medium.com}}{{cite web |date=2015-01-28 |title=Netflix Isomorphic React |url=http://techblog.netflix.com/2015/01/netflix-likes-react.html |access-date=2022-02-14 |website=netflixtechblog.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2016-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217043150/http://techblog.netflix.com/2015/01/netflix-likes-react.html |url-status=live }}

= Server-side rendering =

Server-side rendering (SSR) refers to the process of rendering a client-side JavaScript application on the server, rather than in the browser.

{{cite web

|title=Server-side rendering (SSR) - MDN Web Docs Glossary

|url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/SSR

|website=MDN Web Docs

|publisher=Mozilla

|access-date=7 March 2025

}}

This can improve the performance of the application, especially for users on slower connections or devices.

{{cite web

|title=Rendering on the Web

|url=https://web.dev/rendering-on-the-web/

|website=web.dev

|publisher=Google

|date=6 February 2019

|access-date=7 March 2025

}}

With SSR, the initial HTML that is sent to the client includes the fully rendered UI of the application.

{{cite web

|last=Jain

|first=Atishay

|title=Render Caching for React

|url=https://css-tricks.com/render-caching-for-react/

|website=CSS-Tricks

|date=10 November 2018

|access-date=7 March 2025

}}

This allows the client's browser to display the UI immediately, rather than having to wait for the JavaScript to download and execute before rendering the UI.

React supports SSR, which allows developers to render React components on the server and send the resulting HTML to the client.

{{cite web

|title=Server React DOM APIs

|url=https://react.dev/reference/react-dom/server

|website=React Documentation

|publisher=Meta Platforms

|access-date=7 March 2025

}}

This can be useful for improving the performance of the application, as well as for search engine optimization purposes.

{{cite web

|title=Rendering (Next.js Documentation)

|url=https://nextjs.org/docs/pages/building-your-application/rendering

|website=Next.js Documentation

|publisher=Vercel

|access-date=7 March 2025

}}

Common idioms

React does not attempt to provide a complete application library. It is designed specifically for building user interfaces and therefore does not include many of the tools some developers might consider necessary to build an application. This allows the choice of whichever libraries the developer prefers to accomplish tasks such as performing network access or local data storage. Common patterns of usage have emerged as the library matures.

= Unidirectional data flow =

{{Main|Unidirectional data flow}}

To support React's concept of unidirectional data flow (which might be contrasted with AngularJS's bidirectional flow), the Flux architecture was developed as an alternative to the popular model–view–controller architecture. Flux features actions which are sent through a central dispatcher to a store, and changes to the store are propagated back to the view.{{cite web|url=https://facebook.github.io/flux/docs/in-depth-overview|title=In Depth OverView|publisher=Facebook|access-date=7 April 2018|website=Flux|archive-date=7 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807201252/https://facebook.github.io/flux/docs/in-depth-overview/|url-status=dead}} When used with React, this propagation is accomplished through component properties. Since its conception, Flux has been superseded by libraries such as Redux and MobX.{{cite web|title=Flux Release 4.0|url=https://github.com/facebook/flux/releases/tag/4.0.0|website=Github|access-date=26 February 2021|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531133558/https://github.com/facebook/flux/releases/tag/4.0.0|url-status=live}}

Flux can be considered a variant of the observer pattern.{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=Nicholas|title=Introduction to Flux – React Exercise|url=http://nicholasjohnson.com/react/course/exercises/flux/|website=Nicholas Johnson|access-date=7 April 2018|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531133600/http://nicholasjohnson.com/react/course/exercises/flux/|url-status=live}}

A React component under the Flux architecture should not directly modify any props passed to it, but should be passed callback functions that create actions which are sent by the dispatcher to modify the store. The action is an object whose responsibility is to describe what has taken place: for example, an action describing one user "following" another might contain a user id, a target user id, and the type USER_FOLLOWED_ANOTHER_USER.{{cite web|last1=Abramov|first1=Dan|title=The History of React and Flux with Dan Abramov|url=http://threedevsandamaybe.com/the-history-of-react-and-flux-with-dan-abramov/|website=Three Devs and a Maybe|access-date=7 April 2018|archive-date=19 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419075905/http://threedevsandamaybe.com/the-history-of-react-and-flux-with-dan-abramov/|url-status=live}} The stores, which can be thought of as models, can alter themselves in response to actions received from the dispatcher.

This pattern is sometimes expressed as "properties flow down, actions flow up". Many implementations of Flux have been created since its inception, perhaps the most well-known being Redux, which features a single store, often called a single source of truth.{{cite web|title=State Management Tools – Results|url=http://2016.stateofjs.com/2016/statemanagement/|website=The State of JavaScript|access-date=29 October 2021|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531133609/http://2016.stateofjs.com/2016/statemanagement/|url-status=live}}

In February 2019, useReducer was introduced as a React hook in the 16.8 release. It provides an API that is consistent with Redux, enabling developers to create Redux-like stores that are local to component states.{{Cite web |url=https://reactjs.org/blog/2019/02/06/react-v16.8.0.html#react-1 |title=React v16.8: The One with Hooks |access-date=2023-01-08 |archive-date=2023-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108090021/https://reactjs.org/blog/2019/02/06/react-v16.8.0.html#react-1 |url-status=live }}

Future development

Project status can be tracked via the core team discussion forum.{{Cite web|title = Meeting Notes|url = https://discuss.reactjs.org/c/meeting-notes|website = React Discuss|access-date = 2015-12-13|archive-date = 2015-12-22|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222141426/https://discuss.reactjs.org/c/meeting-notes|url-status = dead}} However, major changes to React go through the Future of React repository issues and pull requests.{{Cite web|title = reactjs/react-future – The Future of React|url = https://github.com/reactjs/react-future|website = GitHub|access-date = 2015-12-13|archive-date = 2022-07-13|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220713230021/https://github.com/reactjs/react-future|url-status = live}}{{Cite web|title = facebook/react – Feature request issues|url = https://github.com/facebook/react/labels/Type:%20Feature%20Request|website = GitHub|access-date = 2015-12-13|archive-date = 2022-07-09|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220709131412/https://github.com/facebook/react/labels/Type%3A%20Feature%20Request|url-status = live}} This enables the React community to provide feedback on new potential features, experimental APIs and JavaScript syntax improvements.

History

React was created by Jordan Walke, a software engineer at Meta, who initially developed a prototype called "F-Bolt"{{cite web |title=React.js: The Documentary |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=8pDqJVdNa44%3Fsi%3DFMJqegC4dPtwKP__&t=528 |website=Youtube | date=10 February 2023 |publisher=Honeypot |access-date=2024-05-27 |archive-date=2024-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119211307/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pDqJVdNa44%3Fsi%3DFMJqegC4dPtwKP__&t=528 |url-status=live }} before later renaming it to "FaxJS". This early version is documented in Jordan Walke's GitHub repository.{{ref|Walke, Jordan. "FaxJS." GitHub. https://github.com/jordwalke/FaxJs. Accessed 11 July 2019.}} Influences for the project included XHP, an HTML component library for PHP.

React was first deployed on Facebook's News Feed in 2011 and subsequently integrated into Instagram in 2012.{{cite web |last1=Lopez |first1=Marny |title=Why React is so widely adopted by web developers? |url=https://www.devlane.com/blog/why-react-is-so-widely-adopted-by-web-developers |website=Devlane |access-date=11 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620092857/https://www.devlane.com/blog/why-react-is-so-widely-adopted-by-web-developers |archive-date=20 June 2024 |date=13 May 2024 |url-status=live}} In May 2013, at JSConf US, the project was officially open-sourced, marking a significant turning point in its adoption and growth.{{ref|Hámori, Emergent. "React – The Pragmatic Guide." 2022.}}

React Native, which enables native Android, iOS, and UWP development with React, was announced at Facebook's React Conf in February 2015 and open-sourced in March 2015.

On April 18, 2017, Facebook announced React Fiber, a new set of internal algorithms for rendering, as opposed to React's old rendering algorithm, Stack.{{sfn|Lardinois|2017}} React Fiber was to become the foundation of any future improvements and feature development of the React library.{{cite web|title = React Fiber Architecture|url = https://github.com/acdlite/react-fiber-architecture|website = Github|access-date = 19 April 2017|archive-date = 10 May 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180510140634/https://github.com/acdlite/react-fiber-architecture|url-status = live}}{{Update inline|reason=Last commit was in 2016. Is this statement still true?|date=June 2018}} The actual syntax for programming with React does not change; only the way that the syntax is executed has changed.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/18/facebook-announces-react-fiber-a-rewrite-of-its-react-framework/|title=Facebook announces React Fiber, a rewrite of its React framework|website=TechCrunch|date=18 April 2017 |accessdate=2018-10-19|archive-date=2018-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614172053/https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/18/facebook-announces-react-fiber-a-rewrite-of-its-react-framework/|url-status=live}} React's old rendering system, Stack, was developed at a time when the focus of the system on dynamic change was not understood. Stack was slow to draw complex animation, for example, trying to accomplish all of it in one chunk. Fiber breaks down animation into segments that can be spread out over multiple frames. Likewise, the structure of a page can be broken into segments that may be maintained and updated separately. JavaScript functions and virtual DOM objects are called "fibers", and each can be operated and updated separately, allowing for smoother on-screen rendering.{{cite web|url=https://github.com/acdlite/react-fiber-architecture|title=GitHub – acdlite/react-fiber-architecture: A description of React's new core algorithm, React Fiber|website=github.com|accessdate=2018-10-19|archive-date=2018-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510140634/https://github.com/acdlite/react-fiber-architecture|url-status=live}}

On September 26, 2017, React 16.0 was released to the public.{{cite web

|url=https://reactjs.org/blog/2017/09/26/react-v16.0.html

|title=React v16.0

|publisher=react.js

|date=2017-09-26

|access-date=2019-05-20

|archive-date=2017-10-03

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003031315/https://reactjs.org/blog/2017/09/26/react-v16.0.html

|url-status=live

}}

On October 20, 2020, the React team released React v17.0, notable as the first major release without major changes to the React developer-facing API.url=https://reactjs.org/blog/2020/08/10/react-v17-rc.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810215037/https://reactjs.org/blog/2020/08/10/react-v17-rc.html |date=2020-08-10 }}

On March 29, 2022, React 18 was released which introduced a new concurrent renderer, automatic batching and support for server side rendering with Suspense.{{cite web |title=React 18 |url=https://react.dev/blog/2022/03/29/react-v18 |website=React |access-date=7 December 2024}}

On December 5, 2024, React 19 was released. This release introduced Actions, which simplify the process of making state updates using asynchronous functions rather than having to manually handle pending states, errors and optimistic updates. React 19 also included support for server components and improved static site generation.{{cite web |title=React 19 |url=https://react.dev/blog/2024/12/05/react-19#whats-new-in-react-19 |website=React |access-date=7 December 2024}}

class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"

|+ class="nowrap" | Version history of react

Version

! width="150px" | Release Date

!Changes

0.3.0

|29 May 2013

|Initial Public Release

0.4.0

|20 July 2013

|Support for comment nodes {{tag|div|content={{mset|/* */}}}}, Improved server-side rendering APIs, Removed React.autoBind, Support for the key prop, Improvements to forms, Fixed bugs.

0.5.0

|20 October 2013

|Improve Memory usage, Support for Selection and Composition events, Support for getInitialState and getDefaultProps in mixins, Added React.version and React.isValidClass, Improved compatibility for Windows.

0.8.0

|20 December 2013

|Added support for rows & cols, defer & async, loop for {{tag|audio|o}} & {{tag|video|o}}, autoCorrect attributes. Added onContextMenu events, Upgraded jstransform and esprima-fb tools, Upgraded browserify.

0.9.0

|20 February 2014

|Added support for crossOrigin, download and hrefLang, mediaGroup and muted, sandbox, seamless, and srcDoc, scope attributes, Added any, arrayOf, component, oneOfType, renderable, shape to React.PropTypes, Added support for onMouseOver and onMouseOut event, Added support for onLoad and onError on {{tag|img|o}} elements.

0.10.0

|21 March 2014

|Added support for srcSet and textAnchor attributes, add update function for immutable data, Ensure all void elements do not insert a closing tag.

0.11.0

|17 July 2014

|Improved SVG support, Normalized e.view event, Update $apply command, Added support for namespaces, Added new transformWithDetails API, includes pre-built packages under dist/, MyComponent() now returns a descriptor, not an instance.

0.12.0

|21 November 2014

|Added new features Spread operator ({...}) introduced to deprecate this.transferPropsTo, Added support for acceptCharset, classID, manifest HTML attributes, React.addons.batchedUpdates added to API, @jsx React.DOM no longer required, Fixed issues with CSS Transitions.

0.13.0

|10 March 2015

|Deprecated patterns that warned in 0.12 no longer work, ref resolution order has changed, Removed properties this._pendingState and this._rootNodeID, Support ES6 classes, Added API React.findDOMNode(component), Support for iterators and immutable-js sequences, Added new features React.addons.createFragment, deprecated React.addons.classSet.

15.0.0

|7 April 2016

|Initial render now uses document.createElement instead of generating HTML, No more extra {{tag|span|o}}s, Improved SVG support, {{code|ReactPerf.getLastMeasurements()}} is opaque, New deprecations introduced with a warning, Fixed multiple small memory leaks, React DOM now supports the cite and profile HTML attributes and cssFloat, gridRow and gridColumn CSS properties.

15.1.0

|20 May 2016

|Fix a batching bug, Ensure use of the latest object-assign, Fix regression, Remove use of merge utility, Renamed some modules.

15.2.0

|1 July 2016

|Include component stack information, Stop validating props at mount time, Add React.PropTypes.symbol, Add onLoad handling to {{tag|link|o}} and onError handling to {{tag|source|o}} element, Add {{code|isRunning()}} API, Fix performance regression.

15.3.0

|30 July 2016

|Add React.PureComponent, Fix issue with nested server rendering, Add xmlns, xmlnsXlink to support SVG attributes and referrerPolicy to HTML attributes, updates React Perf Add-on, Fixed issue with ref.

15.4.0

|16 November 2016

|React package and browser build no longer includes React DOM, Improved development performance, Fixed occasional test failures, update batchedUpdates API, React Perf, and {{code|ReactTestRenderer.create()}}.

15.5.0

|7 April 2017

|Added react-dom/test-utils, Removed peerDependencies, Fixed issue with Closure Compiler, Added a deprecation warning for React.createClass and React.PropTypes, Fixed Chrome bug.

15.6.0

|13 June 2017

|Add support for CSS variables in style attribute and Grid style properties, Fix AMD support for addons depending on react, Remove unnecessary dependency, Add a deprecation warning for React.createClass and React.DOM factory helpers.

16.0.0

|26 September 2017

|Improved error handling with introduction of "error boundaries", React DOM allows passing non-standard attributes, Minor changes to setState behavior, remove react-with-addons.js build, Add React.createClass as create-react-class, React.PropTypes as prop-types, React.DOM as react-dom-factories, changes to the behavior of scheduling and lifecycle methods.

16.1.0

|9 November 2017

|Discontinuing Bower Releases, Fix an accidental extra global variable in the UMD builds, Fix onMouseEnter and onMouseLeave firing, Fix