Many business decision-makers (CEO, CTO, CPO, COO and Head of) asked me in the last months „Can you explain to me the hype about react?“. As a developer with more than 15 years of experience in web development, they thought that I have an answer. I should have, but with every question from them, I was thinking more and more about every answer which I told them.
In total it was every time the same explanation. I don‘t know! Honestly, I work now for over 5 years very intensive with different JavaScript frameworks. I started with Vue.js, then very fast I get in touch with react and since last year I work more and more with svelte. The only framework which I didn’t touch at the moment is Angular in a production environment. Sorry for all Angular devs outside, but I want to try a lot of things but sometimes there is no time for everything.
Now back to the topic, why every company which is thinking to change his system or architecture is jumping on the react-train? I will explain here my number top 3 points which I find every time at discussions about choosing to react in case of other frameworks.
Resources
Resources that because of this hype there are a lot of companies right now which are switching to react and it is very easy to find a job with experience in this tech stack. But also this benefit is at the same time a problem because there is a lot of react developers outside and you must fight against them to find a job. I know today more companies are searching for developers than there are free at the market. But my advice is to work with what you feel comfortable the most. Not every tech stack is the right choice for every developer. And don’t forget that hard skills are not everything. Also with a lack of experience, good soft skills will bring you more customers in the end.
Support
React is supported by a big company named Facebook. There would be a lot of development in the future which makes the framework much better than today. Other frameworks with flexibility like react, Vue.js, for example, is not supported by a big global company. There is „only“ an open-source community around a bunch of core developers and contributors of course. I can’t understand this argument, even more, I heard it. Where here is the benefit? My experience is that you have at an open-source community more power to decide and discuss new features and the next steps as then you work with a global player who can dictate you the next steps. Of course, Facebook tries also support their community but only from the point of view as an argument, I think it is an excuse or fear about the end of support more than a real argument to go on with react. Frontend tech stacks are changing so fast that no code will survive forever.
Scalability
Scalability is one of the most arguments which I heard or read about to choose to react over all other frameworks is that you can develop every project at every size you want in case of other frameworks. Starting with a small project until a company-wide global software project which can scale very big. Honestly, I worked in the past also with vanilla JavaScript and JQuery. And with these libraries, we created the same global software projects which now is limited to react? Trust me, every library or framework should help you by your developing process and you will create code as good as you are as a developer. Because I didn’t saw a JavaScript framework today which is writing code for me or make decisions about my project architecture. Please don’t think of limitations! Technical everything should be possible! And I saw a lot of projects also in react which are a mess only for one or two pages for a project because of over-engineering decisions.
“With the right people, you can change in the future to every tech stack you want. With the wrong people, you will stuck in one tech stack forever.
Advice
My advice to all developers is, you can try everything but you must feel comfortable with your code and the tech stack. When you find your strength is more at planning the architecture or maybe in the direction of node.js, go forward. And in case of the frontend tech stack, look at the product or project which you want to develop. Sometimes it is an overhead to jump on a library or framework to create a simple landing page. When you are not sure about the tech stack, my advice is to invest maybe more in your soft skills. Maybe go to some Meetups and talk to people with more experience of your ideas. Find maybe new friends who can help you with your project. With the right people, you can change in the future to every tech stack you want. With the wrong people, you will stuck in one tech stack forever. Trust me!
And yes, a lot of developers will now take it personally or think about their decision to jump on the react-train and try to defend their decision. But this should no article against react. This article should help people who are short before a decision about how they go on from a technical point of view. I think it is very important to be open and have an open mindset. For this behavior, a lot of people need security and this is what I want to bring to him. The fear to don’t jump on the react-train as everyone did should not be a limitation in their mindset.
Conclusion Don’t care about the tech stack and the react-train. The next train will come, trust me! I’m really sure that for example when Vue.js was before react on the market we will talk today about a Vue.js hype.
Find the right people and look at your product. Because the product, in the end, should help you decide which tech stack you need. Make decisions for your project, product or customer. Don’t be afraid to make your own decisions! It will help you grow in any way!
In the end, it is only code and should help you that your dreams come true not destroy them! Be crazy and go your own way!