Fredrick DooleyWhen it comes to developing a business application or website, there are several crucial decisions to make regarding budget, resources, time, and more. One of the initial tasks for managers is choosing the right technology stack.
In today’s world, software developers have a plethora of options including libraries, frameworks, programming languages, and tools to create applications of varying complexity. Some technologies fade away quickly, while others remain popular for years.
Two such technologies are Vue.js and React.js, which are efficient and robust JavaScript (JS) framework and library correspondingly used for creating user interfaces. Both serve similar purposes and have similar approaches, making it difficult to decide which one to choose for your next web project.
To help you make an informed decision without delving into technical details, we have listed key factors to consider when facing the Vue vs React dilemma. While these considerations may vary depending on the case, they can serve as a foundation for your ultimate decision.
What You Should Consider When Choosing Between Vue.js and React.js
1. Support and Documentation
Vue.js
Vue.js is a relatively new JS framework that gained popularity within the open-source community since its introduction in 2014 by Evan You, who previously worked with Angular and React at Google. What makes Vue.js appealing to web developers is its well-structured and easy-to-understand documentation, jointly created by You and Dan Abramov, a key figure behind React.
React.js
React, powered by Facebook, has been available to the open-source community since 2013. The tech giant has dedicated a team to continuously enhance React features, fix bugs, and provide documentation. Although the documentation covers every aspect of using this JS library, some developers find it lacking in structure and organization, resulting in a slightly steeper learning curve compared to Vue.js.
Takeaways
React benefits from a large and helpful development community, ensuring prompt bug fixes and readily available support. However, Vue has an edge in terms of clear and understandable documentation.
2. Cost
Both Vue and React have similar development costs, which depend on factors like the developer’s expertise and the use of supplementary libraries and packages. Development speed is almost identical, as both frameworks offer tools to accelerate the building process. Additionally, both technologies are MIT-licensed, allowing for commercial application development without licensing concerns.
Takeaways
The cost of Vue or React development is relatively similar, with React projects potentially being slightly more expensive.
3. Suitability for Mobile App Development
Vue.js
Vue.js excels in building web UIs but falls behind React when it comes to mobile app development. Nevertheless, developers can overcome this limitation by using Weex (https://weexapp.com/), a framework for creating mobile apps with Vue.
Another option is integrating Vue.js with NativeScript, a cross-platform solution for native mobile development. However, NativeScript is not as popular as React Native, React’s mobile app development framework.
React.js
React Native empowers developers to create Android and iOS applications using just React and JS. This eliminates the need to learn new technologies, leveraging existing knowledge and skills for faster development and improved mobile app performance.
Takeaways
If your goal is to deploy your application across platforms, React is currently a better choice. Vue’s focus primarily lies within the web space, although future developments may introduce “Vue Native.”
4. The Technologies Behind Vue and React
The underlying technologies used in building a framework or library have a significant impact on development speed and the learning curve. Let’s compare Vue and React in terms of their approach and features.
Vue.js
Vue follows a traditional approach to web development, separating code into HTML, CSS, and JS. It uses templates on top of regular HTML and has components with their own lifecycles. Vue operates on the virtual DOM (Document Object Model), which allows developers to update only the modified portion of the DOM, enhancing website performance.
React.js
On the other hand, React takes a different path. HTML is written within JS code using JSX (JavaScript Expressions). Similar to Vue, React treats everything as a component with lifecycles and functions for manipulation. React also leverages the Virtual DOM approach.
Takeaways
For an average web developer who is familiar with traditional web technologies but new to JSX syntax, React may be slightly more challenging to master compared to Vue. Vue’s simplicity attracts a larger pool of developers, making it easier to find resources for your project. However, React still boasts a considerable number of developers.
Vue works best for simple applications that require fast creation thanks to its easy-to-master templates.
5. Additional Considerations
Size
While not the smallest JS framework, Vue.js weighs around 18-21KB, making it relatively lightweight. In contrast, React.js weighs approximately 60KB. This means Vue can be downloaded quickly and generally performs faster than many competitors, including React.
Popularity
React surpasses Vue in terms of popularity among developers and companies. The backing of Facebook adds credibility and trust to the React library. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2023 results (https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/#most-popular-technologies-webframe-prof), over 42.87% of professional developers prefer React, while around 17.64% favor Vue.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, both React.js and Vue.js have their strengths and cater to different needs in the development community.
React, backed by Facebook, boasts a large developer community and broad application, especially in mobile app development. However, its documentation might appear unstructured for some, potentially leading to a steeper learning curve.
Vue.js, on the other hand, shines in its simplicity and easy-to-understand documentation, but its mobile app development capabilities are not as robust as React’s.
Cost-wise, both have similar development costs, with React projects potentially being slightly pricier. Vue’s lighter size and conventional approach to web development might attract many, but React’s popularity can’t be ignored.
When choosing between Vue and React, developers and managers should consider their specific project requirements and the characteristics of each framework.
