How React is Different from React Native?

The fundamental concept is React Native is based on React.

The target of React is web whereas the target of React Native is mobile app development using React. Meta and the community, however, have expanded this technology for desktop and virtual reality, realizing React Native’s multi-platform vision.

Highlighted Key Difference

Here is How React is different from React Native.

Architecture

Architectural design is one of the major key differences between React Native and React. React utilizes virtual DOM. React simplifies this by allowing the pages to be rendered with subcomponents that are updated or changed.

By creating an in-memory data structure cache, React computes the differences between data structures and updates the browser’s Document Object Model (DOM) accordingly. Consequently, React is very fast and the process is termed reconciliation.

On the other hand, the working principle of React Native is different from React. It uses native APIs when rendering components of the UI. In addition, it uses React for abstraction, but, React uses React DOM, so additional work is needed.

Library Vs Framework

React.js is not the whole framework and is a library. React is basically a javascript library used for the development of the smooth, engaging, and well-functioning UI part of an application. For creating the user interface, this is specifically designed.

In contrast, React Native is a framework that mainly aims at application development and is capable of running on many platforms.

Using Javascript, Native apps are built by React Native.

Animations

Animations are one of the things React.js and React Native differ from each other. React provides more animations by using CSS and JavaScript libraries. Meanwhile, React Native depends on a built-in library for animation as well as API. A few of the built-in libraries for animation are as follows;

1. Lottie is a library for mobile applications that helps you add animations to your apps. You need to convert your Adobe After Effects animations into a format suitable for your web app after creating them. This is where Lottie comes in.
2. The React Native Reanimated library provides a broad and complete, low-level abstraction on top of which the animated library API can be built. Consequently, it allows for greater flexibility in interactions based on gestures.
3. You will usually see repetitive slides, swipes, bouncing, and so on in most of the applications. By offering preconfigured and well-animated components, React Native Animatable prevents you from having to write all the animations yourself that are typically used. It includes a standard set of animations for React Native applications.
4. Redash is an excellent gesture-handler library that allows you to provide a smooth, seamless user experience with React Native.
5. A scalable vector graphic image can be displayed in animated form using React Native SVG animation library. A wrapper element is included to display the animation.
6. Flip card for React Native is an animation library that has a card component that flips in Android/iOS.
7. The component that helps you manage and monitor the transitions for complicated animated components in React Native. Animations are timed, and multiple screens are monitored as they enter and leave.
8. With Motion, you can create animations in React Native with an easy-to-use feature. Additionally, React Native Motion offers a simple API to create shared transitions.
9. Using Auto animate, you can create cool React Native animations that are simple, reliable, and straightforward.
10. Your React Native application can easily incorporate a circular menu effect with the React Native Circular Menu animation library. Material designs and circular layout make this UI menu simple and elegant.

User Interface

HTML tags are not used in React Native app development. React Native uses JavaScript threads to manipulate native views, and there are React Native equivalents for almost every HTML tag.

HTML tags are used by React. By using ReactDOM, React.js renders HTML to the web page. The use of JSX and Javascript XML in React makes it convenient to write or add HTML in it.

Styling

CSS for styling purposes is used by React.js. For the styling elements, React Native has a similar syntax to CSS.

By utilizing Javascript and StyleSheet in React Native, applications are styled. Similar to the CSS stylesheet, StyleSheet is an abstraction.

Security

As compared to React Native, React.js provides high security because React Native deals with native APIs to build cross-platform apps and render views that are specific to the platform. To make your app more secure, React.js plays a vital role.

Conclusion

React and React Native both are widely used to create modern, scalable mobile and web applications and are used in the development of many famous applications globally.

React.js is perfect if you want to create dynamic UI mainly focused on web applications whereas if you are looking for the same outcome as a native mobile application but with faster development across both iOS and Android, React Native is the robust Javascript library that pushes the hybrid space of cross-platform development to its limit.