React: Key Differences and When to Use Each

React, React Native, and React 360: Key Differences and When to Use Each

React, developed and maintained by Meta (formerly Facebook), has revolutionized front-end development. However, the term “React” often gets used broadly, encompassing not just the core JavaScript library, but also its closely related siblings: React Native and React 360 (now often referred to as React VR). This article will break down the key differences between these three technologies, explaining when to use each and how they relate to each other.

1. React (React.js): The Foundation

What it is: React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces (UIs). It’s focused on the view layer of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. React uses a component-based approach, where UIs are built by composing reusable, self-contained components. These components manage their own state and render efficiently thanks to React’s virtual DOM.
Key Concepts:
- Components: The building blocks of React applications. They can be functional (using hooks) or class-based.
- JSX (JavaScript XML): A syntax extension to JavaScript that allows HTML-like structures to be written within JavaScript code. This makes it easier to describe what the UI should look like.
- Virtual DOM: A lightweight in-memory representation of the actual DOM. React uses this to efficiently update the real DOM only when necessary, leading to performance improvements.
- Unidirectional Data Flow: Data flows in one direction (typically from parent to child components), making it easier to reason about and debug applications.
- Props and State: props are read-only data passed from parent to child components. state is internal data managed within a component, and changes to state trigger re-renders.
- Hooks (introduced in React 16.8): Functions that let you “hook into” React state and lifecycle features from function components. Examples include useState, useEffect, useContext, useReducer, etc.
What it’s used for:
- Web Applications: React’s primary use case is building dynamic, interactive web applications, from single-page applications (SPAs) to complex web platforms.
- Websites: React can be used to create static websites (using tools like Gatsby or Next.js) or to add dynamic elements to existing websites.
- Server-Side Rendering (SSR): With frameworks like Next.js, React can be rendered on the server, improving SEO and initial load times.
Target Platform: Web browsers (desktop and mobile).
Example Code (Simple Component):

“`javascript
import React, { useState } from ‘react’;

function Counter() {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

return (

You clicked {count} times

);
}

export default Counter;
“`

2. React Native: Bringing React to Mobile

What it is: React Native is a framework for building native mobile applications using JavaScript and React. It’s not a way to create hybrid apps (which run in a web view). React Native renders native UI components, resulting in apps that look and feel like truly native apps built with Java/Kotlin (Android) or Swift/Objective-C (iOS).
Key Differences from React.js:
- UI Components: React Native uses native UI components instead of HTML elements. Instead of <div>, <p>, etc., you’ll use components like <View>, <Text>, <Image>, <ScrollView>, etc. These components are mapped to their native platform equivalents.
- Styling: React Native uses a JavaScript-based styling system that’s similar to CSS but with some differences. It doesn’t support all CSS properties and uses camelCase for property names.
- Navigation: React Native has its own navigation libraries (like React Navigation or @react-native-community/navigation) because the browser’s history API isn’t applicable.
- Platform-Specific Code: You can write platform-specific code (e.g., to access native APIs or handle platform-specific UI differences) using JavaScript modules or by writing native modules in Java/Kotlin or Swift/Objective-C.
- No DOM: React Native doesn’t use a DOM. It interacts directly with native UI elements.
- Hot Reloading & Fast Refresh: A significant benefit is the ability to quickly see changes during development without rebuilding the entire app.
What it’s used for:
- Cross-Platform Mobile Apps: The main advantage of React Native is the ability to write code once and deploy it to both iOS and Android. This can significantly reduce development time and cost.
- Apps with Native Performance: Because React Native uses native UI components, apps built with it generally perform better than hybrid apps.
- Apps Requiring Native Features: React Native allows access to native device features like the camera, GPS, accelerometer, etc.
Target Platforms: iOS and Android. There are also community projects for extending React Native to other platforms like Windows and macOS.
Example Code (Simple Component):

“`javascript
import React, { useState } from ‘react’;
import { View, Text, Button, StyleSheet } from ‘react-native’;

function Counter() {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

return (

You clicked {count} times

3. React 360 (React VR): Immersive Experiences

What it is: React 360 (formerly known as React VR) is a framework for creating 3D and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences using React. It builds upon React and React Native, providing a familiar component-based approach for building immersive environments.
Key Differences from React.js and React Native:
- 3D Rendering: React 360 uses WebGL (via Three.js) to render 3D scenes. It provides components for creating shapes, textures, lighting, and interacting with 3D objects.
- VR Support: React 360 is designed to work with VR headsets like Oculus, HTC Vive, and Google Daydream. It handles input from VR controllers and provides the necessary APIs for creating VR-specific interactions.
- 2D UI in 3D Space: You can integrate 2D UI elements (like text, buttons, and images) into the 3D environment. These elements are rendered as textures on 3D planes.
- Environment and Scene Management: React 360 provides components and APIs for managing the 3D environment, including loading 360° images and videos, creating panoramic backgrounds, and controlling the camera.
What it’s used for:
- VR Applications: Creating immersive VR experiences for gaming, education, training, and entertainment.
- 360° Tours: Building virtual tours of real-world locations or creating interactive 360° experiences.
- Interactive 3D Web Content: Adding 3D elements to websites, such as product visualizations or interactive simulations.
Target Platforms: Web browsers (with WebGL support) and VR headsets.
Example Code (Simple 3D Scene):

“`javascript
import React from ‘react’;
import { AppRegistry, View, Pano, Text, Box } from ‘react-360’;

class MyVRScene extends React.Component {
render() {
return (

Hello, VR World!

);
}
}

AppRegistry.registerComponent(‘MyVRScene’, () => MyVRScene);

“`

Summary Table:

When to Use Each:

React.js: Use for web applications and websites where you need dynamic and interactive UIs.
React Native: Use for building cross-platform mobile applications (iOS and Android) that need to look and feel like native apps.
React 360 (React VR): Use for creating 3D and VR experiences for web browsers and VR headsets.

Relationship Between Them:

All three technologies share the core React principles of component-based architecture, declarative programming, and unidirectional data flow. React Native and React 360 extend React.js, adapting its concepts to different platforms and rendering targets. Learning React.js is a fundamental prerequisite for using React Native or React 360. Skills learned in one are highly transferable to the others. You’ll find the same concepts of components, props, state, and often similar approaches to managing application logic.

React, React Native, and React 360: Key Differences and When to Use Each

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