New reports have shown that ReactJS is surpassing Javascript’s age-old jQuery library as developers’ JS library of choice. In an effort to retain our renowned reputation for exemplary journalism, Nonfree News has taken a deep look into the lives of frontend developers across the globe to see what has motivated the change.
We found on reddit received thousands of notes and stories from developers worldwide, which are summed up best by our conversation with developer Mark Coleman:
Nonfree News: “Mark, you’ve switched from using jQuery to using React. Why the shift?”
Mark Coleman: “After using jQuery for many years, I’ve come to the realization that using an entire library like jQuery just to set the inner HTML of an element is a bad idea. After all, for such a simple task, jQuery is massive: 33kb gzipped is more than I can afford. It just feels like jQuery is too bloated and over-engineered for the simple tasks I want to perform.”
Nonfree News: “You’ve got some great reasons for leaving jQuery. But why use React?”
Mark: “Well, I have to have some sort of library. It’s not like JS can just manipulate the DOM without one. I really like React in particular because it is perfect for small sites like mine. No more bloat; no more over-engineered madness just to do the simple things. Let’s say, for example, that I want to make an auto-updating clock widget. Rather than dealing with setInterval(), I can just create a component and React will auto-update it with new data for me. It’s really a huge time-saver.”
“Plus,” added Mark, “I’m really sick of jQuery. After sticking with the same library for an entire weekend, I feel like it’s time to learn something new. If I remember one thing from reading Malcolm Gladwell, it’s that 10 hours is enough to master a skill. I think that makes me a jQuery savant.”
PullJosh is constantly confused, and stuggles to keep up with the rest of the team. His articles have been compared to the output of a Markov chain, and for good reason. Josh has mastered the art of pretending to know what he is talking about, but struggles to write anything other than self-depreciating humor while in the third person.