React 16.0 probably had the most anticipated release. Many new features have been added and improvements have been made. React as we all know is a JavaScript library which is used for the purpose of creating user interfaces. It is being maintained by Facebook and also by individual developers and companies simultaneously. It is known to be able to fetch rapidly changing data. This makes it suitable for developing UI from single page websites to complete mobile applications. The newest version, React 16, has a new core structure as its base which is new to React. This is known as the fiber. The fiber facilitates the new features like better error handling, async rendering etc.
A look at the following features will let us understand the difference between the old and new version and the improvements made.
- An array of elements can now be returned with the help of a component’s render method. All you have to do to prevent key warning is to add a key to an element. This is same with all arrays. Previously, any kind of runtime errors would have broken React and lead to a cryptic error message which will then require you to refresh the page. However, React 16 has a much better way to handle these errors. If at all an error happens, the entire component will be uprooted. This will make sure that corrupted data is not displayed.
- React 16 also has the provision of error boundaries. A complete unmounting of the component might affect user interface so error boundary is a good alternative. The error boundaries can detect the errors even before it gets to the display. It will display a UI that you can fall back on. This helps you to get a smooth user interface and is a much safer option.
- It has also introduced portals. If a DOM node exists outside the hierarchy of a parent component then portals help with rendering the children component into the parent ones.
- There is a huge size difference. This is due to the changed packaging. This does away with process.env checks which make it slow especially in Node.
- React 16 also has introduced a completely new server renderer. It is entirely rewritten. This rewritten version is faster. Because it supports streaming, bytes can be sent in a much faster rate. It includes a completely rewritten server renderer. A bundle React is not needed for better rendering performance.
- React 16 can also hydrate the server rendered HTML better upon the clients receival. The initial render and the result from the server need not match completely.
All the leading websites are now using React 16.0 and aTeam Soft Solutions is the most trusted developer when it comes to React. They have years of experience in React and are well versed with the newest version. They have a team that is updated with all the new updates and latest changes. They also have the experience of working with the latest technologies like React Native and Angular.
