Svelte vs React: What is Svelte used for? Is Svelte better than React? Why is Svelte so good? What makes Svelte different? Find answers to these questions, and more information, in the article below.
Svelte is a free and open-source front-end compiler based on JavaScript language. React is a front-end JavaScript library that uses multiple third-party components to design UI elements. The article explains the differences between Svelte vs React in detail.
Developers use JavaScript frameworks like Svelte and React to create, design, and code functional websites. Knowing the difference between Svelte and React would help web developers decide which frameworks to choose.
Svelte vs React: What is Svelte?
Developed by Rich Harris in 2016, Svelte is a free, open-source front-end compiler. Svelte compiles HTML templates to create unique code that manipulates the Document Object Model directly. Unlike traditional JavaScript frameworks like React, Svelte avoids overheads associated with the virtual DOM.
The way Svelte operates reduces the transferred file size and offers better client performance. The compiler processes the application code inserts calls to automatically update the data, and re-renders UI elements affected by that data. Svelte is written in the TypeScript language, a superset of JavaScript.
When should you use Svelte?
Svelte is known for simplicity, as its code closely resembles Vanilla JavaScript. Svelte allows developers to complete their objectives with fewer lines of code. Developers should use Svelte if they are targeting a very small package size for their website.
Programs written in Svelte are useful for application in low-capacity or low-power devices. Svelte tools and frameworks provide enhanced control over state management, routing, and building customized infrastructure. Svelte is useful for DOM manipulation, reactive frameworks, and emerging markets.
Which companies use Svelte?
Major companies such as Yahoo, Rakuten, Bloomberg, Meta, Apple, The New York Times, Square, ByteDance, Spotify, Reuters, Ikea, Brave, and others rely on Svelte for their websites. Companies prefer Svelte because it converts the application’s code to ideal JavaScript while coding. Thus, framework abstractions do not hamper the performance of apps written in Svelte.
Svelte vs React: What is React?
Developers use React as a front-end JavaScript library to build user interfaces. The Meta (Facebook) maintains the UI components, and a community of developers and organizations work together to release improved versions. React is used as a base for developing websites, mobile applications, and server-rendered apps.
React is useful for state management and for rendering that state onto the DOM. The development of React applications requires the usage of additional libraries. The knowledge of routing, client-side coding, and design patterns is a prerequisite for developing React components.
React is a flexible component library that is perfect for state management. Thus, websites and apps that use React components can exchange data without reloading the page. React should be used for user interfaces that require a lot of user interaction.
React corresponds to ‘view’ in the model-view-controller. Thus, managing lower-level algorithms with React is easy, and coding is required only for the interface’s view model. React’s Virtual DOM improves website performance and reduces lags to enhance loading times.
Which companies use React?
Highly successful organizations like Meta, Instagram, Salesforce, Shopify, Discord, Skype, and Pinterest use React to develop user interfaces. Due to the availability of a large number of developers globally, companies prefer React to create the front-end part of their websites.
React is fast, easy to implement, and scalable, making it a popular choice among developers and organizations.
Svelte is a newer framework compared to React and does not require any third-party tools. Developers may choose one of these frameworks over other based on multiple factors and preferences. Let us compare their differences to help you choose the right JavaScript framework for your projects.
Performance
Traditional Document Object Model (DOM) triggers an update with each code change, which slows down the app’s performance. Virtual DOM speeds up the process by acting as temporary memory storage for changes made to the user interface. A process known as diffusion or reconciliation delays updates until updating and rendering can be carried out effectively.
React uses Virtual DOM to break down the app’s code when the code is executed. VDOM helps React perform faster than traditional JavaScript languages. But Svelte takes performance a bit further by ignoring the VDOM diffing process.
Svelte acts as a compiler that carries out DOM rendering through reactive programming. Whenever an assignment triggers a change in the component stage, the DOM is updated. Thus, as a serverless-first framework, Svelte is considered more reactive than React.
Bundle Size
Svelte’s .gzip version has a size of 1.6 kilobytes. On the other hand, React.gzip, when combined with ReactDOM, comes to a total size of 42.2 kilobytes. Svelte’s smaller bundle size ensures better loading speeds, better responsiveness, and reduced bandwidth costs.
Testing
Code written in React can be tested with ‘end-to-end’ tests. React code of an application is tested in a realistic browser environment. This reduces your app’s time to market (TTM) and boosts its value.
Svelte offers its testing library for unit testing. The Svelte testing library is smaller in size than React and offers simple computations. Thus, Svelte can help developers maintain clean, functional, and compressed code.
React has a huge community of developers, as it is one of the most widely used JavaScript platforms in the world. The community of React developers creates tutorials, guides, updates, components, and more to maintain the usability of the JavaScript library.
The fact that a large-scale organization like Meta (Facebook) maintains React keeps React developers in high demand.
Svelte is rather uncommon, but developers report high levels of satisfaction while using Svelte. The enterprise-level support for Svelte is fairly new, as Sveltekit 1.0 is yet to be released. The Svelte community is small, with only 11k developers, compared to more than 287k active React developers.
Maintenance
When it comes to maintenance, React wins over Svelte because it is maintained by Meta and a team of individual developers and companies. As a result, React has a dedicated team that works on the framework 24/7. But that’s not it! In the past few years, React saw quite a few big releases like functional components React Context, Hooks, etc., making it a favorite among many developers.
But Svelte is no less. Svelte has an amazing maintenance team that works to keep the framework at the top of its game and in contention with React.
When should you use Svelte and when should you use React?
Svelte and React have their own advantages and disadvantages. React is backed by Meta and hence quite reliable. Also, it’s a good choice for big projects that demand several features. React is also suitable for making complex user interfaces as it’s easy to create reusable components with the framework. Last but not least, React has a range of built-in features and tools. So if you need to develop large applications quickly, choose React.
Svelte, on the other hand, is more suited for smaller projects that don’t demand a lot of features. Most importantly, Svelte is lightweight and uses less code. These features make it a wonderful option for projects with a focus on performance. What’s more, Svelte has a simpler learning curve, making it a good option for developers who are not too experienced with JavaScript. Furthermore, Svelte is perfect for building dynamic user interfaces as it compiles code into highly optimized JavaScript.
Svelte vs React: Who wins?
Consider your project requirements and the time you have first. The Svelte vs. React argument is straightforward when these two aspects are clearly defined. Use Svelte if performance and optimized code are your priorities. You can also go for Svelte for your projects to achieve a smaller bundle size, maintainable code, and exceptional performance without the VDOM. Due to the simplicity of the framework, Svelte enables developers to prepare a website faster.
But if you need to build heavy, complex applications quickly, go for React. React makes it easy to maintain the stability of your application. An active community of React developers helps resolve doubts and bugs observed during development.
If you’re an employer, using React for your projects will make it easier to hire software developers. Developing stable software products using React and Svelte requires companies to hire experienced software developers. Turing can help you hire brilliant, pre-vetted remote software developers for your projects at unbelievable prices. Visit the Hire page for more information.
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Svelte vs React: Svelte is a front-end JavaScript compiler, simple and easy to use. React is a front-end JavaScript library that uses 3rd-party components.
Kedar is a skilled technical content writer and a social media marketer. He has worked with Apollo Hospitals, upGrad, Lumina Datamatics, and other companies.
