React/ Node
React
Definition:
React (also called React.js or ReactJS) is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces, particularly single-page applications (SPAs). It was developed and is maintained by Meta (Facebook).
Purpose:
React focuses on the front-end (client-side) — what users see and interact with in a web application. It makes it easy to build dynamic, interactive UIs by managing the state and rendering changes efficiently.
Key Concepts:
- Component-Based Architecture: React apps are made up of reusable components, each controlling its own logic and UI.
- JSX (JavaScript XML): React uses JSX, a syntax that allows writing HTML-like code in JavaScript.
- Virtual DOM: React creates a virtual copy of the DOM and only updates the parts of the UI that change, improving performance.
- State and Props:Sate: Manages internal data within a component.Props: Pass data from parent to child components.
Use Cases:
Interactive websites and SPAs
Dashboards and admin panels
Front-end of full-stack web applications
Mobile apps (via React Native)
Node.js
Definition:
Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows developers to run JavaScript on the server-side. It is built on Google Chrome’s V8 engine and maintained by the Node.js Foundation.
Purpose:
Node.js allows you to use JavaScript to write back-end (server-side) logic — like handling requests, connecting to databases, serving APIs, and managing files.
Key Concepts:
- Nblocking I/O: Node handles operations asynchronously, allowing high performance and scalability.
- Single-threaded Event Loop: Node processes multiple requests efficiently on a single thread using event-driven architecture.
- npm (Node Package Manager): A vast ecosystem of open-source libraries and tools for building server-side apps.
- Modules: Node encourages modular development — splitting code into reusable partson-.
Use Cases:
- RESTful APIs and web services
- Real-time applications (chat apps, notifications)
- Microservices
- Back-end of full-stack apps
- Command-line tools
How They Work Together:
In full-stack JavaScript development, React and Node.js are often used together:
React handles the front-end (what users see).
Node.js handles the back-end (server, database, APIs).
They communicate via HTTP APIs (e.g., REST or GraphQL).
This allows developers to use JavaScript across the entire stack, improving consistency and productivity.