Why is React so popular considering it was made by Facebook?
I know this question might tip off some people but I’m really interested to hear the opinions everyone has on that.
Facebook is not known for their “pro-customer” service as a matter of fact very often do we hear negative news about Facebook.
So why did the developer’s community embraced React to that magnitude?
Did you ever care React was made by Facebook when you started with it?
It’s not like everyone using React is paying Facebook for a license or anything. Why should it matter that Facebook’s developers made the framework?
…because it is made by Facebook. Bear in mind that whatever you may think of FB, their tech stack is incredibly impressive, especially considering the scale at which they operate.
Java is owned by Oracle, C# Microsoft, Angular Google.
Is Facebook really any worse?
I would say so, yes. Their business and privacy ethics are pretty non-existent, so putting their product into your product is not really the best business decision one can make.
The source code is open, in fact it is JavaScript, you aren’t even using binaries, you can open the react files and read them for yourself to make sure they don’t have any privacy stealing stuff. It is was some compiled program you don’t know what it does like windows you may have a point but in JS that really doesn’t make much sense
Well I think there’s a difference between Facebook the social network who is very advertising centric and their developers who authored react.
I also think angulars missteps also might have a little to do with reacts popularit beyond the face the react is a very well maintained library.
Morally speaking, knowledge and processes (and by extension, software) are morally neutral. They are not, by themselves, either good or bad morally, only the application or creation of them might be. Because of this, it would not matter who made the software if it is quality software. An program written by a serial killer would be no better or worse in and of itself than an identical program written by a national hero.
Now, if by using said program, you are empowering a “a bad entity”, then that might become a moral calculation.
However, given that Facebook probably loses money on React development overall (to say nothing of the drain on their engineering that could be spent on more profitable things), I suspect that it largely evens out.
I do not endorse or support Facebook, especially in the face of they practices and policies, but I do use React because I recognize its inherent qualities and the fact that it is open source.
I do not think they lose money, developing all the cool technologies they do help them attract the brightest talent, which then gives their business a definite advantage. Same as Google.
I wouldn’t touch Facebook itself with a ten foot internet pole but I use React any chance I get. They’re still distinct entities, and I don’t see a conflict. Certainly not since the license was changed.
If NASA can choose Werner von Braun…
To be fair, there was a bit of controversy before, because the license basically said: “You promise not to do anything that could compete with Facebook, or we can sue you”.
After some outrage, Facebook finally changed React’s license to MIT, so it’s safe to use now (in that regard at least).
I’m not going to go into why React is great, I personally think it’s pretty awesome. But keep in mind that companies who adopt a new JavaScript framework (or any programming framework), want something stable, tried, tested, and that will stand the test of time. React has done a great job at this (better so than Angular which completely changed after the first version). As a result, I often see companies that are still stuck in AngularJS 1.x and now have to make a costly switch to Angular 2+ or another framework. While React has just slowly and steadily evolved to the tool it is today. I think the fact that Facebook uses it might also speak confidence to companies looking to adopt another framework.
React is a powerful framework, it was build to power one of the most interactive websites ever made. I can not think of any website that has so much dynamic contents and still works that well. So it does the job it is meant to do and does it very well.
In addition, it is relatively easy to understand once you know a bit of JS. So a beginner can create something so interactive and performant using components built by more advanced developers. And even build your own components easily.
Who made it doesn’t really matter, we use scientific advancements made by terrible people all the time.
Gone are the 90s/00s when people kept banging on about Micro$oft and wouldn’t touch .NET or optimise for IE out of principle. The only net benefit FB get from React are: (1) free beta testing (but we all get that benefit) (2) attract the best engineering talent. I am fine with that.
I was slightly worried when React still had the BSD license issue going on in 2017 (look it up). But now it seems fine. Even if Facebook would drop support or anything, a fork would be React created instantly. In fact, Preact is a slimmed down version of React.
React was shunned at first because (a) JSX is unusual and (b) it was made by Facebook. I think it’s a testament to React that it overcame those two issues.
Cuz React is insanely well maintained.
That said, there are very very stable React-like alternatives:
InfernoJS – is ridiculously fast in terms of benchmarks. It’s also totally lightweight and offers lifecycle methods in functional components.
PreactJS – Incredibly small ~3kb with the same API as React. It’s great.
Both can be dropin replacements for React with `inferno-compat` and `preact-compat`
I personally use them over React.
