Does anybody like React?
Opinions on React range from genuine enthusiasm for its component model and vast ecosystem to frustration with its complexity, performance pitfalls, and the SPA-centric web it helped normalize. Many commenters say they now tolerate React mainly for jobs, arguing that most sites could use simpler patterns like server‑rendered HTML, htmx, or lighter frameworks such as Svelte, Vue, Solid, or web components. A recurring theme is that React’s dominance persists less because it is technically superior in all cases, and more due to inertia, hiring considerations, and the rich tooling that has grown around it.
Overall sentiment
- Opinions are sharply divided: some genuinely enjoy React, others tolerate it for work, and many actively dislike it.
- Several see it as “the worst option except for all the others we’ve tried”; others call it overhyped, bloated, or even harmful to frontend practice.
Why people like React / JSX
- The component model (UI as a function of state) is praised for composability and mental clarity, especially compared to jQuery, Backbone, and AngularJS.
- JSX is widely liked, sometimes more than React itself: mixing markup and logic in one file and reusing plain JS control flow feels natural and expressive.
- React’s declarative approach to DOM updates is seen as a huge improvement over manual DOM manipulation for complex interactive apps.
- Some like the ecosystem: GraphQL integration, React Query/TanStack Query, Vite, and tools like the React Compiler that reduce boilerplate.
Major criticisms of React and its ecosystem
- Hooks are viewed by many as confusing, leaky abstractions with subtle rules and performance traps; some miss the old class lifecycle model.
- React apps often break web fundamentals (navigation, back button, accessibility), especially in badly built SPAs.
- The ecosystem is fragmented: every codebase assembles a different stack of routers, state libraries, and data layers, making projects inconsistent and hard to onboard.
- Server Components and Next.js (under Vercel) are criticized as too “magic,” security‑prone, tightly coupled to specific hosting, and driving React’s direction in opaque ways.
- React is blamed for frontend bloat, over-engineering simple CRUD apps, and encouraging megabyte bundles for problems solvable with HTML+forms.
SPAs vs server-rendered / lighter stacks
- Many argue most sites should be multi-page apps with server rendering and small “islands” of JS, using tools like HTMX, Alpine, web components, or vanilla JS.
- Others counter that rich interactivity, complex state, and “polish” often justify SPA complexity.
Alternatives and comparisons
- Svelte, Vue, Solid, Angular, Lit, Elm, and web components are all mentioned; each has fans who find them simpler, faster, or more ergonomic.
- Signals/fine-grained reactivity (Vue, Solid, newer Angular, Svelte runes) are seen by some as a cleaner model than React’s re-render and hooks approach.
Ecosystem, inertia, and hiring
- React’s dominance is widely attributed to inertia, hiring pool size, and corporate backing, not just technical merit.
- Many choose it pragmatically (“no one gets fired for choosing React”) while personally preferring other tools.