Svelte Vs React: Which is best for your project?

Javascript is the language of the web. Its frameworks have completely changed how developers approach web development, equipping them with powerful tools to build interactive and dynamic web applications.

Over the years there has been a boom of various javascript frameworks; all claiming to solve the complexities of building fast and efficient user interfaces (UI) while maintaining an improved performance and a leaner package size.

Two of the more popular frameworks in JavaScript frameworks are Svelte and React. Both have gained significant followings among developers for their unique approaches and philosophies to solving common development challenges.

In this article, I will compare Svelte vs. React, and take a deeper dive into the philosophy, architecture, performance, features and use cases of both Svelte and React, to help you make informed decisions about which framework will suit your projects best.

Svelte Vs React: What are they?

Svelte is a free and open-source front-end compiler based on the javascript language. Developed in 2016 by Rich Harris; the core of Svelte's approach is eliminating the need for the virtual DOM (Document Object Model) by compiling HTML templates to create unique code that manipulates the DOM directly. This allows Svelte to avoid overheads or hidden costs associated with the virtual DOM, unlike other javascript frameworks.

The way Svelte works reduces the file sizes and generally offers better client performance. The compiler processes the application code, inserts calls to automatically update the data and re-renders the UI elements affected by that data. Svelte is written in Typescript which is a superset of Javascript.

In addition to its focus on reactivity and compiler-based optimizations, Svelte emphasizes minimal boilerplate code. This means that developers can concentrate on writing the core logic of their applications without being burdened by unnecessary setup or reliance on third-party libraries. Svelte also promotes a component-based architecture, similar to React, where UIs are divided into reusable and composable components. This optimization is particularly beneficial for applications that prioritize fast loading times and runtime efficiency.

React is a declarative open-source javascript library developed by META (formerly Facebook). At the centre of React's philosophy is the use of a virtual DOM, which optimizes updates by producing an in-memory model of the actual DOM. Any changes made to the virtual DOM will thus reflect on the actual DOM. This makes React very useful for state management and rendering that state onto the DOM.

React also encourages a component-based architecture, where UIs are divided into reusable components that encapsulate their logic, state, and rendering. It benefits from a rich ecosystem of libraries and tools, offering solutions for various aspects of web development. React follows a unidirectional data flow pattern, ensuring data flows from parent to child components, simplifying data management and debugging.

Svelte Vs React: Speed and Performance

In the context of high-performance applications, both React and Svelte prioritize the development of components that accomplish more with less code.

React, for instance, strongly emphasizes crafting reusable components to tackle everyday tasks and enhance performance efficiency. It also shines when dealing with user interactions and animations, especially when paired with technologies like WebSockets. React's component reusability, ecosystem, and well-established developer tools contribute to a productive development experience, especially for larger and more complex applications.

On the other hand, Svelte specializes in developing clean, single-page applications (SPAs) focusing on minimal code. Svelte's simplicity, lack of a virtual DOM, and minimalistic syntax can lead to faster initial development cycles, particularly for smaller projects and developers familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

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.

Svelte Vs React: Bundle Size

Svelte's .gzip version is impressively compact and has a size of just 1.6 kilobytes. In contrast, React, when combined with ReactDOM and compressed into a .gzip file, reaches a larger size of 42.2 kilobytes. This significant difference in bundle size underscores Svelte's advantage in terms of loading speed, responsiveness, and cost-efficiency, as it translates to reduced bandwidth requirements and faster page rendering.

Svelte Vs React: Testing

Svelte simplifies the process with built-in testing utilities like "testing-library/svelte," focusing on mimicking user interactions to ensure realistic testing. Its user-friendly approach makes it an attractive choice, especially for those new to front-end testing. Svelte offers its testing library for unit testing. The Svelte testing library is smaller in size than React and offers simple computations.

React relies on external tools like Jest and React Testing Library to assess components from a user perspective for more precise control. Additionally, React developers have the option to employ the Enzyme library when seeking fine-grained control over the testing procedures. 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 vs. React: popularity and community

While Svelte's popularity is rising, its community is smaller than React's. The official Svelte GitHub repository has 72K stars but only 4K forks. This might lead to slightly fewer resources and support options, particularly for less common use cases.

React's long-standing popularity has fostered a massive and active community. The official React library has 213K stars and 44,6K forks. Developers benefit from a wealth of resources, solutions, and a broad ecosystem of tools and libraries.

React has more powerful community support and is much more popular than Svelte, which more or less compensates for the lack of better documentation.

Svelte Vs React: Who uses them?

Several high-profile companies such as META(Facebook), Netflix, Salesforce, Tesla, Walmart, Uber etc. have adopted React for building their applications.

Svelte is also trusted by large entities such as The New York Times, Cloudflare, Yelp, IKEA, Decathlon etc.

Svelte vs React: Cons

Svelte cons:

• Svelte's ecosystem, while growing, is still smaller compared to more established frameworks, which might lead to fewer third-party libraries and resources.

• Developers experienced with React might need to adjust to Svelte's different approach and syntax.

• Some larger organizations might hesitate to adopt a newer framework like Svelte due to its relative novelty.

React cons:

• React's virtual DOM introduces some overhead

• JSX and React's component lifecycle might present a learning curve for beginners and developers new to the framework.

• React applications can accumulate boilerplate code, particularly for state management.

• While React's optimizations help with performance, its virtual DOM approach might not match the raw performance of Svelte in certain scenarios.

Svelte Vs React: Which is best for your Project?

In deciding between Svelte and React for any project you might have, several important factors have to come into play. React is a library known for its extensive ecosystem and robust tooling, making it a powerful choice for large-scale applications, especially when you require a mature, feature-rich framework. Its virtual DOM approach provides efficient DOM manipulation, ensuring smooth updates for complex user interfaces.

Svelte, on the other hand, is a compiler, offering a leaner codebase with a no-virtual-DOM philosophy. This method results in faster development and smaller bundle sizes, making it ideal for projects prioritizing performance and code maintainability.

The decision depends on your project’s specific requirements. React finds usefulness for diverse application types, including video streaming platforms, social media platforms, and e-commerce sites. At the same time, Svelte, with its ease of learning and efficient code, excels in scenarios where performance, speed, and maintainability are paramount, making it a great choice for JAMstack sitesand building dashboards.

Svelte Vs React: Summary

When to use Svelte and React:

Svelte:

• Small-scale to medium-scale projects.

• Prioritizing performance and efficiency.

• Creating dynamic user interfaces.

React:

• Developing complex user interfaces.

• Crafting large-scale applications.

• Accessing a rich ecosystem and strong support

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