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The Big State Management Showdown

Hey React devs, if you’re building React apps, chances are you’ve either used Redux or Zustand for state management. These have ruled for a while, but a new contender is here to shake things up! Let’s dive into an exciting performance showdown that could change your dev toolkit! 🕵️‍♂️

The Players: Veterans and a Bold Newcomer

• Redux Toolkit: The seasoned pro of React state management. It’s been around forever, super dependable with a solid ecosystem. But yeah, it can get a bit out of hand, and performance can be a concern as your app grows.

• Zustand: The cool, modern pick with a simple API, direct tweaks, and an easy start. Its small size and vibe win fans, but can it keep up under pressure?

• Overwatch TS: The Rookie Stealing the Spotlight! A lightweight, hooks-based solution for React and Next.js, made to deliver performance and effortless state management.

Everyone claims “Fast,” so we put these tools to a real test!

The Benchmark: How We Pushed the Limits!

We set up a benchmark to mimic real-world action:

• 10,000 concurrent state updates to stress-test update cycles.

• Cold start checks to see the startup overhead.

• Memory usage tracking to spot any resource hogs.

• 100 runs for solid, fair averages, all on the same machine.

• The latest versions and recommended practices of all three libraries.

This wasn’t just a quick sprint, it was a full-on challenge designed to expose every strength and flaw! ⚡

The Results — Totally Unexpected!

I figured we’d see a small 5–10% edge, but 😮 the numbers blew me away!

• Overwatch: Average update time: 49.74 ms

• Zustand: Average update time: 584.74 ms

• Redux Toolkit: Average update time: 913.03 ms

Overwatch Ts Vs Redux Toolkit Vs Zustand Benchmark

In plain terms:
✨ Overwatch TS is ~11.7× faster than Zustand (91% faster)!
✨ Overwatch TS is ~18.3× faster than Redux Toolkit (95% faster)!

We checked these stats multiple times, yep, they’re legit!

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What We Tested: More Than Just Speed

We didn’t stop at update times, we went all in:

• Update Cycle Time: How fast can 10,000 states update together?

• Cold Start Time: How much lag at the start?

• Memory Delta: Does it chew up memory during updates or memory leaks?

• Fastest vs. Latest Updates: Consistency across runs.

Get Involved: You’re Part of This!

Don’t just trust us, dive in and see for yourself!

• Live Benchmark Playground: Test Redux, Zustand, and Overwatch TS live on your machine. Benchmark

• Open-Source Code: Peek at the benchmark setup or run your tests. GitHub

• Our Test Runs: Performance runs JSON

We’re all about transparency — feel free to fork, tweak, and join in! 🤝

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Why Is Overwatch TS So Performant?

Zustand and Redux nail it with their polished strategies, but Overwatch TS takes a different route to win. As an Overwatch developer, I think it steps away from the Flux Architecture (like Zustand and Redux) and adopts a modern, singleton Publisher-Subscriber pattern. Its simplicity is key, and there’s more to its performance boost!

• Using microtask-based batching to combine multiple state updates in the same tick, reducing re-render cycles.

• Employing immutability safely and efficiently, skipping heavy proxies where not needed.

• Performing fine-grained subscriptions so only the components that need updates are re-rendered.

• Removing boilerplate without sacrificing control.

This means your React apps stay snappy, even with complex states and heavy interactions. ✨

Help Build the Sensible!

We’re moving past bulky, store-heavy state management. Today’s apps are all about components, async flows, and dynamic UIs, and Overwatch TS fits right in!

• Contribute: GitHub

• Learn More: Documentation

🤝 Your Take!

This isn’t just a tool, it’s a chance to rethink state management! Share your thoughts in the comments or reach out to boost your app’s performance. Let’s build something awesome for React together!