Svelte vs React: Which is best for you? While many good frameworks for frontend development already exist, developers create more from time to time, to address their specific needs. It’s rumored that Svelte, a newcomer to the scene, could rival React, the most popular frontend JavaScript framework. This article will give a detailed analysis of both frameworks and investigate this claim. After reading this article, you can decide which framework will work best for you.
What is Svelte?
The Svelte framework is a free, open-source frontend framework. Initially released in 2016, the first stable version was released in 2022. Svelte is a JavaScript framework for making interactive web pages and web apps.
Like many other JavaScript frameworks, Svelte increases the efficiency of web development. It has certain features that make it stand out, which we’ll discuss later in this article.
What is React?
React has been around for a long time now. Facebook created React, a widely used JavaScript framework, in 2011, and open-sourced it in 2013.
In addition to being open-source, React is popular because it can be used for both simple and complex single-page apps and to build incredible interactive user interfaces.
Multiple factors make Svelte and React comparable. Each programmer has their own reasons for choosing one over the other. Let’s figure out which team you’re on.
Svelte vs React: A Point-by-Point Comparison
Performance
One major component of framework performance is the Traditional Document Object Model (DOM). This pushes an update whenever code changes, and as a result, an app’s performance slows down. Because of this, we need Virtual Document Object Model (VDOM). VDOM acts as temporary memory storage for changes to the user interface, and as a result, the app performs more quickly. Through diffusion, updates are delayed until rendering and updating can be carried out.
Svelte works as a compiler that performs DOM rendering through Reactive programming, making it server-first programming (if you’re building an app, it directly converts it into JavaScript code). Because of this, the DOM updates whenever an action changes the component stage.
React, on the other hand, breaks down an app’s code with Virtual DOM.
Comparing both frameworks by performance, Svelte has the advantage because it ignores the React Virtual DOM breakdown process, making it very fast and responsive.
Learning Difficulty
Is Svelte easier than React? Simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript make up Svelte, so yes, it’s easier to use than React. Also, Svelte works with basic JavaScript web development models and provides select HTML extensions to facilitate learning.
Despite being a more popular framework, React is difficult to learn. It requires knowledge of complex components (JSX, CSS-in-JS) to build the simplest applications.
So, without a doubt, Svelte wins this round.
Use
Since Svelte has less complicated code, building websites and apps with it is easier. Svelte improves load and render time. Therefore, we can say that Svelte is best for beginners.
React, on the other hand, has a very solid foundation and community. Large companies including Facebook use React, and it has endless amounts of resources.
Tools and Library
By now, it’s embedded in our minds that Svelte is a newer framework. Because of this, it has lightweight libraries. Therefore, to create bigger or more complex applications, intermediary or external apps might be necessary.
Because it’s widely used, there are a variety of React tools and libraries. Development is faster because of its extensive component libraries.
Community
Svelte is new, so it doesn’t have a large community. But, it’s still growing, so it’s bound to have a large community in the future.
In contrast, the React community is already robust, giving you an abundance of resources and needed help.
Syntax
Remember how Svelte is easier to learn? This is because of its simple syntax. Svelte code is easier to read because it uses JavaScript classes rather than JavaScript functions.
On the other hand, React’s syntax is complex. This is partially because it’s a combination of HTML and JavaScript code, and partially because the syntax for React is JSX, which is very difficult to understand.
Documentation
Svelte documentation isn’t as comprehensive as React’s because it is relatively new. React has extensive documentation as a result of its large community.
User Interface
In Svelte, user interfaces are built in the compiling stage. In React, the interfaces are built in the JavaScript engine of a web browser.
Testing Framework
The Svelte testing library carries out individual testing. In addition to its small size, its library’s data processing is less complicated.
React gives you end-to-end tests for your complete apps, and this is most helpful because it reduces marketing time and increases value.
Code Maintenance
Svelte gives you smooth, readable code. When there are a lot of components to be defined, well-structured code eases the work.
React is perfect for teamwork. Because it allows you to use different parts of your code for separate projects, thus saving time and effort.
Svelte doesn’t allow you to reuse code, but with React, you can reuse components.
When to Use Svelte
Svelte is mostly used for:
- Individual web pages
- Building applications with limited data connection
- Interactive visuals
When to Use React
You can use React to build:
- Web applications
- Desktop applications
- Mobile applications
- JAMstack sites
- Media sites
- Video streams
Svelte vs React: Final Thoughts
So, what’s the verdict? We have to admit that the rumor about Svelte is true; it is comparable to React. But, is it better?
Svelte is an amazing framework. It’s easy to learn and very fast, among many other brilliant features. A lot of developers have switched to Svelte, and as it continues to grow, it will likely get even more popular.
Nonetheless, React is an old, trusted, well-established framework, used by many developers and corporations around the world. React has a large community and is perfect for experienced users.
In conclusion, if you want a well-established framework, React is the framework for you. It isn’t simpler than Svelte, but it’s nothing you can’t learn. If you want to bring out the best in your work and take it even further, use Svelte. It’s new, fast, and game-changing.
Top comments (7)
I use both at work. Our main app (private) is a big React codebase and we have a public SDK that is written is Svelte (and we made a production Svelte app a couple years ago). I learned Svelte first and React later. So what did I learn on those framework?
The main thing is learning the flux pattern and reactive component is the hard part. The syntax differences are quick to learn if you have the concepts of props, computed values, context/stores.
The second thing is, React feels a bit more rigid, but it's a blessing in disguise. React forces you into the one way data flow harder than any other framework, where Svelte let you shoot you in the foot if you want to, by creating event buses, crazy double bindings etc. Now if used correctly, Svelte bindings and event are really comfortable to use. At scale, in the wrong place, they are unmanageable.
Svelte being new and trying to be very innovative, there quite a few magic things. Try
$store1 = $store2,<Component --css-var={baz} />has had us mad too because it creates a wrapping div etc.Svelte has ton of cool features and I am a fanbox. Compiling to pure JS has great uses to. For our SDK, it's great because we can use a framework, but still ship native JS library (that we can wrap in React, Vue etc.). It's more centred on markup which is great for layouts etc. It has tons of everyday comfortable sugar syntax. But overall I find React much more explicit on what will cause a component rerender and less magic.
Of cause you can reuse components in Svelte 😇
Yes. I reuse components all the time. And, I use other people's components also. There is a growing number of very good components in Svelte.
Great article! Thanks! I'm agree with some of your points, but not with others. Personally speaking, for me React is not better than Svelte (or any other library or framework) nor vice versa. They are different, and they resolves things differently: some better than others! There are use cases where use Svelte could be much better than React, and others where React can be the right tool for the job.
Personally speaking, I love Svelte, because it fits in my mental model. And when my clients let me choose the library, I always choose Svelte (I have to say that I have developed using React, and I'm learning Angular right now).
The mental model is the reason why other web developers prefers React, or Vue, or Angular, or whatever... because it fits in their mental model, and they feel it more natural than others. Every library/framework have their pros and cons. As engineers, or developers, our responsibility is to know all those things, and choose the right tool for the job.
Having said that, I must say that, with Svelte, you can reuse components (in my team, for example, we work with Svelte, and we have designed our components to be developed in isolation by different developers, and reused in several different projects, with the corresponding concern separation between presentation and behavior).
Svelte, as React, or Angular, or Vue, or any other library/framework, is not perfect, and definitively Svelte still have things to improve!! But, with Svelte, we have been able to ...
not only individual pages or apps with limited data connection. Only for clarification for other readers of this post!
Best regards to everyone!
A framework is as good as the people working with it.
New? Svelte is 6 years old
If you see in the second paragraph,
"Svelte is a free and open-source front-end framework. It was initially released in 2016, and a stable version was released in 2022. Svelte is a JavaScript framework for making interactive web pages and web apps."
Hopefully this is more of the notion that is represented, and is "New to the tech community as a framework" in the opinion shared here. :)