The ongoing discussion of React vs Vue.js continues to spark interest, but can we definitively say one JavaScript frontend framework outshines the other? Both offer considerable advantages and drawbacks. Today, let's dive into which framework stands out in essential areas like performance, ease of learning, community backing, code simplicity, and more.

Vuejs vs React

Both React and Vue.js embarked on their journey nearly a decade ago. React, created by Facebook, had the advantage of being backed by a massive corporation. Meanwhile, Vue was created by ex-Google developer Evan You as an open-source project, released six months after React. Despite their origins, both frameworks share a common stance against Google's Angular by addressing its main issues and streamlining the development process significantly.

Community support

Both frameworks enjoy the support of large communities. Presently, React's community is approximately four to five times the size of Vue's when looking at websites built using these technologies. Vue is used by roughly 0.9% of websites, while React powers about 4–5% of sites on the internet.

Based on data from npm, there are more than 163,000 React libraries in comparison to 140,000 Vuejs libraries. The majority of these libraries adhere to similar fundamental principles but are tailored to fit their respective frameworks.

Learning curve

React and Vue boast a straightforward and clean syntax, with intuitive principles and frameworks that manage much of the complex work for you. This makes the learning process quite steep for both. On top of that, there are countless tutorials available online that simplify the learning experience and make it more enjoyable.

So this point comes as a draw.

Code simplicity and readability

Today, React provides a contemporary coding experience through function components and intuitive hooks. On the other hand, Vue.js also delivers these features but with a more straightforward setup and fewer guidelines to remember, particularly when it comes to managing state. Vue.js allows you to handle various tasks directly within the HTML, resulting in clear syntax and more concise code.

Speed performance

Both frameworks have the common feature of utilizing the virtual DOM, which operates independently of the browser. The virtual DOM detects the changes that need to be rendered or updated in the actual DOM. The performance of the virtual DOM is quite similar in both frameworks. However, Vue typically delivers better results because of its smaller bundle size, less data to process, and faster algorithms. Additionally, with Vue.js, you seldom need to use optimization techniques to achieve excellent performance.

When it comes to loading time, Vue stands out by having nearly half the bundle size of the standard React package. Right now, React's package size is 98K, whereas Vuejs's is 59K. This gap becomes even more noticeable as you add more libraries and packages.

Scalability

A common concern in web development is the ever-expanding codebase of a project. React addresses this issue exceptionally well by breaking down components into the smallest possible units, which makes reusing them a breeze.

Conversely, Vue.js's templating method falls short in terms of re-usability for large-scale projects. Even when you break down the templates into the smallest possible components, it doesn't significantly improve the situation due to the sheer volume of files this strategy demands.

Conclusion

Each framework comes with its own set of advantages and drawbacks, so there isn't a definitive best choice. Which one you should use largely depends on the specifics of your project, the size of your team, or the company you're collaborating with.

React boasts a larger community, a greater variety of libraries, and superior scalability. On the other hand, Vue excels in speed and simplicity of code. Unfortunately, Vuejs's strengths don't quite measure up to React's advantage when it comes to the number of job opportunities available.

The decision is yours to make. Personally, I find Vue to be a great technology for my projects and for experimenting with browsers, as there's always something new to discover. On the other hand, React seems to be more advantageous when it comes to job opportunities.