Is React a Good Choice for IoT Development?
Tags: iot, internetofthing, react
Published: 2022-02-09 06:35:30

The advent of technology has led to some great advancements in almost all industrial sectors. One of the key technologies that is empowering sectors like healthcare, retail, and many more is IoT.

The Internet of Things is not a future technology anymore. It has already penetrated the market with its initial yet utilitarian applications. Furthermore, the [IoT market size](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/11/10/2331267/0/en/IoT-Market-Size-Share-Growth-Trends-Business-Opportunities-IoT-Companies-Statistics-Report-2028-Internet-of-Things-Industry-Report-Fortune-Business-Insights.html#:~:text=10%2C%202021%20(GLOBE%20NEWSWIRE),in%20the%202021%2D2028%20period.) is expected to hit the $1,854.76 billion mark by 2028. This is a CAGR of 25.4% from now to 2028, which is massive.

IoT, as a whole, offers countless benefits like automation, improved efficiency, cost reduction, and whatnot. However, at the backend, IoT is also backed by some powerful frameworks and programming tools. React is one of those tools that can power IoT.

As some of you may be perplexed while choosing it, let’s take a look at whether React is a good choice or not?

**Rise of React**
First, let’s see what React is?

React is a stunning, open-source Javascript library. It is primarily used for frontend development, like for building interactive user interfaces for applications. It is developed and maintained by Meta.

Since its inception in 2013, it has captured the programming world like a wildfire. As per [Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124699/worldwide-developer-survey-most-used-frameworks-web/), React is the most used framework by developers. Around 40.14% of developers use it across the globe. On top of this, around 8787 industry leaders leverage React.

![Language usage trends](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wb8x29f9azlj6h2pqux9.png)

These are not the only reasons that led to the popularity of React. It has some key features that rank above other frameworks. Here are some of its chief features!

**Virtual DOM:** The virtual DOM feature makes the rendering faster and saves a lot of memory. When any changes happen in the UI, the virtual DOM is updated first and is compared with the previous one. Once this is done, the real DOM gets updated.

**Component-based:** One of the best things about React is that it follows the component-based approach. It means that the entire application is made of multiple components that do not affect the whole code if any changes are made in them. These components can also be reused.

**One-way data-binding:** In a React application, the data flows in one direction. The benefit of one-way data binding is that it offers better control, flexibility, and increased efficiency.

These features are not the end of the line. There are many others that make React ideal for IoT applications.

**Advantages of React for IoT**

If you are still confused about choosing React for IoT development. Here are some advantages of using React!

**Faster rendering**
As React is meant for frontend development, it is crucial that the rendering of the view happens faster. However, the number of components and the DOM model leads to more wait time. This affects the rendering time and application performance.


![why react is gaining more popularity](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/eaeipzff93pxhp9b4gph.png)

But, in React, the virtual DOM features take care of all these issues. When any changes are made by the developer in the app, the changes made are not directly written on the real DOM. The virtual DOM takes all the changes, and then they are compared with the previous version of the DOM.

Once all the modifications are checked for risks, these are applied to the real DOM. On an overall basis, the final rendering process becomes much faster, and so does the app’s performance.

**Efficient coding**
As mentioned above, React has a component-based approach which means that the entire app is made of a number of components. This may overwhelm you a bit. However, for developers, this is a big plus.

**There are various advantages of using components in React!** 
The components in React make sure that the whole code is independent. It means that if any changes occur in any of the components, it will not affect the entire code. For instance, if two components that compute sensor data have bugs in an IoT app, they can be corrected without disturbing the other components or code.

When a component is created, you can use the same component again in the code if required.

Both of these aspects make the coding process a lot more efficient.

**Separation of Concerns**
A key feature of React is props. These are used to pass data to the components. As React can have many components, it can confuse the developer with which component is doing what. Therefore, the component-based approach makes it easy.

Other than this, the IoT application may need different components for data fetching and processing. So, you can easily organize the data in respective components, whether it is a parent or child component.

You can create different components for an effective IoT application for fetching and processing data and sensor components. As they will be completely independent of each other, you won’t be worried about the amount of data they have access to as the permissions vary.

**Component Life Cycle Method**
IoT is never the same technology; it means that the sensor keeps on feeding data that may vary. And this is where the component life cycle methods come into play.

If, in an IoT environment, the changes in data occur, there will be a need to update the internal components of the app. This is necessary to ensure that the output expected from the system can be delivered.

So, whenever there is an update in the data from the external world, the app deploys a series of lifecycle methods that update the data in the respective components, if required.

**Rich Library & Community Support**
Finally, the React library is vast, which means you can do almost anything with it. It has React-360, React Motion, React Bootstrap, and many more that facilitate the development of IoT apps.

On top of that, React has a vast online community that is always ready to help you if you have any issues with the framework. Stackoverflow, GitHub, React.org, and many more communities have professionals of every level of expertise.

**Challenges of React for IoT**
It is highlighted at various places that React is ideal for small IoT projects but not for bigger ones. And the claims are right to some extent. Here are some key challenges that React developers face!

**Open Source**
One of the biggest walls for developers is that React is open-source. As there is no proper support backing up the framework, it is highly possible that you might face issues with it.	When new libraries get integrated into React, there could be issues with your IoT applications. Therefore, if you are looking for reliability and stability in an app, go for some other framework.

**UI Oriented**
As it is defined as a framework for frontend development, React is not an all-in-one solution for you. An IoT application can have countless aspects to take care of. Therefore, you may need to add additional React libraries to get the required functionality.

**More time and effort is required**
Though IoT has penetrated the industrial landscape to a great extent, React would not be a standard choice, like Python is. You can try and use React if you want, but it will take more time and effort for your developers to [develop the IoT application.](https://www.intuz.com/guide-on-top-iot-development-boards) The time and effort may not be worth it.

**Conclusion: Future of IoT & React**
For small projects, React is the perfect choice for IoT applications. 

It already possesses features like component-based architecture, lifecycle methods, etc., that form the base of IoT. When equipped with the right tools in the future, it will surely outdo itself in big projects too. Moreover, these features also make it advantageous for all types of IoT applications.