What is the Right Choice For Your Start Up - Vue vs React

So, you’ve done the hard bit, you’ve decided to capitalise on the gap in your market; market research completed, notice handed in, wrote the 5-year plan, secured the finances and ready to reach for the stars. In the digital age we live in, it’s easy to just think you can hire someone to build your website in a few weeks and job done. However, it isn’t always that simple…

JavaScript dominates in web development, mainly because when it comes to web development, there is no other choice. However, you do have an option when looking at which ‘off-shoot’ of JavaScript to build your website in. React, Vue, Angular, jQuery, Grunt, Jasmine – the list goes on.

Whether your tech-y or not, choosing the right Library or framework to build your website for your business can save you time and money further down the line. 2018 saw the rise of two major players within the JavaScript world, Vue.js the underdog, and React.js, the frontrunner.

Size Matters

How complex does your website need to be?

For those who need to build a large web application, React.js would be the most common choice. React allows for data to be updated and changed on a regular basis. Vue.js, however, is smaller, the pros aren’t based on how much you can do but rather how quickly you’re able to do it. In Vue, your concept to market time is much smaller due to its easy use and highly adaptable UI. With this, your website can be a highly sophisticated, Single Page Application. It’s the classic battle of Strength vs Speed + Agility, David vs Goliath.

How popular a technology is within the developer community is drastically important when considering the staff you will employ. Hiring within the development space is difficult enough, not forgetting industry demand for web developers is at an all-time high. This is great for developers as they get to have a pick of the bunch when it comes to working a new contract or permanent position, but not so great for businesses looking to hire, however.

When comparing the two; we are able to see just how in demand each technology is from HackerRank’s 2018 report. 33% of tech employers need candidates with React.js skills, of which only 19% have. Vue.js has a slightly worse ratio of 2:1, meaning that it is considerably harder to hire the right candidate. However, this should be taken with a pinch of salt. A lot more businesses are using React.js, and the reason for this may be down to a ‘build it and they will come’ mentality – this can be shown in that currently, there are over 205,000 unique domains within react VS, 26,000 within Vue.

However, a more important figure when deciding between the two is that of, who has the largest growth? Within this, Vue tips the scales in their favour – 3.34% of new domains were written in Vue.js against 2.46% in React.js.

It is also important to assess who backs Vue and React for the future. Vue.js was founded by Evan You, heading up a team of 23 dedicated developers with a dedicated community following on Github. The Vue.js project has a clear roadmap outlining where the tech is going, as well as Evan and the team’s future plans. React.js is backed by tech giant Facebook, who funds and maintains the opensource tech. Facebook provides a team of 10 dedicated developers for the library who work closely with Facebook R+D. Both technologies have the backing to continue to expand and evolve and aren’t slowing down any time soon…

How crucial is an App to your business model?

Depending on the nature of your business, you may or may not be App-focused.

If you are, the choice between whether Vue or React is right for you depends on your business needs. React.js reigns supreme when it comes to App based businesses due to its ability to cross-platform developments with React.js and React Native. React Native is a framework within the React.js library, allowing for easy application development. Some major businesses have taken the React Native approach too – Bloomberg, SoundCloud and Instagram to name a few. For those more technically minded, here is an article outlining why those businesses decided to build within React Native.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the same end result cannot be achieved if you build your web in Vue.js, via Native Script, and there are some big Native Script players too. Airbnb built their mobile app within it. The only drawback is that developers who build applications in Native Script have to be able to code within Angular, TypeScript and JavaScript, meaning there either harder to find or come by, with a heftier price tag. You can see an article comparing Mobile development tools here.

Ask the Dev’s

It’s easy enough to scroll through a Reddit post comparing the two and pick out an argument that agrees with yours, however, after spending some time on this thread, a clear trend did appear. In the opinion of most developers, React trumps Vue when it comes to larger projects.

Essentially, the choice boils down to the project size rather than the developers. Developers skilled within JavaScript will be able to learn/ transfer their skills between the two. React.js/ Angular.js/ Vue.js may all be different flavours of a milkshake, but they’re all still a milkshake.

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3Search is an award-winning UK recruitment consultancy, specialising in marketing, strategy & transformation, and tech positions. Whether you’re seeking new talent or looking for your next career move, we can help. Learn more at 3search.co.uk.