Why React is Best for SaaS Applications

Top Features that Makes React JS Ideal for SaaS Applications

Ankita Kapoor
Enlear Academy

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SaaS, the term stands for software as a service, was initially introduced in the 1960s and gained worldwide popularity in the early 2000s. In today’s world, SaaS in React has become the ultimate trend. Thanks to Netflix, Spotify, Dropbox, and other amazing apps made SaaS famous to a much larger audience.

Statista says that by 2025, SaaS is to become the most intensive form of Software development in less than three years. Its market value is to cross $37,150 Million by 2025, more than all other kinds of software development combined.

The infographic below offers insights into the projected market revenue of SaaS compared to other sorts of software development. Have a look:

Source: Statista- SaaS Market Size in Europe

When developing SaaS applications, it’s essential to understand what makes one platform better than another. React is becoming the most preferred choice for SaaS application development. So, if you’re looking to build or develop an application, you may be wondering:

  • What is Reactjs used for?
  • Why is SaaS in React becoming a popular choice?

Let’s explore the answers:

React is one of the top frontend JS libraries in the past few years and holds massive popularity of 40%. It’s easy to see why — it’s fast, flexible, and easy to use. With Facebook as one of the major players behind React JS, the library benefits from some of the best brains in software development today.

It receives constant support & active development by Facebook engineers, ensuring that React JS keeps pace with modern web trends & challenges. Due to these reasons, SaaS developers often choose to React over their immediate competitors, including Angular 2, Vue JS, etc.

If you are also building a SaaS application, you are on the right page. Here, in this article, we’ll be breaking down top features & reasons using React JS can result in an excellent performance on your website and app.

Top Features of ReactJS that Makes it a Phenomenal Choice for SaaS Application

1. Immutability in JavaScript:

The basic working principle of React is about generating immutable data, which helps to create a new state without modifying its previous one. This feature makes it highly scalable.

2. Unified Application Structure:

Unlike most other frontend frameworks, everything has to do with components. There are no particular concerns for handling data, server communication, etc. It gives a single structure across all platforms, making them easy to understand and maintain.

3. Virtual DOM

Using it helps ReactJS developers create a fast web application while maintaining its accuracy at every user’s click or keystroke.

4. Asynchronous Communication with Server Using Flux Pattern

The pattern used in ReactJS helps developers create applications that asynchronously communicate with a server, avoiding issues like blocking and executing several codes at once. It also makes it easier to change data on the server without impacting UI elements, enabling a developer to make changes quickly and fix errors before they occur.

5. Declarative Approach

You have to define what a UI element should look like instead of explaining how to build it. It makes it easier for the developers as well as users.

6. The Use Of One-way Data Binding

Most other popular frontend frameworks use two-way data binding that updates UI and changes user input without any confirmation from the user, leading to confusion in some cases.

However, with one-way data binding, if an unexpected change occurs due to an error on the server or any other means, react immediately shows users about changes using its virtual DOM. It then updates data sources when they are satisfied with changes through JavaScript code.

Source: Coders Daddy

This feature helps web applications run smoothly but still allows programmers to make modifications where necessary.

7. Component-Based Architecture

Since everything in React application revolves around components, it makes it easy to understand code and reuse them for future projects.

For example, suppose you’re working on a project and need to add similar functionality later instead of rewriting all features from scratch. In that case, you can develop a new component and use it again with slight modifications where necessary.

There are no separate responsibilities or controls in ReactJS applications. Unlike most other frameworks, there’s only one way of doing things, making it easy to use components even by people with limited programming skills or are still learning.

8. Dependency Injection

For adding dependencies like a third-party API, it’s not necessary to extend other components or change their state. It makes it easier for any developer working on a project to make changes without affecting existing code. It also allows developers working on different sections of an application to work independently & share components that work well with one another.

9. Easy Debugging With Component Lifecycle Methods

Using component lifecycle methods, developers can easily control which actions or variables should be in effect at what point in time during the component rendering process without having to resort to calling multiple functions.

That was all about the top features of using React for a SaaS application. Let us now explore the benefits of using React for SaaS.

Business Benefits of Using React for SaaS App Development

1. Greater Flexibility- Facilitating Use in Wide-Scale Applications

Because of its unique way of working with components, React can be applied to many applications. It provides developers with a more modular approach than most other front-end frameworks, like AngularJS and Backbone.js, explicitly designed for single-page applications.

It makes it possible to create great flexibility in data binding and state management. React comes with powerful APIs & DOM features like a one-way binding that facilitate change propagation throughout a complex application. Thus, teams can quickly build related web pages & keep their software up to date over time.

2. Awesome Support- Ensuring Continuous Development of the project

Facebook, Google, and Microsoft all love and use it. It means you’re never going to be alone as a developer using these tools. It also means that millions of people are more than willing to help when things go wrong.

Note: Not all components are created equal! Additionally, Facebook’s open-source mentality makes them constantly tweak their tools, so they get better and better over time.

While Facebook has laid out some excellent documentation on their site, there’s no substitute for searching Stack Overflow with keywords like React Native or React. When you run into bugs that happen more often than you’d think, it’s nice to know that other people were there before you!

3. Code Reusability- Easy to Learn & Use

Source- Loginworks

Learning new software can be tricky, and if you’re working on a short timeline, there’s no time to waste analyzing how to use your new tool. Fortunately, most people find that using React JS isn’t too tricky.

Even complex projects are more accessible to create in JavaScript than other languages. What’s more, one of the benefits of building a website with React is that it requires fewer lines of code than some competitors, meaning you spend less time trying to figure out exactly where things went wrong.

With code reusability, you’ll find that most of your website can easily get reused, which will save you lots of time. You can handle minor problems and glitches by editing just a few lines instead of redoing an entire chunk of code. It ultimately reduces development costs, which is notable when you hire developers on an hourly model.

4. Virtual DOM- Ensuring Quick Project Development

React’s virtual DOM means you can run your application in a browser and see how it functions without deploying. It shortens development time, reduces cost, and results in higher quality code. The React system makes it easier to debug since any changes you make on one side of your application (UI) will be reflected in real-time on both sides (API and UI).

It may appear like a small feature, but these little features add up when building large applications and make development much faster. You also have access to many other open-source libraries, which helps reduce development time even more.

Many developers love that there is no need to re-invent a new framework as they usually do with older technologies like jQuery or AngularJS.

5. Long Term Adoption- Ensuring Ongoing Support

With over 40.14% popularity among developers, React is the most used web framework worldwide & is a scorching commodity. It alone gives long-term confidence that Facebook will not neglect to support its technology.

Source: Statista- Most Used Frameworks

Its initial adoption was followed by a lot of developer interest from day one and has continued to grow since then. It indicates that there will be plenty of support on their end for new features, tools, plugins, and a community working together to build them all out.

6. Lightning Speed Rendering Services- Ensuring a High UX of the Software

React delivers interactive user experiences, making it a prevalent choice among SaaS application developers. It renders much faster rendering than immediate competitors like Angular or Vue.js. If you are an online retailer, your priority lies in ensuring that your website loads at lightning speed.

One of the reasons React excels at high-performance rendering is its use of Virtual DOM. Virtual DOM doesn’t have to fully render all elements as soon as they appear on a page. Instead, it only updates what has changed from virtual to real DOM when users need them to render on screen.

7. SEO-Friendliness- Enhancing Your Software’s Visibility

SSR technology has caught on in popularity recently, thanks to its state-of-the-art capabilities. As a business, adopting such a software system can help you gain search engine visibility and improve your website’s ranking.

React offers features like dynamic code loading, efficient HTML rendering, and server configuration guarantee that your page won’t be rendered obsolete by new versions of browsers. With React JS implementation, your team can ensure that you meet today’s standards and future ones!

Moreover, as it utilizes JavaScript both on the front and backend, it is easy to transition from one platform to another.

Final Words

Just like there’s no hard and fast formula for success, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to explaining what makes a particular software application great. It all depends on your audience, industry, and business needs.

Rather than listing off cool features or getting into development specifics, focus on tangible benefits for everyday users. What will your SaaS application do for them?

Creating an intuitive SaaS application requires help from experts. It is best to connect with a ReactJS development company to ensure the success of your project.

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Hey, I’m Ankita, a tech blogger working with ValueCoders who loves to share her extensive tech-related knowledge with like-minded people.