It seems to be an emerging trend amongst organisations that are using React libraries for front-end development that their developers are comfortable to make the switch too. Having only come about in recent years, the widespread adoption of React amongst organisations has posed a serious threat to Angularjs dominance in the market. Vuejs may be considered by some to be the late incumbent, but for many organisations React is it.

What is the most interesting part about this is that it looks like developers are more than happy to use React as well. For many developers, though the prospect of using a javascript library is daunting at first, it becomes considerably easier as time goes on to use.

So why is React now becoming the standard in front-end development?

One of the most important aspects of React for both developers and organisations is the distinct lack of technical debt that comes with using it.

When a developer leaves an organisation, there is almost always some kind of lead time for onboarding. Even with ample documentation, when an organisation uses a front-end technology like Angular, the lead time can be up to a few weeks to get the developer across everything that they’re doing.

Because React has universal commonalities, such as unidirectional flow, this lead me is greatly reduced. Nowhere is this more apparent than in organisations that are looking for a quick turn-around in front end development. Using React let’s developers move turnover much faster.

As Angular becomes the most prevalently used technology in front end development, and the use of libraries over frameworks becomes more apparent, there becomes less of a need for organisations to hold onto their individual libraries that they developed from Angular.

It’s hard for developers to get lost in using React. Though it isn’t significantly easier to use, with React libraries (and some discipline and organisation) most development teams can build in React with more testing and release cycles. Getting lost in Angular is easy if you don’t know the background to the decision making process when using the framework (which rarely gets documented).

One of the most important reasons that developers are collectively switching to using React is that it takes away the decision fatigue that comes with other Javascript technologies. The fact that there isn’t as many decisions that need to be made along the way when writing code (and enacting a UX design).

By making these decisions for you, using React lets you focus on the decisions that matter. In a way it’s like having an “automatic architect”, which is a nickname given by architects when building a building that has many repeating floors. It gives you the time to look at the overall design, and look at other things that matter like building on time.

Developers are switching to react because it reduces the decision fatigue, reduces the lead time and is easier to guide yourself through. Once developers and organisations are both able to collaborate in the switch, great things happen.