Published on 1.1.2021
As we move into 2021, the React ecosystem continues to evolve at a rapid pace. In 2020, we saw React 17 bring in a host of incremental improvements—without major new features. Instead, the release focused on stability and optimizing the upgrade path for large React apps, laying the foundation for the features we can expect in the future.
In this post, we’ll explore:
- What React 17 laid the foundation for.
- New features expected in 2021.
- Predictions for the evolution of the React ecosystem.
Let’s take a deep dive into what’s coming for React in 2021!
What React 17 Laid the Foundation For
Released in October 2020, React 17 was more about improvements under the hood than flashy new features. Here are some of the key changes that set the stage for 2021:
1. Improved Event Handling
React 17 introduced an overhaul of its event system. This improvement primarily made it easier to integrate React with other libraries or frameworks that might manage events in the DOM. While the change wasn’t directly impactful for most developers, it helps future-proof React for large-scale applications and frameworks that might need more flexibility.
2. No New Features
One of the standout aspects of React 17 was its decision to avoid new features. Instead, the focus was on making future upgrades easier and more predictable. This was part of React’s broader goal to improve the developer experience for large apps by smoothing the upgrade process and removing legacy issues.
This foundation laid the groundwork for upcoming features, as React’s team can now focus on more ambitious ideas with less risk of breaking existing applications.
3. Automatic Batching of Updates
React 17 introduced automatic batching of updates, which allows for multiple state updates to be batched together for better performance. Previously, React would batch updates that occurred within React events but not those in setTimeout or async functions. Now, automatic batching applies to more event types, which can greatly reduce unnecessary renders and improve performance in large applications.
New React Features Expected in 2021
With React 17 setting the stage for more exciting improvements, we can look forward to a variety of new features in 2021. Here are the main updates to expect:
1. Concurrent Mode
Concurrent Mode is one of the most anticipated features, and although it has been in the works for a while, it is expected to become more widely available and stable in 2021. Concurrent Mode allows React to interrupt rendering work, yielding to higher-priority tasks. This leads to smoother, more responsive apps, as React can dynamically adjust the priority of updates based on what the user is doing.
While still experimental, the goal for 2021 is to gradually roll out Concurrent Mode as the default in certain applications or workflows, making apps feel more responsive and faster, even when they have large amounts of data or complex interactions.
2. React Server Components
Server-side rendering (SSR) has already been popular in React with frameworks like Next.js. But React’s team has been working on Server Components—a feature that allows parts of your app to render on the server without losing the interactivity and dynamic nature of client-side React.
Server Components aim to make it easier to build dynamic web applications with a better developer experience. With this feature, developers will be able to:
- Keep certain portions of their UI on the server (improving performance).
- Avoid the need to send large amounts of data to the client.
- Benefit from improved SEO and performance in large React apps.
Server Components could be game-changers in how developers think about SSR and static site generation (SSG), and 2021 will likely see increased adoption.
3. React 18: What to Expect
Though not officially released yet, React 18 is expected to be a big milestone. Here’s what we might see in this release:
- Concurrent Rendering as a default: Expect more apps to adopt Concurrent Rendering as a standard, making React more responsive to user input.
- Suspense for Data Fetching: React’s Suspense feature will likely mature, making it easier to suspend rendering while waiting for asynchronous data (e.g., API calls) to load, ultimately improving the user experience with cleaner loading states.
- Streaming SSR with React: With the rise of Server Components, React 18 could make it easier to stream rendered content to clients, improving initial load times and reducing time-to-first-paint.
Predictions for the Evolution of the React Ecosystem
The future of React in 2021 and beyond will likely involve the following trends:
1. The Rise of New State Management Solutions
While Redux has been a staple of state management in React apps for many years, there are new libraries such as Recoil and Zustand that are gaining popularity. These libraries often aim to simplify the way we manage state in React while offering more flexibility and performance.
With React 18 expected to make concurrent rendering the norm, these state management libraries will likely need to evolve as well to take full advantage of React’s new features. We’ll likely see more emphasis on atomic state management and localized state in smaller components.
2. Focus on Performance Optimizations
As apps become larger and more complex, React will continue to focus on performance improvements. Features like Concurrent Mode, Suspense, and automatic batching will work together to help apps run faster and more smoothly. We can expect more tools and utilities in the React ecosystem that will help developers identify and fix performance bottlenecks.
3. Better Developer Tools
In the React ecosystem, the developer experience has always been a priority. As React evolves, so do the tools we use to build with it. Expect improvements in:
- React DevTools: Enhancements to make debugging easier, especially when working with Concurrent Mode and Server Components.
- Code-splitting: More tools and integrations to help developers optimize their bundle sizes and load only the necessary parts of the app.
- Testing libraries: With changes like Concurrent Mode, React Testing Library and Jest will likely adapt to ensure developers can easily test React’s new features.
Conclusion
2021 promises to be an exciting year for the React community. After React 17 focused on stability and improvements under the hood, React 18 and beyond will bring game-changing features like Concurrent Mode, Server Components, and Suspense for Data Fetching.
As the React ecosystem evolves, we can expect:
- More performance optimizations.
- A shift towards better state management libraries.
- Improved developer tools to enhance productivity and debugging.
The future of React is bright, and with these upcoming features and trends, React developers have a lot to look forward to as they continue building scalable, performant, and dynamic applications.
Let’s see what’s next!
