Node.js is primarily used for backend development, while React.js is used to build user interfaces, primarily for single-page applications.
Here’s how they are used together:
1. Creating APIs: In a React-Node.js application, Node.js is used to create the server-side API. This API serves as the backend of your application, handling tasks like database operations, security, and logical processing.
1. Rendering on the Server-Side: React.js can be used on the server to pre-render the initial state of views on the server before it is sent to the client. This is particularly useful in optimizing the speed and performance of your application. For instance, with Server Side Rendering (SSR), when a user requests a page, rather than just getting an almost empty HTML document with a lot of JavaScript, they will get a full HTML page created on the server.
1. Using Webpack: Node.js enables the use of task runners like Webpack, which helps in the better organization of files and directories in your React.js project. Webpack is often used to compile JavaScript modules.
1. Using Babel: Node.js can be used to transpile JSX (an XML-like syntax extension to ECMAScript used in React.js) into regular JavaScript using tools like Babel.
1. Building and Deploying: Node.js can be used to create build and deployment scripts for a React application. For instance, you can create a script that runs your tests, creates a production version of your React.js application, and deploys it to a server.
1. Deploying React Apps: After all these, Node.js is used to host the packaged and compiled React.js web application on a server.
Remember, although React.js is not run specifically on Node.js in production, developers typically use Node.js environments for the development of their React.js applications.
React.js and Node.js complement each other in the development of full-stack applications. Node.js can handle tasks like interactions with the database while React.js can handle tasks related to the user interface.
