How do React Fiber and diffing algorithm connect with each other? Does React Fiber use diffing algorithm or am I trying to connect two completely different concepts because so far what I have understood is both are a part of the reconciliation process. I want to know their order of execution or if there is any overlap here.
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Understanding the difference between the diffing algorithm and React Fiber requires a bit of context about how React works internally.
Diffing Algorithm:
- The diffing algorithm is a core part of React's reconciliation process, which is responsible for efficiently updating the user interface in response to changes in application state.
- When changes occur in the application's state, React needs to figure out what parts of the UI need to be updated to reflect those changes. The diffing algorithm is the process by which React efficiently computes the difference between the previous UI state and the new UI state.
- React's diffing algorithm aims to minimize the number of changes needed to update the UI by comparing the virtual DOM representations of the old and new UI states and computing the minimum set of operations required to transform the old UI into the new UI.
React Fiber:
- React Fiber is a complete reimplementation of the React reconciliation algorithm, introduced in React version 16. It is a more sophisticated and flexible algorithm compared to the previous stack-based algorithm.
- Fiber is designed to improve the performance and responsiveness of React applications by introducing the concept of "fiber" – lightweight units of work that can be paused, aborted, and resumed.
- One of the key features of React Fiber is its ability to perform incremental rendering. Instead of attempting to complete the entire reconciliation process in a single render cycle, React Fiber can split the work into smaller units (fibers) and spread it out over multiple render cycles. This allows React to prioritize and schedule high-priority updates, such as user interactions or animations, while still making progress on lower-priority updates in the background.
- React Fiber also enables features like asynchronous rendering, error boundaries, and better support for concurrent mode (which allows React to efficiently handle interactions and updates in concurrent environments like multi-threaded web browsers).
In summary, the diffing algorithm is a specific part of React's reconciliation process responsible for computing the differences between old and new UI states, while React Fiber is a more comprehensive reimplementation of the reconciliation algorithm that introduces features like incremental rendering and asynchronous rendering to improve performance and responsiveness. The diffing algorithm is just one aspect of how React Fiber operates internally.
With my understanding, “Fiber” (usually with a capital "F") architecture is referring to internal workings of React, specifically the way that React handles reconciliation in React 18.
By the book, to reconcile means to bring into agreement. There is the DOM itself and the virtual DOM, a lightweight copy. Eventually these two representational models will need to be brought into agreement with each other. The changes in the Virtual DOM eventually have to be reflected in the DOM, the same way that new code changes are reflected into an entire codebase. And thus, this is where reconciliation comes into play. Reconciliation is the process of figuring out exactly what parts of the DOM need to be updated and it's carried out by a specific algorithm.
As long as React is working with the DOM and a “work in progress” version of the DOM, reconciliation of some sort will be necessary.
There’s various ways to implement this reconciliation like there are various ways to implement any algorithm. Think of fiber architecture as the way in which React internally reconciles the Virtual DOM with the DOM.