CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptangularjsperformancereactjsmithril.js
Tomer Almog
Tomer Almog

Reputation: 3868

Improve Angular performance: change the view to reactjs or Mithril?

I have a performance issues with Angular (as many others). I wish to change only the view layer to either reactjs or Mithril. I found examples of React js (for example http://www.bimeanalytics.com/engineering-blog/you-put-your-react-into-my-angular/), but not of Mithril. Can anyone advice to the pros and cons of using Mithril as an angular view vs Reactjs? Thank you!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 287

Answers (2)

Nahid Rahman
Nahid Rahman

Reputation: 1

Mithril and React have many similarities. I've used both of them and here are some pros and cons.

Mithril

Pros: It's loading times are very fast. This is because it's templates are compiled first and then served to the browser. You can write Mithril views in JavaScript. Small size, good documentation and doesn't force you into a predefined structure.

Cons: Small API can make it unsuitable for larger more complex projects.

ReactJS

Pros: React's one-way data binding means that it's easy to see where and how your UI is updated and where you need to make changes. It also provides server-side rendering, virtual dom support, good debugging tools, easy to write tests, easy to reuse components, flux architecture patterns, and extensive SVG supports etc.

Cons: Heavy on memory compared to Mithril, not a complete solution as it mainly focuses on the view, and need to learn a new syntax etc.

In my view, React is overall preferable. But, if your application doesn't need all these extra stuff that React provides, you should go with Mithril.

Upvotes: 0

dcochran
dcochran

Reputation: 1105

I don't think there's an objective answer here, and as a Mithril user I have my biases, but here is what I think.

In terms of philosophy, Mithril and React are quite similar: you write view functions that describe how your app should look at any given time. In terms of rendering performance, I don't think there's a clear winner. There are links / blog posts that say Mithril is faster than React, and vice versa.

So instead what I think you should focus on is:

1) Which API do you prefer? With React you should use JSX lest you have to reverse engineer their documentation. Mithril also just has one lifecycle hook (the view function), whereas React has several (such as shouldComponentUpdate) -- do you need all those hooks?

2) Community support -- React is the clear winner here, and the fact that there are existing examples of integration with Angular is a win.

3) Compatibility - DOM redrawing / diffing in React is done when data changes, just like Angular, but Mithril's redraw is centered around user interaction (such as clicks, route changes, ajax requests). You can manually redraw, but that's less desirable. I don't know how well Mithril will fit into an Angular setup.

Should you decide to use Mithril, I'd encourage you to use the Google group (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mithriljs) as a resource, or at least report back on your experience.

Upvotes: 1

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