Comment by Cliff Rowley on "What should I use / What should I learn?"

I disagree with the "don't ask Angular vs React" notion simply because although they are different in nature (one is a framework, one is a view library) they both have such unique and well defined concepts that it's the actually the concepts themselves that are in question, not whether features of one will be better than the other. Angular has an ecosystem, but React needs to be supported by whichever library you back it with in a relatively specific way (be it a Flux implementation or otherwise). At the end of the day, choosing Angular vs React is more a choice between paradigms, rather than just semantics.

Re-read your answer. The fact that React can't be discussed without mentioning another component (such as Flux) is the very reason the 2 cannot be compared. Nothing more then AngularJS is needed for an AngularJS app - you don't even need NodeJS for AngularJS. Conversely, React is always mentioned with no less then 3 other components for it to work. It's like comparing a house to a 2x4. React is a part of it. AngularJS can be the entire thing.

Again I have to disagree, but only because when people ask "react or angular" they are generally asking from a higher level perspective than the technicalities. In theory you are absolutely correct - but in practice what you are correct about isn't what people are actually asking :-)

And that - was the motivation for the post. I love helping people - I wouldn't have spent an hour on a Saturday morning writing this otherwise. But the discussions (here, specifically) have become wildly vague and obscure. Compare React to AngularJS (though likewise, I'll agree to disagree) - but be specific - React + what? + Flux? + NodeJS? You could technically use React + AngularJS or hell - React + PHP - You could use React + Wordpress + PHP + GraphQL as of late. But posters should try first, then question. Ever read StackOverflow? (rhetorical question) - Asking questions about "React VS AngularJS" would cause a whirlwind of Off Topic or What have you tried or any # of close reasons SO has. And I completely understand Hashnode's goal is to be more new programmer friendly, but those of us with experience can't even begin to answer a question that is so vague as to just start a VS war dating back to Apple VS Microsoft. People should post questions like "Hey! I have an Idea for an app. I want to use React + Flux + NodeJS + etc... Do you think this is a good fit for an app that does X, Y and Z" - not "ZOMG REACT IS AWESOME! How does it compare to Everything else out there?" Because "React" compares better to Bootstrap or Foundation then it does to any MVC.

Unfortunately I don't think you're going to change people's perception in 1 post ;-)

Also, sorry to be a pedant, but React doesn't compare even closely to Bootstrap or Foundation, since those are not view libraries - they are CSS frameworks (with some JS to enhance some components). React is the V in MVC, and is at least 1/3 comparable to Angular (which provides M, V and C) and Backbone, etc, and stating they are incomparable is at least 2/3 misinformation.

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