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Inferno vs Preact: What are the differences?
Introduction: In the world of lightweight JavaScript libraries, Inferno and Preact are two popular choices for developers looking to build fast and efficient web applications. While both serve a similar purpose, there are key differences between the two that set them apart.
Virtual DOM Implementation: Inferno and Preact both use a virtual DOM for efficient rendering, but Inferno is known for its ultra-fast virtual DOM implementation, making it one of the fastest libraries in this regard. Preact also offers a lightweight virtual DOM, but Inferno's performance is considered superior.
Bundle Size: When it comes to bundle size, Preact is lighter than Inferno. Preact boasts a minimal size of around 3KB when gzipped, making it a great choice for projects where size optimization is crucial. On the other hand, Inferno has a slightly larger footprint, which can impact load times in certain scenarios.
Compatibility with React Ecosystem: Preact is known for its compatibility with the React ecosystem, allowing developers to seamlessly switch between React and Preact components. Inferno, while offering similar functionality, may require more adjustments when integrating with existing React applications.
Community Support: Preact has a larger community and a more active ecosystem, with developers contributing a wide range of plugins, tools, and resources. This can be beneficial for newcomers and those looking for comprehensive documentation and support. Inferno, on the other hand, may have a smaller community size and fewer resources available.
Internal APIs and Features: Inferno is designed with a focus on performance, often sacrificing certain features and APIs found in React or Preact. Developers looking for a stripped-down library with a streamlined API may prefer Inferno. Preact, on the other hand, offers a more comprehensive set of APIs and features, making it suitable for a wider range of applications.
In Summary, while both Inferno and Preact are lightweight JavaScript libraries for building web applications, their key differences lie in virtual DOM performance, bundle size, compatibility with the React ecosystem, community support, and internal APIs and features.
Preact offers an API which is extremely similar to React's for less than 10% of its size (and createElement is renamed to h, which makes the overall bundle a lot smaller). Although it is less compatible with other libraries than the latter (and its ecosystem is nowhere as developed), this is generally not a problem as Preact exposes the preact/compat API, which can be used as an alias both for React and ReactDOM and allows for the use of libraries which would otherwise just be compatible with React.
Pros of Inferno
- React-like api4
- Faster than React4
- Compatibility package for existing React apps3
- Smaller bundles3
- Faster than Angular3
- Faster than Vue3
Pros of Preact
- Lightweight14
- Drop-in replacement for React5
- Props/state passed to render3
- Performance3
- ES6 class components1
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