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Comment by jsnanigans | Hacker News Reader

It depends on your project, they are both great frameworks

This is the most curious answer here. What factors would you weigh?

It's actually a very legitimate answer. Vue and React are similar tools that solve basically the same use cases, with some technical and cultural differences.

- React uses JSX and JS logic for render methods. Vue usually uses templates, although JSX is also supported.

- While React _can_ be used as a plain script tag, it's usually compiled as part of a build step. Vue can be compiled, but it seems friendlier to the "drop-in script tag" approach.

- The Vue community values official integrated addons for routing and state management. The React community prefers a "pick-and-choose your own adventure" approach.

- Since React has been around longer, there's probably more React components and related libraries available

- A larger percentage of the Vue community is located in China

The best comparison of Angular, React, and Vue I've seen thus far is at https://medium.com/unicorn-supplies/angular-vs-react-vs-vue-... . It lays out a lot of the similarities and differences in a fair way, and gives some suggestions for why you might pick one over the others.

Sure. I am well aware of these differences. They are basically two different implementations of the same idea with two communities that do things slightly differently.

What I fail to see is how I would choose one over the other for different types of projects. To me, it's a choice a person or a team makes for all projects at once. Jumping back and forth between stacks here would be a lot like jumping back and forth between Django and Ruby on Rails. They aim to solve the same thing, and if you can use one effectively then why would you reach for the other?

I think you're overcomplicating how transferrable framework knowledge is. An expert React developer could switch to Vue no problem if there was demand for it. Similarly an expert Vue developer could switch to React no problem.

I am not. The original question was about starting a new project and the orinal answer was “depends on the project”. I am asking how it depends “on the project” and not on the person. What properties of the project would drive you to choose one over the other?

I think it's more organizational, yeah? The context for two different projects can drastically differ.

Right. So "It depends on your project" should be "it depends on your team" or "it depends on your organization"?

Probably. Also depends on your mood at the time ;)

Wire size. Your projects specific needs. Built out time (i.e making your own components). DOM requirements. Licensing. Community. etc. This is an enormous list of variables to determine. If you were not making a complex site or SPA, learning and using React could be huge overkill even though it could still get the job done. The best way to determine what framework or language to use, for me has always been to assemble my tree of needs first. That included things like, how complex are we talking here. Do we need state management? Do we do most of our rendering server side? Do I have to learn the framework? Are the docs good? Etc. Build a map of our own needs first, then spend a few hrs holding it up to the various options.

Still. It's like saying that you need to own both a DEWALT and a Bostitch drill because they are just different enough when working on dry wall in colonials vs capes. I mean I am sure there is someone out there that uses Vue for odd projects and React for even ones (and Angular for every 13th one that they start on a date that ends in a 5), but most developers I know try both, then stick to the one that they like best.

Which appeals to your aesthetic more? If you're looking to grow a team, which is more appealing to engineers available? Which has a better ecosystem of support libraries?

all good questions also ^

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