If you have anything to do with frontend development, then it’s almost a given that you’ve heard about React. No matter if you’re trying to get into front-end development, expand your front-end development knowledge, or follow the latest news in the field, it’s unavoidable to not avoid React.

The React field is extremely big, grows by the day, and definitely isn’t shrinking anytime soon. But UI JavaScript is infamous for having a short lifespan. Therefore, all of these factors together always raise the topic of whether it’s still worth it to pick up React at any given moment.

Maybe it’s already too late. Maybe React has already passed its peak. Maybe its popularity and demand will drop now. Maybe the community will move on to something else. Those are legitimate concerns before learning any JavaScript UI library.

However, I personally think that if you haven’t picked up React yet and am not sure yet, there are also still legitimate reasons to do so. This article will share these reasons why I think React is still worth it to pick up in 2022.

Still Extremely Popular

Although Svelte took over the number one spot as the JavaScript library with the highest satisfaction and interest in the state of JavaScript survey in 2020, React is by no means a dead library. Looking at different metrics, like Github stars, library usage, NPM trends, most used web framework, React as a frontend library is still by far a frontrunner in the field compared to the likes of Vue, Angular, and Svelte.

High Job Demand

All of that popularity also transfers into a high job demand. In 2021, job openings looking for React developers were by far the highest amount compared to other frontend libraries. Compared to jQuery, Angular, and Vue, there were respectively approximately 3.5, 4, and 7 times more job openings for React experience.

Even right now, that trend isn’t looking to change any time soon. Doing a quick search of LinkedIn job openings yields an enormous amount for React developers. If you’re thinking about picking up React but are concerned about job opportunity and safety, then there really isn’t a lot to worry about in the foreseeable future.

Large Active Community

One of the most important aspects of the survivability of a library is its community. Without a large or active community, you’ll be left to solve problems on your own when you encounter them. Especially for people looking to pick up a library, such a thing can be extremely demotivating and even cause them to drop using it altogether.

Fortunately, React has an extremely large and active community. There are active communities on Stack Overflow, Quora, Medium, Dev.to, several newsletters, too many NPM libraries to count, and many more. For almost any question, problem, or implementation idea related to React, it’s very likely that someone has wondered the same before and that you’ll be able to find something about it in one or multiple of the communities.

Strong Ecosystem

Building forth on a large and active community is the existence of a strong ecosystem around React development. NPM libraries were already mentioned and it’s likely that there’s a library for almost anything you can imagine in React.

But on top of that, the community has formed an extremely strong ecosystem around React in the form of tools and frameworks. There are tools like Storybook that help you with consistent component design and development, libraries like styled-components and Emotion that’ll help you with styling, and even frameworks that will provide you with the entire package like Next.js, Gatsby, and the all-new Remix.

Still More To Come

Despite React being around for so long, it doesn’t look like the field will stop having new stuff anytime soon. Even in 2022, there are still a lot of things to look out for. React 18 alone will be one of the biggest React releases of all time. Not only will it ship features like concurrent rendering, but it’ll also shift a large focus to server-side rendering.

The great thing is that this is only a fraction of the things we’re guaranteed to get in 2022. Who knows what else the year will hold for the React development field. But no matter whether you’re already an experienced React developer or still learning the basics, there are still a lot of exciting things on the horizon for you.

Final Thoughts

It’s always difficult to decide whether a certain frontend framework or library is worth it to pick up. There are so many choices and the field changes on a frequent basis. But even in 2022, there are still plentiful reasons to hop onto the React train if you haven’t already.

After so many years of being at the top, React as a library is still extremely popular. Because of this, the job demand for React developers is still extremely high, there is a large and active community, and the field has established a strong ecosystem around it. On top of that, there’s still so much more to come this year.

Even if React might not end up being the best choice, as of right now, it’s very unlikely a bad choice.

If you liked this article, consider checking out the other entries in the Uncommon React newsletter or my Twitter for future updates. If you like my content in general, you could consider sponsoring me with a coffee to keep me going.