What are the limitations of React?

While React offers a powerful way to build UIs, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.

Understanding its limitations helps you choose the right tool or apply best practices to mitigate drawbacks.

Steep Learning Curve 📚

• JSX syntax, ES6+ features, and build tooling (Webpack, Babel) can overwhelm newcomers.
• Requires familiarity with JavaScript fundamentals alongside React-specific concepts (hooks, lifecycle) to be productive.

2. Large Bundle Size 🏋️

   • Including React and its dependencies can bloat initial download size, impacting load times on slow networks.
   • Needs code-splitting and lazy loading to optimize performance.

3. Boilerplate & Configuration ⚙️

   • Setting up a production-ready React app often involves configuring Webpack, Babel, linting, testing tools, etc.
   • Although Create React App simplifies this, complex requirements can still require custom setup.

4. Lack of “Batteries Included” 🔋

   • React focuses solely on UI; you must choose and integrate libraries for routing (React Router), state management (Redux, MobX), form handling, etc.
   • This freedom can lead to decision-fatigue and inconsistency across projects.

5. SEO Challenges Without SSR 🔍

   • Client-side rendering means search-engine crawlers may struggle with content indexing.
   • Requires additional tooling (Next.js, Remix) to achieve server-side rendering or static generation.

6. Fast-Moving Ecosystem ⚡

   • Frequent updates and multiple competing libraries can make it hard to know “best” patterns.
   • Risk of adopting libraries or approaches that become deprecated.

7. Potential for Memory Leaks 🧠💧

   • Improper use of hooks like useEffect without cleanup can cause subscriptions or timers to persist, leading to leaks.

Why this matters: If Timer mounts and unmounts repeatedly (e.g., inside a modal), each interval keeps running in the background, consuming memory and CPU. Proper cleanup would require returning () => clearInterval(intervalId) from the effect.