The Virtual DOM is a lightweight copy of the actual DOM that React uses to optimize rendering performance.
When state changes, React creates a new Virtual DOM tree, compares it with the previous one, and updates only the differences in the real DOM.
This diffing process is called reconciliation and is what makes React so efficient.
Instead of updating the entire DOM, React only updates what has actually changed.
// React's Virtual DOM process: // 1. State changes // 2. New Virtual DOM created // 3. Diff with previous Virtual DOM // 4. Minimal real DOM updates
// Example of efficient updates function TodoList({ todos }) { return ( <ul> {todos.map(todo => ( <li key={todo.id}>{todo.text}</li> ))} </ul> ); }