SolidJS is a modern JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It combines the familiar JSX syntax from React with a unique approach that eliminates the virtual DOM. Instead, SolidJS uses fine-grained reactivity and compiled templates to achieve exceptional performance while maintaining developer-friendly declarative programming.
The main difference between SolidJS and React lies in their approach to DOM updates. React uses a Virtual DOM that creates a copy of the real DOM in memory, compares changes, and then updates the real DOM through a reconciliation process. This adds runtime overhead. SolidJS eliminates this layer entirely, using fine-grained reactivity to update the DOM directly when data changes, resulting in better performance.
SolidJS is a modern JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Unlike React, it doesn't use a virtual DOM. Instead, it compiles your components into efficient vanilla JavaScript that directly updates the DOM. This makes it incredibly fast while still providing a familiar React-like developer experience.
SolidJS has three key features that set it apart. First, fine-grained reactivity means only the specific parts of your UI that need to change will update. Second, it skips the virtual DOM entirely and updates the real DOM directly. Third, it uses a compiled approach that optimizes your code at build time, resulting in smaller bundles and better performance.
Here's a simple SolidJS component example. Instead of React's useState, SolidJS uses createSignal to create reactive state. The count function returns the current value, while setCount updates it. When count changes, SolidJS automatically updates only the specific DOM nodes that depend on it, without re-rendering the entire component. This fine-grained reactivity is what makes SolidJS so efficient.
When comparing SolidJS to React, the differences are significant. React uses a virtual DOM and re-renders entire components when state changes. SolidJS eliminates the virtual DOM and only updates the specific parts that changed. This results in better performance, especially for complex applications. While React uses hooks like useState and useEffect, SolidJS uses signals and effects that are compiled for optimal performance.
Getting started with SolidJS is straightforward. You can create a new project using npm create solid, which sets up everything you need. The key concepts to understand are signals for state management, effects for side effects, and JSX for templating. Unlike React, there are no complex lifecycle methods to worry about. SolidJS is perfect for high-performance applications, real-time updates, and large-scale projects where you want React-like syntax but with significantly better performance.
SolidJS delivers significant performance benefits compared to traditional frameworks. Benchmarks show it's typically 2 to 3 times faster than React, with smaller bundle sizes and less memory usage. This performance comes from eliminating virtual DOM overhead, using compile-time optimizations, and implementing fine-grained reactivity that only updates what actually changed. The result is a minimal runtime with direct DOM updates that feel instant to users.
Getting started with SolidJS is incredibly simple. Just run npm create solid at latest my-app to create a new project, navigate to the directory, and start the development server with npm run dev. SolidJS is perfect for performance-critical applications, real-time systems, and large-scale projects where you want the familiar React-like syntax but with significantly better performance. The learning curve is minimal if you already know React, making it an excellent choice for modern web development.