Reconciliation

In React, reconciliation is the process that determines how the UI should be updated when the state of a component changes. This is one of React’s core optimizations that contributes to its performance and efficiency.

React maintains an in-memory representation of the UI known as the Virtual DOM. When a component’s state or props change, React doesn’t immediately touch the real DOM. Instead, it creates a new virtual DOM tree and compares it to the previous one. This comparison is done using a diffing algorithm that identifies the smallest number of operations needed to update the real DOM so it matches the new virtual DOM.

This diffing process is optimized for speed: React assumes elements of the same type will produce similar trees and skips deep comparisons if the type changes. Keys, especially in dynamic lists, play a crucial role in helping React track which items have changed, been added, or removed.

After identifying the differences, React uses a process called DOM patching to apply only the required updates—rather than re-rendering the entire page. This makes the UI more performant and responsive, especially in complex applications.

In essence, reconciliation allows developers to write declarative code (“what the UI should look like”) while React handles the efficient “how” behind the scenes. Understanding this process can help developers write more optimized and predictable components.

What is Superflex.ai?

Superflex.ai was built for teams that want to move fast without losing quality. Instead of pausing to spec things out, explain design decisions, or rebuild layouts from scratch, you can let Superflex do the heavy lifting. It delivers production-ready React code that mirrors your Figma designs—so designers and developers stay in sync, and progress never stalls.