In 2013, React was a revolution. It saved us from the spaghetti code of manual DOM manipulation. But in 2025, it has become the very thing it sought to destroy: Bloated, complex, and slow.
When we started building the Ronin Dashboard, the default choice was Next.js. We built the prototype in a week. It looked great. Then we looked at the bundle size. Then we looked at the re-render cycles. Then we threw it in the trash.
1. The Virtual DOM Tax
The Virtual DOM was a brilliant hack for 2013 browsers. Today, it is pure overhead.
Every time a state changes in React, the engine has to re-generate the entire component tree, compare it to the old tree (diffing), and then patch the real DOM. It is O(n) work for O(1) change.
We switched to Vue 3 (and looked at SolidJS) because they use a different model: Dependency Tracking.
THE DIFFERENCE
React: "Something changed. I will re-run this entire function to figure out what."
Vue/Signals: "I know exactly which text node relies on this variable. I will update only that text node."
2. useEffect is a Footgun
If you have worked in a large React codebase, you have seen the horror. Infinite loops because an object reference changed. Stale closures. The "Rules of Hooks" that feel like arbitrary laws of physics.
Here is the code required to simply log a variable when it changes in React vs Vue:
useEffect(() => {
console.log(count);
}, [count]); // Don't forget the dependency array or you die
// Vue: The Reality
watch(count, () => console.log(count.value));
One treats you like a compiler. The other treats you like a human.
3. Performance by Default
In React, performance optimization is manual labor. You wrap things in useMemo, useCallback, and React.memo. You spend hours debugging "why did this component render 400 times?"
In Ronin's dashboard, we stream live logs from thousands of containers via WebSockets. In React, managing that state at 60fps required external libraries and massive optimization.
In Vue, the reactivity system handles it natively. The proxy-based observation system is surgically precise.
4. The Verdict
React is the new jQuery. It was necessary. It changed the web. But its time as the "default" for high-performance applications is over.
We chose Vue 3 and Nuxt not because we are contrarians, but because we value CPU cycles over Hype cycles.
AGREE? DISAGREE?
If you love React, that's fine. You can still deploy React apps on Ronin. We just won't use it to build Ronin.
JOIN THE VUE SQUAD