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react-dom

react-dom is a core package within the React ecosystem, specifically designed for web applications that run in the browser's Document Object Model (DOM) environment. It provides the necessary methods and functionalities to interact with and manipulate the DOM, enabling React to efficiently render and manage web page elements.

Key aspects of react-dom:
  • DOM-specific methods:
    It offers methods like createRoot (from react-dom/client in React 18+) for initializing a React application by attaching it to a root DOM element, and render (used on the root object) to render React elements into the DOM.
  • Client APIs:
    The react-dom/client module contains APIs primarily used at the top level of a client-side React application to render components in the browser.
  • Server APIs:
    The react-dom/server module provides APIs for rendering React components to HTML strings on the server, a common practice in server-side rendering (SSR) for improved performance and SEO.
  • Hooks and Components:
    react-dom also includes Hooks and components specifically tailored for web applications, such as those related to managing focus, scroll position, or interacting with browser APIs.
  • DOM Manipulation:
    While React encourages working with its declarative component model, react-dom offers escape hatches like useRef that allow direct manipulation of the DOM when necessary, for example, to integrate with third-party libraries or handle specific browser interactions.
  • Hydration:
    react-dom facilitates hydration, the process of attaching event listeners and making a server-rendered HTML page interactive on the client-side.
In essence, react-dom serves as the bridge between your React components and the actual web page displayed in the browser, handling the intricate details of DOM management so you can focus on building your application's UI with React's declarative paradigm
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