React just took a quiet but deeply meaningful step forward. With the release of the React Compiler, we are entering a new phase of performance. In this new era not the developer, the compiler takes on the burden of micro-optimisation. In this blog post, I will be summarizing what has happened. For a deeper dive please check https://react.dev/learn/react-compiler.
If you’ve written React for any length of time, you’ve likely to get familiarized with useMemo, useCallback, and memoization strategies. We have learned to optimize re-renders manually, scattering hooks throughout our components to avoid unnecessary updates. However the results have been complicated. Some of us add performance optimizations too eagerly, others not enough—and few enjoy tracing dependencies through complex component trees.
However, the React Compiler changes the equation. It is not a dev-time linting tool or a runtime enhancement. It is a source-to-source compiler that understands idiomatic React (like hooks, props, context, JSX etc.) and rewrites your code into something structurally optimized. Behind the scenes, it performs dataflow analysis to understand which inputs affect which outputs. Then it adds memoization where needed and by this way it skips recomputations, and surgically updates only what’s necessary.
You don’t need to change your code. You don’t need to learn a new API. The compiler understands your intent and generates the optimal result not just the correct one. This marks a philosophical shift. React isn’t just a runtime library anymore. It’s a language with a compiler pipeline where correctness, performance, and developer ergonomics are no longer at odds.
What about Vite or Create React App? Here’s the current state of tooling:
- Vite: Not officially supported yet, but the React team is working toward broader integration. Since Vite uses esbuild and Rollup, deep compiler hooks are tricky but not impossible. Plugin support may come in future.
- Create React App (CRA): This one has already been deprecated. It’s not maintained and unlikely to ever support the React Compiler. Even the React team recommends moving away from CRA.
To sum up, React Compiler is not just a performance tool. It tells us that React’s future lies in building declarative components, while letting the compiler worry about execution details. As the ecosystem catches up with Next.js and other frameworks, we’re getting closer to a world where writing clean code is writing fast code. That’s not just convenience., that is progress.
Suleyman Cabir Ataman, PhD