Why does React use JSX?

React uses JSX (JavaScript XML) as a syntax extension for JavaScript. JSX is a syntax extension that looks similar to XML or HTML but is designed to work seamlessly with JavaScript.

Reasons why React uses JSX:

• Readability and Expressiveness: JSX provides a more concise and readable syntax for defining React elements in comparison to using plain JavaScript. It resembles HTML, making it more intuitive for developers to understand and write component structures.
• Declarative Syntax: JSX allows developers to express the structure of the user interface in a declarative manner. The syntax closely resembles the intended output, making it easier to visualize and reason about the UI hierarchy.
• Integration of JavaScript Expressions: JSX seamlessly integrates with JavaScript expressions, allowing dynamic values and JavaScript logic to be embedded directly within the markup. This integration makes it easy to incorporate variables, expressions, and logic into the UI.
• Tooling Support: JSX has strong tooling support, especially in popular code editors and IDEs. Editors like Visual Studio Code provide syntax highlighting, autocompletion, and error checking for JSX, enhancing the developer experience.
• JSX to JavaScript Transformation: React transforms JSX into regular JavaScript using a process called transpilation. Tools like Babel are commonly used to convert JSX code into JavaScript that can be understood by browsers. This enables developers to write code using JSX without worrying about browser compatibility.
• Preventing Injection Attacks: JSX helps prevent injection attacks by automatically escaping any values embedded within curly braces. This helps mitigate security risks associated with rendering user-generated content in the UI.
• Consistency with Component Structure: JSX closely mirrors the component structure in React, making it easy to understand how the components map to the resulting DOM elements. This alignment contributes to the consistency and maintainability of the codebase.

While JSX might initially seem unusual to developers accustomed to traditional HTML, it has become a fundamental part of React development and is widely embraced for its benefits in terms of readability, expressiveness, and integrations with JavaScript.