PrimeNg vs PrimeReact: What are the differences?

Introduction:

PrimeNG and PrimeReact are both popular UI component libraries developed by PrimeTek. While PrimeNG is built for Angular applications, PrimeReact is designed for React applications. Although they share similarities in terms of components and functionalities, there are several key differences between PrimeNG and PrimeReact.

1. Component Structure: One of the main differences between PrimeNG and PrimeReact is the structure of their components. PrimeNG follows a more traditional structure where components are divided into modules based on their functionality. On the other hand, PrimeReact follows a more modern structure where components are organized based on their use cases, resulting in a more intuitive and flexible component structure.

2. Styling Approach: Another significant difference between PrimeNG and PrimeReact is their approach to styling. PrimeNG utilizes CSS classes and style sheets for styling components, allowing for easy customization and integration with existing styles. In contrast, PrimeReact leverages CSS-in-JS libraries such as styled-components and emotion for styling components, providing a more isolated and scoped styling approach.

3. Animation Support: PrimeNG and PrimeReact also differ in their support for animations. PrimeNG provides a built-in animation system that allows developers to add animations to components with minimum effort. It offers a wide range of animation options and supports both CSS and JavaScript animations. On the other hand, animation support in PrimeReact is more limited, requiring developers to use third-party libraries or custom implementations for adding animations to components.

4. Accessibility Features: PrimeNG and PrimeReact also have differences in terms of accessibility features. PrimeNG prioritizes accessibility and provides built-in support for WAI-ARIA, a set of attributes that define ways to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities. It also includes keyboard navigation and screen reader support out of the box. In comparison, accessibility features in PrimeReact are not as extensive, requiring developers to manually implement and manage accessibility enhancements.

5. Technology Stack: PrimeNG and PrimeReact have different technology stacks, primarily due to their integration with different JavaScript frameworks. PrimeNG is built on top of Angular, utilizing its powerful features and ecosystem. PrimeReact, on the other hand, is built on top of React, taking advantage of its component-based architecture and virtual DOM. As a result, developers using PrimeNG will have access to Angular-specific features and libraries, while developers using PrimeReact can leverage React-specific features and libraries.

6. Community and Ecosystem: PrimeNG and PrimeReact also differ in terms of their communities and ecosystems. PrimeNG has a larger community and ecosystem due to its longer presence in the Angular ecosystem. It has a wide range of community-contributed components, themes, and plugins, as well as extensive documentation and support resources. PrimeReact, being more recent, has a smaller community and ecosystem compared to PrimeNG. However, it is steadily growing and has active community contributors, with a focus on providing high-quality components and resources specific to React.

In summary, PrimeNG and PrimeReact differ in their component structure, styling approach, animation support, accessibility features, technology stack, and community ecosystem.