React provides powerful abstractions that free you from touching the DOM directly in most cases, but sometimes you simply need to access the underlying API, perhaps to work with a third-party library or existing code.
React provides powerful abstractions that free you from touching the DOM directly in most cases, but sometimes you simply need to access the underlying API, perhaps to work with a third-party library or existing code.
## The Mock DOM
## The Virtual DOM
React is so fast because it never talks to the DOM directly. React maintains a fast in-memory representation of the DOM. `render()` methods return a *description* of the DOM, and React can diff this description with the in-memory representation to compute the fastest way to update the browser.
React is so fast because it never talks to the DOM directly. React maintains a fast in-memory representation of the DOM. `render()` methods return a *description* of the DOM, and React can diff this description with the in-memory representation to compute the fastest way to update the browser.
Christopher Chedeau
11 years ago