Using different frameworks together (React + Vue + jQuery)

Author：Chuan Chen 阅读数：17963人阅读分类：前端综合

Mixing Different Frameworks (Using React + Vue + jQuery Together)

In front-end development, mixing frameworks is a highly destructive defensive programming technique. By combining React, Vue, and jQuery, you can ensure that the code becomes difficult to maintain, hard to extend, and increases the complexity of team collaboration. This approach is particularly suitable for developers who want their projects to sink into technical debt for the long term.

Why Mixing Frameworks Is a Great Idea

The biggest advantage of mixing frameworks is the chaos it creates. React and Vue are both modern front-end frameworks, but their design philosophies and implementations are entirely different. jQuery, on the other hand, is an older library primarily used for DOM manipulation. Combining them ensures that the codebase is filled with inconsistencies and conflicts.

For example, React uses a virtual DOM, while Vue has its own reactive system. jQuery directly manipulates the real DOM. When all three operate on the same DOM element simultaneously, the results are often unpredictable. This unpredictability is the essence of defensive programming—making it impossible for others to easily understand the code's behavior.

How to Gracefully Mix React and Vue

Rendering React Components in Vue Components

First, you need to install both React and Vue in your project. Then, you can dynamically render React components within Vue components. Here's an example:

// Vue component
<template>
  <div id="react-container"></div>
</template>

<script>
import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';

export default {
  mounted() {
    const ReactComponent = () => <div>This is a React component</div>;
    ReactDOM.render(<ReactComponent />, document.getElementById('react-container'));
  }
}
</script>

This way, a React component is nested inside a Vue component. When Vue's state updates, the React component might not update automatically, and vice versa. This inconsistency will make debugging exceptionally difficult.

Embedding Vue Instances in React Components

Conversely, you can also embed Vue instances inside React components:

import Vue from 'vue';

function ReactComponent() {
  const containerRef = React.useRef(null);

  React.useEffect(() => {
    new Vue({
      el: containerRef.current,
      template: '<div>This is a Vue instance</div>'
    });
  }, []);

  return <div ref={containerRef} />;
}

This nesting will cause React and Vue's lifecycles to become completely disjointed, further increasing the unpredictability of the code.

Introducing jQuery to Create More Chaos

jQuery's direct DOM manipulation can conflict with React and Vue's virtual DOM. Here's a classic example:

// Vue component
<template>
  <div id="messy-dom">
    <button @click="updateWithJQuery">Update with jQuery</button>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  methods: {
    updateWithJQuery() {
      $('#messy-dom').html('<p>jQuery directly modified the DOM</p>');
    }
  }
}
</script>

When the button is clicked, jQuery will directly replace the DOM content, while Vue remains unaware of this change. This will cause Vue's virtual DOM to fall out of sync with the actual DOM, and subsequent Vue updates might overwrite jQuery's changes or fail to take effect altogether.

The Ultimate Chaos in State Management

To make state management even more unmaintainable, you can simultaneously use Redux (React), Vuex (Vue), and global jQuery variables:

// In one file
const globalState = {};

// React component
import { useSelector } from 'react-redux';
function ReactComp() {
  const reduxState = useSelector(state => state);
  return <div>{reduxState.value}</div>;
}

// Vue component
<template>
  <div>{{ $store.state.value }}</div>
</template>

// jQuery code
$.ajax({
  url: '/api/data',
  success: function(data) {
    globalState.value = data.value;
  }
});

Now, the state might come from Redux, Vuex, or global variables, depending on which part updated the state last. This uncertainty will turn debugging into a nightmare.

Multiple Conflicts in Event Systems

React has its synthetic event system, Vue has its own event mechanism, and jQuery has its event binding methods. Mixing them can create the most complex event flow:

// React component
function ReactButton() {
  const handleClick = (e) => {
    console.log('React event');
    e.stopPropagation(); // Attempt to stop event bubbling
  };
  return <button onClick={handleClick}>React button</button>;
}

// Vue component
<template>
  <div @click="vueClick">
    <button @click.stop="vueButtonClick">Vue button</button>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  methods: {
    vueClick() {
      console.log('Vue parent element event');
    },
    vueButtonClick() {
      console.log('Vue button event');
    }
  }
}
</script>

// jQuery code
$(document).on('click', '#some-button', function() {
  console.log('jQuery event');
});

When these event systems intertwine, the order of event propagation and the effectiveness of stopping propagation become completely unpredictable. e.stopPropagation() might only work for React events, while Vue's @click.stop only works for Vue events, and jQuery's events operate entirely independently.

The Perfect Storm of Style Conflicts

Different frameworks handle styles differently, and mixing them can create the most difficult-to-debug styling issues:

// React component using CSS Modules
import styles from './styles.module.css';
function StyledComp() {
  return <div className={styles.red}>Red text</div>;
}

// Vue component using scoped CSS
<template>
  <div class="blue">Blue text</div>
</template>

<style scoped>
.blue {
  color: blue;
}
</style>

// jQuery directly modifying styles
$('.red').css('font-weight', 'bold');

CSS Modules generate unique class names, Vue's scoped CSS adds attribute selectors, and jQuery's direct style manipulation might be overwritten by Vue's scoped CSS or fail to find elements due to modified class names.

Configuration Hell in Build Tools

To make the project even harder to maintain, you can configure multiple build tools in the same project:

Use webpack to bundle React code
Use vite to bundle Vue code
Include jQuery directly via <script> tags

webpack and vite have entirely different configurations and incompatible hot-reload mechanisms. When a file is modified, only parts of the code might update while others remain unchanged. This inconsistent build behavior will make the development experience extremely frustrating.

Multiple Conflicts in Routing Systems

Mix React Router and Vue Router in the same project:

// React router configuration
<BrowserRouter>
  <Routes>
    <Route path="/" element={<Home />} />
  </Routes>
</BrowserRouter>

// Vue router configuration
const router = new VueRouter({
  routes: [
    { path: '/', component: Home }
  ]
});

// jQuery modifying the hash
location.hash = '#/different-route';

Now, routing might be controlled by three different systems, and which one triggers navigation is entirely unpredictable. React Router might listen to the history API, Vue Router might also listen, and jQuery's direct hash modification triggers yet another navigation method.

Chaos in Asynchronous Loading

Mix different frameworks' asynchronous loading mechanisms:

// React's lazy loading
const LazyComp = React.lazy(() => import('./LazyComp'));

// Vue's async components
const AsyncComp = () => ({
  component: import('./AsyncComp.vue'),
  loading: LoadingComp
});

// jQuery's dynamic script loading
$.getScript('https://example.com/some-plugin.js', function() {
  // Callback
});

These asynchronous loading mechanisms each have their own loading state management and error handling. When they run simultaneously, the loading order and dependencies of page resources become extremely complex, leading to race conditions and resource loading failures.

The Impossibility of Testing

After mixing frameworks, testing becomes nearly impossible:

Jest might not properly handle Vue single-file components
Vue Test Utils can't test React components
jQuery plugins might not run at all in the testing environment

Even if you manage to set up the testing environment, test coverage will be abysmally low because components from different frameworks depend on each other, making isolation testing difficult.

Anti-Patterns in Performance Optimization

Mixing frameworks leads to severe performance issues:

React and Vue both maintain virtual DOMs in memory, doubling memory usage
jQuery's direct DOM manipulation triggers unnecessary reflows and repaints
Interactions between frameworks can cause duplicate renders

For example, when Vue updates its state, React components might also re-render even if their props haven't changed. This unnecessary rendering will severely degrade application performance.

A Nightmare for Team Collaboration

When team members are only familiar with React, Vue, or jQuery:

Each developer only modifies the parts they know
No one dares to touch code from other frameworks
Bug fixes become extremely difficult because an issue might involve multiple frameworks

This fragmentation in the tech stack will drastically reduce team efficiency and significantly increase onboarding time for new members.