React Strict DOM - How Meta Solves UI Fragmentation with Web APIs

Explore Meta's revolutionary approach to solving UI fragmentation across web and native platforms through React Strict DOM in this 21-minute conference talk. Discover how Meta achieves approximately 60% code reuse between web and native applications without relying on WebViews by leveraging standard Web APIs for truly native rendering on mobile and HTML rendering on the web. Learn about the fundamental problems with maintaining separate codebases for different platforms and understand why existing solutions like React Native for Web and custom abstractions fall short. Examine the architectural foundations of React Strict DOM, including HTML and CSS modules, and how the new React Native architecture enables this unified approach. Dive into practical implementation details covering polyfilling web capabilities, automated migration strategies using AST transforms, and real-world production results from the Facebook VR case study. Analyze the impact on AI code generation efficiency, performance trade-offs, runtime costs, and gain insights into the future direction of cross-platform React development for eliminating UI fragmentation while maintaining zero visual regressions.