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| 1 | +# React on Rails Pro: Major Performance Breakthroughs - React Server Components, SSR Streaming & Early Hydration |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +**Subject: 🚀 Revolutionary Performance Breakthroughs: React Server Components, SSR Streaming & Early Hydration Now Available in React on Rails Pro v4 & React on Rails v15** |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +--- |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +We're thrilled to announce a major update: [React on Rails Pro](https://www.shakacode.com/react-on-rails-pro/) v4 and [React on Rails](https://github.com/shakacode/react_on_rails) v15 now deliver **unprecedented performance improvements** that will transform your applications. These updates introduce multiple breakthrough technologies that work together to deliver the fastest possible user experience. |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +## 🎯 What This Means for Your Applications |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +- **Dramatically faster load times** |
| 12 | +- **Smaller JavaScript bundles** |
| 13 | +- **Better Core Web Vitals** |
| 14 | +- **Improved SEO** |
| 15 | +- **Smoother user interactions** |
| 16 | +- **Eliminated race conditions** |
| 17 | +- **Optimized streaming performance** |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +## 🔥 React Server Components |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +Server Components execute on the server and stream HTML to the client—no server-side JavaScript in your bundle. Real‑world results include: |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +- [productonboarding.com experiment](https://frigade.com/blog/bundle-size-reduction-with-rsc-and-frigade): |
| 24 | + - **62% reduction** in client‑side bundle size |
| 25 | + - **63% improvement** in Google Speed Index |
| 26 | + - Total blocking time: **from 110 ms to 1 ms** |
| 27 | +- [geekyants.com Case Study](https://geekyants.com/en-gb/blog/boosting-performance-with-nextjs-and-react-server-components-a-geekyantscom-case-study): |
| 28 | + - **52% smaller** JavaScript and TypeScript codebase |
| 29 | + - Lighthouse scores improved **from ~50 to ~90** |
| 30 | +- [Airbnb's RSC migration results](<https://questlab.pro/blog-posts/web-development/wd-pl-2024-articleId912i1h212818#:~:text=%22Our%20migration%20to%20React%20Server%20Components%20resulted%20in%20a%2015%25%20improvement%20in%20core%20web%20vitals%20and%20a%2023%25%20reduction%20in%20Time%20to%20First%20Byte%20(TTFB)%20across%20all%20markets.%22%20%2D%20Airbnb%20Engineering%20Team>): |
| 31 | +- **15% improvement** in core web vitals |
| 32 | +- **23% reduction** in Time to First Byte |
| 33 | +- [Meta's developer portal migration](https://questlab.pro/blog-posts/web-development/wd-pl-2024-articleId912i1h212818#:~:text=Meta%27s%20RSC%20Implementation%20Results): |
| 34 | + - **30% reduction** in JavaScript bundle size |
| 35 | + - **60% improvement** in Time to Interactive |
| 36 | + - **45% faster** First Contentful Paint |
| 37 | + - **50% reduction** in server response time |
| 38 | + - **25% decrease** in overall maintenance complexity |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +Please note that only the first of these directly compares performance of equivalent applications with and without React Server Components. |
| 41 | +Other migrations may include React or other dependency upgrades and so on. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +## 🌊 SSR Streaming |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +SSR Streaming sends HTML to the browser in chunks as it's generated, enabling progressive rendering: |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +- [An experiment at Nordnet comparing equivalent applications with and without streaming SSR](https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1903931/FULLTEXT01.pdf): |
| 48 | + - **32% faster** time to first byte |
| 49 | + - **40% faster** total blocking time |
| 50 | + - Negative result: **2% increase** in server load |
| 51 | +- [Hulu case study](https://www.compilenrun.com/docs/framework/nextjs/nextjs-ecosystem/nextjs-case-studies/#case-study-3-hulus-streaming-platform): |
| 52 | + - **30% faster** page load times |
| 53 | +- [styled‑components v3.1.0: A massive performance boost and streaming server-side rendering support](https://medium.com/styled-components/v3-1-0-such-perf-wow-many-streams-c45c434dbd03) |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +## ⚡️ **BREAKTHROUGH: Early Hydration Technology** |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +**React on Rails now starts hydration even before the full page is loaded!** This revolutionary change delivers significant performance improvements across all pages: |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +- **Eliminates Race Conditions**: No more waiting for full page load before hydration begins |
| 60 | +- **Faster Time-to-Interactive**: Components hydrate as soon as their server-rendered HTML reaches the client |
| 61 | +- **Streaming HTML Optimization**: Perfect for modern streaming responses - components hydrate in parallel with page streaming |
| 62 | +- **Async Script Safety**: Can use `async` scripts without fear of race conditions |
| 63 | +- **No More Defer Needed**: The previous need for `defer` to prevent race conditions has been eliminated |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +This optimization is particularly impactful for: |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +- **Streamed pages** where content loads progressively |
| 68 | +- **Large pages** with many components |
| 69 | +- **Slow network conditions** where every millisecond counts |
| 70 | +- **Modern web apps** requiring fast interactivity |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +_Performance improvement visualization:_ |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +_The image above demonstrates the dramatic performance improvement:_ |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +- **Left (Before)**: Hydration didn't start until the full page load completed, causing a huge delay before hydration |
| 79 | +- **Right (After)**: Hydration starts immediately as soon as components are available, without waiting for full page load |
| 80 | +- **Result**: Components now become interactive much faster, eliminating the previous race condition delays |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +## 🚀 Enhanced Performance Infrastructure |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +### Fastify-Based Node Renderer |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +- **Faster Node renderer** based on Fastify instead of Express |
| 87 | +- **HTTP/2 Cleartext** communication between Rails and Node renderer |
| 88 | +- **Multiplexing and connection reuse** for significantly better performance when deployed separately |
| 89 | +- **No code changes required** - automatic performance boost |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | +### Optimized Script Loading Strategies |
| 92 | + |
| 93 | +- New `generated_component_packs_loading_strategy` configuration |
| 94 | +- **Async loading by default** for Shakapacker ≥ 8.2.0 (optimal performance) |
| 95 | +- **Smart hydration timing** that works perfectly with streaming HTML |
| 96 | +- **Eliminated waterfall delays** in component hydration |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +## 💰 Why This Upgrade is Critical |
| 99 | + |
| 100 | +These performance improvements aren't just nice-to-haves—they're essential for: |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +- **Competitive advantage** in today's performance-focused web landscape |
| 103 | +- **SEO improvements** as Core Web Vitals become ranking factors |
| 104 | +- **User retention** - faster sites keep users engaged longer |
| 105 | +- **Conversion rates** - every millisecond counts for e-commerce |
| 106 | +- **Mobile performance** - crucial for global markets with slower connections |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +--- |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | +Adopting these features in React on Rails Pro v4 and React on Rails v15 will help you deliver **dramatically faster, leaner, and more SEO‑friendly applications** with fewer client‑side resources and eliminated performance bottlenecks. |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | +**Ready to get started?** |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | +1. Update to React on Rails v15 |
| 115 | +2. Update to React on Rails Pro v4 |
| 116 | +3. Follow our [RSC & SSR Streaming migration guide](https://www.shakacode.com/react-on-rails-pro/docs/react-server-components/tutorial/) |
| 117 | + |
| 118 | +Let's make your apps faster—together. |
| 119 | + |
| 120 | +**ShakaCode Team** |
| 121 | +_Building the future of Rails + React performance_ |
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