React is an open source JavaScript library developed by Facebook that is used to build single-page and interactive user interfaces. Since its release in 2013, React has rapidly gained popularity among web developers due to its focus on creating reusable components and its ability to manage application state efficiently.

Reasons to choose React:

1. Componentization: React is based on a component-based development approach, meaning that user interfaces are broken down into small, reusable components. This modularity makes it easier to build and maintain complex web applications, as each component can be developed, tested, and debugged independently before being integrated into the main application.
2. Virtual DOM (Virtual Document Object Model): React uses a Virtual DOM to represent the UI structure of an application. This Virtual DOM acts as an in-memory copy of the current DOM structure and updates efficiently when application data changes. This allows React to make UI updates quickly and efficiently, resulting in a smoother and more responsive user experience.
3. Unidirectionality of Data: React follows a unidirectional data flow, which means that data flows in only one direction through the application. This makes it easier to track changes in the state of the application and makes it easier to predict the behavior of the application as data changes. Additionally, this unidirectionality simplifies the debugging process and makes it easier to implement functionality such as state manipulation and event management.
4. Broad Ecosystem and Active Community: React has a broad ecosystem of tools, libraries and plugins developed by the community. From development tools like Create React App to UI libraries like Material-UI, the React ecosystem offers everything you need to build modern, powerful web applications. Additionally, React has a large community of developers and resources available online, including detailed documentation, tutorials, and code examples, which make learning and developing with React easy.