The Virtual DOM (Document Object Model) is a lightweight JavaScript representation of the actual DOM in the browser. Instead of manipulating the real DOM directly — which can be slow and expensive — React creates a Virtual DOM in memory to optimize updates and rendering.

How Virtual DOM Works:

1. Rendering:
   When a React component's state or props change, React creates a new Virtual DOM tree representing the updated UI.

2. Diffing:
   React then compares (or "diffs") the new Virtual DOM with the previous Virtual DOM. This process identifies exactly what has changed.

3. Reconciliation:
   After finding the differences, React calculates the most efficient way to update the real DOM to match the new Virtual DOM. Only the parts that changed are updated — not the entire DOM.

4. Updating:
   React applies the minimal set of changes to the real DOM, making the update process much faster and smoother compared to directly manipulating the DOM.

Why Virtual DOM?

• Performance Boost: Manipulating the real DOM is slow; Virtual DOM minimizes direct DOM updates.
• Efficient Updates: Only the necessary parts of the DOM are updated.
• Improved Developer Experience: Developers focus on building UI without worrying about manual DOM updates.

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