Show HN: Reactable – fast, flexible, and simple data tables in React (opens in new tab)

I like your DataTables review, as someone who has worked extensively with DataTables it is indeed very apt. However, the complexity exposed by DataTables is, at least partly IMHO, justified by the reality of how complex it is to do tables, especially in web app mode where "tables" are often dynamic entries that look nothing like tables whatsoever. In this latter scenario DataTables actually really do shine, at least once one has spent enough time to settle on a dev-routine that works.

I had felt the same way about Datatables, which is why I ended up writing Dynatable over the course of a couple years. Tried to take a somewhat different approach that felt more natural to use.

http://www.dynatable.com

That's the goal :) glad you like it! If there are any features you need please feel free to make a Github issue requesting them - I've got lots of free time to work on this right now.

That's interesting you feel that way about DataTables. I was thinking about moving from slickgrid to datatables since slickgrid's author is no longer supporting the project. I was under the impression datatables might be easier to develop with compared to slickgrid.

If someone has used both slickgrid and datatables, could you recommend one or the other?

I disagree. Even if you come up with novel ways, or use common visualizations (e.g. charts) to display tabular data - I'd still give the end user a 'table button' that lets them simply view the data in a table.

Because of the ubiquity of the spreadsheet, most users simply grok tables and in a pinch, want to see the data that way. If they can't, the first feature request you're going to hear is for an Excel export so they can work around your application - not in it.

I'm not saying it's right, I understand you can deliver more information per second in a way that aids cognition - but until users are accustomed to this - we need tables.

That being said, if you work in React.js - why not have a nice table library for React.js?

edit: grammar

I guess you never worked on a ‘business’ application (as opposed to ‘social’ app, or a ‘game’)?

For example, let’s look at the screenshots below from a typical line-of-business app (AWS console). How do you think the UI should look like, without using tables?

http://www.gregarnette.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ec2-re...

Great idea. I just started using React and was wondering if there was a repository of components so I didn't have to reinvent the wheel for just about everything. It might be handy to add tagging functionality so the components can be easily browsed through in the future.

You beat me by 3 days! I must've missed the article on Monday, because I just created my own last night :P.

Nice -- I didn't know about this site. Added the component I've been working on to it :) Thanks for sharing!

Nice! You may want to add it to some of the React component list, like this one someone else mentioned: http://www.reactjsx.com/

I've been using Reactable in production for ~3 months now. I had the same thought when I saw that there was no server side pagination.

So, I put it to a test. My app has an audit log, 4 columns wide. I loaded in 30,000 rows into Reactable and it renders just fine...even on my Android device! Pretty slick.