We need a notion of lifecycle independent of reconciliation. The definition provided in View Tree Duality is natural, essentially locally determined, and efficient (i.e O(n)).

Without an independent notion of lifecycle, React essentially cannot improve it’s reconciliation algorithm.

They are proposing a change the way the lifecycle of a React component is computed. Right now:

    if (someCondition) {
      return <div><Thing /></div>
    } else {
      return <Thing />
    }

will result in `Thing` going through the unmount / re-mount portion of the component lifecycle every time `someCondition` changes. This proposal suggests that instead `Thing` should remain mounted. It has been suggested (in the linked issue https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/16316) that there is a plan to make this possible at some point via something termed "re-parenting".

Looks like they're trying to make a point about an issue they posted.. https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/16316

Gact is a new framework that will be released in the coming months.

In the time leading up to its release, I am releasing a series of documents explaining core ideas.