Tyaff — VDOM library for JavaScript

The project is experimental — testing a new approach to memo(), the ability to move elements between parents, mutable data handling, and the capabilities of modern AI in solving complex tasks.

Key differences from React

• memo() blocks only the current component — children continue their own update chains independently, making optimization predictable
• Mutable data from any source — a component can read a global store, singleton, or window directly, without props drilling
• Pull-based context without Provider/Consumer — any component declares itself a provider via context: { key() { ... } }, children request values via this.context(key)
• Props as first argument — signatures like init(props), memo(props), render({ title, items }) allow destructuring props right in the definition
• Keys are unique across the entire render — this allows moving components between different parents while preserving instance and state

Main features

• Compact and performant — minimal API surface, custom diff/patch algorithm, batching updates via microtask
• Optimized for bulk operations — reverse, swap, reparenting faster than React
• Dynamic context tree — hierarchical provider system with automatic propagation through HTML tags
• Factory-based components — unified creation pattern, automatic method binding, flexible lifecycle
• Portals with deferred mounting —!mounting into arbitrary DOM containers with anchor nodes
• Key system — user-defined keys are unique across the entire render, automatic path-based keys
• Fragment with key — grouping children without wrapper with ability to move groups

Installation

npm install tyaff

Quick start

import { h, Component, mount } from 'tyaff';

const Counter = Component({
    count: 0,

    increment() {
        this.update({ count: this.count + 1 });
    },

    render() {
        return h('div', null,
            h('p', null, 'Counter: ' + this.count),
            h('button', { onClick: this.increment }, '+')
        );
    }
});

mount(Counter, document.getElementById('app'));

Example: components with context

const ThemeProvider = Component({
    theme: 'light',

    context: {
        theme() { return this.theme; },
        toggleTheme() {
            this.theme = this.theme === 'light' ? 'dark' : 'light';
            this.update();
        }
    },

    render() {
        return h('div', null, this.props.children);
    }
});

const ThemedButton = Component({
    render() {
        const theme = this.context('theme');
        return h('button', { className: 'btn-' + theme }, 'Button');
    }
});

mount(
    h(ThemeProvider, null,
        h(ThemedButton)
    ),
    document.body
);

Example: global store

// store.js
export const store = { count: 0 };

// app.js
import { store } from './store.js';
import { h, Component, mount, refresh } from 'tyaff';

const Counter = Component({
    render() {
        return h('div', null, 'Count: ', store.count);
    }
});

mount(Counter, document.getElementById('app'));

// Update
store.count = 55;
await refresh();  // all components will re-read the store

Resources

• Documentation — full API description, usage examples, lifecycle, context, portals, optimizations
• Live example — interactive demo in the browser
• Memo demo — Tyaff vs React
• Benchmark — performance comparison tyaff vs React (14 scenarios)
• Changelog — what's new in the project

Acknowledgments

This project is a showcase of human-AI collaboration:

• Human: architecture, design decisions, code review, vision
• Qwen: development, optimization, documentation, visual design
• GLM: development, optimization
• Gemini: research and analysis (via Search)

Browser Support

• Chrome 86+
• Firefox 78+
• Safari 14+
• All modern browsers with ES6 modules support

License

MIT