Deep Dive into the Diff Algorithm and Virtual DOM: Implementation in Vue, React, and Snabbdom

This article provides a comprehensive technical analysis of the diff algorithm and Virtual DOM, detailing their core principles, O(n) complexity optimizations, and practical implementations across Vue 2.x, Vue 3.x, React, and the Snabbdom library.

Virtual DOM serves as a lightweight JavaScript representation of the actual DOM, balancing performance and maintainability. The diff process reduces time complexity from O(n^3) to O(n) by restricting comparisons to same-level nodes. In Vue, node comparison follows five primary rules, handling static nodes, child updates via updateChildren, and text replacements. The core patchVnode function is implemented as follows:

function patchVnode(oldVnode, vnode, insertedVnodeQueue, ownerArray, index, removeOnly) {
  if (oldVnode === vnode) {
    return;
  }

  if (isDef(vnode.elm) && isDef(ownerArray)) {
    vnode = ownerArray[index] = cloneVNode(vnode);
  }

  const elm = (vnode.elm = oldVnode.elm);

  if (isTrue(oldVnode.isAsyncPlaceholder)) {
    if (isDef(vnode.asyncFactory.resolved)) {
      hydrate(oldVnode.elm, vnode, insertedVnodeQueue);
    } else {
      vnode.isAsyncPlaceholder = true;
    }
    return;
  }
  if (
    isTrue(vnode.isStatic) &&
    isTrue(oldVnode.isStatic) &&
    vnode.key === oldVnode.key &&
    (isTrue(vnode.isCloned) || isTrue(vnode.isOnce))
  ) {
    vnode.componentInstance = oldVnode.componentInstance;
    return;
  }

  let i;
  const data = vnode.data;
  if (isDef(data) && isDef((i = data.hook)) && isDef((i = i.prepatch))) {
    i(oldVnode, vnode);
  }

  const oldCh = oldVnode.children;
  const ch = vnode.children;
  if (isDef(data) && isPatchable(vnode)) {
    for (i = 0; i < cbs.update.length; ++i) cbs.update[i](oldVnode, vnode);
    if (isDef((i = data.hook)) && isDef((i = i.update))) i(oldVnode, vnode);
  }
  if (isUndef(vnode.text)) {
    if (isDef(oldCh) && isDef(ch)) {
      if (oldCh !== ch) updateChildren(elm, oldCh, ch, insertedVnodeQueue, removeOnly);
    } else if (isDef(ch)) {
      if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
        checkDuplicateKeys(ch);
      }
      if (isDef(oldVnode.text)) nodeOps.setTextContent(elm, '');
      addVnodes(elm, null, ch, 0, ch.length - 1, insertedVnodeQueue);
    } else if (isDef(oldCh)) {
      removeVnodes(oldCh, 0, oldCh.length - 1);
    } else if (isDef(oldVnode.text)) {
      nodeOps.setTextContent(elm, '');
    }
  } else if (oldVnode.text !== vnode.text) {
    nodeOps.setTextContent(elm, vnode.text);
  }
  if (isDef(data)) {
    if (isDef((i = data.hook)) && isDef((i = i.postpatch))) i(oldVnode, vnode);
  }
}

React's reconciliation process, handled by reconcileChildFibers, compares old Fiber nodes with new ReactElements. It utilizes a linked-list structure for new fibers, tracking placement indices and handling insertions, deletions, and moves. The implementation logic is shown below:

function reconcileChildrenArray(
  returnFiber: Fiber,
  currentFirstChild: Fiber | null,
  newChildren: Array<*>,
  lanes: Lanes,
): Fiber | null {
  let resultingFirstChild: Fiber | null = null;
  let previousNewFiber: Fiber | null = null;

  let oldFiber = currentFirstChild;
  let lastPlacedIndex = 0;
  let newIdx = 0;
  let nextOldFiber = null;

  for (; oldFiber !== null && newIdx < newChildren.length; newIdx++) {
    if (oldFiber.index > newIdx) {
      nextOldFiber = oldFiber;
      oldFiber = null;
    } else {
      nextOldFiber = oldFiber.sibling;
    }
    const newFiber = updateSlot(returnFiber, oldFiber, newChildren[newIdx], lanes);

    if (newFiber === null) {
      if (oldFiber === null) {
        oldFiber = nextOldFiber;
      }
      break;
    }
    if (shouldTrackSideEffects) {
      if (oldFiber && newFiber.alternate === null) {
        deleteChild(returnFiber, oldFiber);
      }
    }
    lastPlacedIndex = placeChild(newFiber, lastPlacedIndex, newIdx);
    if (previousNewFiber === null) {
      resultingFirstChild = newFiber;
    } else {
      previousNewFiber.sibling = newFiber;
    }
    previousNewFiber = newFiber;
    oldFiber = nextOldFiber;
  }

  if (newIdx === newChildren.length) {
    deleteRemainingChildren(returnFiber, oldFiber);
    return resultingFirstChild;
  }

  if (oldFiber === null) {
    for (; newIdx < newChildren.length; newIdx++) {
      const newFiber = createChild(returnFiber, newChildren[newIdx], lanes);
      if (newFiber === null) {
        continue;
      }
      lastPlacedIndex = placeChild(newFiber, lastPlacedIndex, newIdx);
      if (previousNewFiber === null) {
        resultingFirstChild = newFiber;
      } else {
        previousNewFiber.sibling = newFiber;
      }
      previousNewFiber = newFiber;
    }
    return resultingFirstChild;
  }
  const existingChildren = mapRemainingChildren(returnFiber, oldFiber);

  for (; newIdx < newChildren.length; newIdx++) {
    const newFiber = updateFromMap(
      existingChildren,
      returnFiber,
      newIdx,
      newChildren[newIdx],
      lanes,
    );
    if (newFiber !== null) {
      if (shouldTrackSideEffects) {
        if (newFiber.alternate !== null) {
          existingChildren.delete(newFiber.key === null ? newIdx : newFiber.key);
        }
      }
      lastPlacedIndex = placeChild(newFiber, lastPlacedIndex, newIdx);
      if (previousNewFiber === null) {
        resultingFirstChild = newFiber;
      } else {
        previousNewFiber.sibling = newFiber;
      }
      previousNewFiber = newFiber;
    }
  }
  if (shouldTrackSideEffects) {
    existingChildren.forEach((child) => deleteChild(returnFiber, child));
  }
  return resultingFirstChild;
}

Vue's template compilation pipeline transforms templates into render functions through three stages: parse (generating an AST), optimize (marking static nodes to skip during diffing), and generate (producing the render function string). When data changes, a Watcher triggers the update function, executing the render function to produce a new VNode tree, which is then patched against the old tree to apply minimal DOM updates.

Comparing framework implementations, Vue 2.x uses a dual-end comparison strategy, while Vue 3.x incorporates the Longest Increasing Subsequence algorithm from Inferno for optimized DOM moves. React relies on key and tag matching to intercept complex comparisons. The diff algorithm originates from Snabbdom, which defines VNode structures and provides modular hooks. Vue adapts Snabbdom by adding stricter node equality checks and refining the updateChildren logic, as demonstrated in the following source code:

function sameVnode(a, b) {
  return (
    a.key === b.key &&
    ((a.tag === b.tag &&
      a.isComment === b.isComment &&
      isDef(a.data) === isDef(b.data) &&
      sameInputType(a, b)) ||
      (isTrue(a.isAsyncPlaceholder) &&
        a.asyncFactory === b.asyncFactory &&
        isUndef(b.asyncFactory.error)))
  );
}

function updateChildren(
  parentElm,
  oldCh,
  newCh,
  insertedVnodeQueue,
  removeOnly
) {
  let oldStartIdx = 0;
  let newStartIdx = 0;
  let oldEndIdx = oldCh.length - 1;
  let oldStartVnode = oldCh[0];
  let oldEndVnode = oldCh[oldEndIdx];
  let newEndIdx = newCh.length - 1;
  let newStartVnode = newCh[0];
  let newEndVnode = newCh[newEndIdx];
  let oldKeyToIdx, idxInOld, vnodeToMove, refElm;
  const canMove = !removeOnly;

  if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") {
    checkDuplicateKeys(newCh);
  }

  while (oldStartIdx <= oldEndIdx && newStartIdx <= newEndIdx) {
    if (isUndef(oldStartVnode)) {
      oldStartVnode = oldCh[++oldStartIdx];
    } else if (isUndef(oldEndVnode)) {
      oldEndVnode = oldCh[--oldEndIdx];
    } else if (sameVnode(oldStartVnode, newStartVnode)) {
      patchVnode(
        oldStartVnode,
        newStartVnode,
        insertedVnodeQueue,
        newCh,
        newStartIdx
      );
      oldStartVnode = oldCh[++oldStartIdx];
      newStartVnode = newCh[++newStartIdx];
    } else if (sameVnode(oldEndVnode, newEndVnode)) {
      patchVnode(
        oldEndVnode,
        newEndVnode,
        insertedVnodeQueue,
        newCh,
        newEndIdx
      );
      oldEndVnode = oldCh[--oldEndIdx];
      newEndVnode = newCh[--newEndIdx];
    } else if (sameVnode(oldStartVnode, newEndVnode)) {
      patchVnode(
        oldStartVnode,
        newEndVnode,
        insertedVnodeQueue,
        newCh,
        newEndIdx
      );
      canMove &&
        nodeOps.insertBefore(
          parentElm,
          oldStartVnode.elm,
          nodeOps.nextSibling(oldEndVnode.elm)
        );
      oldStartVnode = oldCh[++oldStartIdx];
      newEndVnode = newCh[--newEndIdx];
    } else if (sameVnode(oldEndVnode, newStartVnode)) {
      patchVnode(
        oldEndVnode,
        newStartVnode,
        insertedVnodeQueue,
        newCh,
        newStartIdx
      );
      canMove &&
        nodeOps.insertBefore(parentElm, oldEndVnode.elm, oldStartVnode.elm);
      oldEndVnode = oldCh[--oldEndIdx];
      newStartVnode = newCh[++newStartIdx];
    } else {
      if (isUndef(oldKeyToIdx))
        oldKeyToIdx = createKeyToOldIdx(oldCh, oldStartIdx, oldEndIdx);
      idxInOld = isDef(newStartVnode.key)
        ? oldKeyToIdx[newStartVnode.key]
        : findIdxInOld(newStartVnode, oldCh, oldStartIdx, oldEndIdx);
      if (isUndef(idxInOld)) {
        createElm(
          newStartVnode,
          insertedVnodeQueue,
          parentElm,
          oldStartVnode.elm,
          false,
          newCh,
          newStartIdx
        );
      } else {
        vnodeToMove = oldCh[idxInOld];
        if (sameVnode(vnodeToMove, newStartVnode)) {
          patchVnode(
            vnodeToMove,
            newStartVnode,
            insertedVnodeQueue,
            newCh,
            newStartIdx
          );
          oldCh[idxInOld] = undefined;
          canMove &&
            nodeOps.insertBefore(parentElm, vnodeToMove.elm, oldStartVnode.elm);
        } else {
          createElm(
            newStartVnode,
            insertedVnodeQueue,
            parentElm,
            oldStartVnode.elm,
            false,
            newCh,
            newStartIdx
          );
        }
      }
      newStartVnode = newCh[++newStartIdx];
    }
  }
  if (oldStartIdx > oldEndIdx) {
    refElm = isUndef(newCh[newEndIdx + 1]) ? null : newCh[newEndIdx + 1].elm;
    addVnodes(
      parentElm,
      refElm,
      newCh,
      newStartIdx,
      newEndIdx,
      insertedVnodeQueue
    );
  } else if (newStartIdx > newEndIdx) {
    removeVnodes(oldCh, oldStartIdx, oldEndIdx);
  }
}