React Fiber vs Virtual DOM: Understanding the Key Differences

React's Virtual DOM is a conceptual representation of the UI, often described as a lightweight blueprint of the actual DOM. Fiber, on the other hand, is React's internal reconciliation engine that manages how and when updates are applied. A common question among developers is whether the Fiber tree and the Virtual DOM are the same thing. While Fiber does represent UI structure as a tree of JavaScript objects, it serves a broader purpose than the Virtual DOM concept alone. Understanding this distinction is important for developers seeking deeper knowledge of React's rendering internals.