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React calls components to calculate the next UI description, then commits necessary changes to the DOM. A fine-grained reactive system instead tracks which computations read a value and can notify those computations when that value changes. Those are different ways to organize update work—not proof that one is universally faster.
The specific “Our Fine-Grained Runtime” named in the title is not identified by a framework, repository, or specification in the available material. Solid provides a documented example of fine-grained reactivity, but its behavior should not be assumed to describe that unnamed runtime.
How does React render and commit changes?
React describes an update in three stages: trigger, render, and commit. A state update triggers work; during render, React calls components to determine what the screen should display; during commit, React applies the necessary changes to the DOM. See the React render-and-commit guide.
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- Render: React calls the component whose state update triggered the render and proceeds through nested output to calculate the next UI description.
- Commit: React applies the DOM operations needed to reflect the result.
Component execution is not the same as DOM mutation. A component can run again while React leaves a DOM node unchanged if its output does not require a change. So “React re-rendered” does not mean “React rewrote the whole DOM.”
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What does fine-grained reactivity mean?
In a fine-grained system, reactive values can track the computations that read them. When a value changes, the system can notify the computations that depend on it rather than treating component execution as the only unit of update work.
Solid’s documentation illustrates this model with signals and observers. A signal provides a getter and setter; reading the getter in a reactive context establishes a dependency, and writing through the setter notifies dependent computations. Effects run when the signals they depend on change. The Solid guide to fine-grained reactivity and createSignal reference describe those mechanics.
This is an example of Solid’s documented model, not evidence about the unnamed runtime in the title. Fine-grained systems can differ in dependency tracking, scheduling, lifecycle behavior, and how they apply DOM changes.
Where do the models differ?
| Question | React’s documented model | Fine-grained example in Solid |
|---|---|---|
| What starts update work? | A state update triggers rendering. | A signal write notifies computations that depend on that signal. |
| What is re-evaluated? | React calls the component associated with the update and proceeds through nested output to determine what should be displayed. | Dependent computations can run when their tracked values change. |
| How are dependencies established? | The documented render-and-commit explanation describes component rendering in response to updates. | Reading a signal getter in a reactive context establishes a dependency. |
| What changes in the DOM? | React commits necessary DOM operations; unchanged nodes can be left alone. | The cited Solid references explain signal dependencies and notifications, but do not establish a universal DOM-commit rule for all fine-grained runtimes. |
| What must developers reason about? | Which component updates trigger rendering, what output is calculated, and what React commits. | Which reactive values a computation reads and which dependent computations those values notify. |
Is it really virtual DOM versus reactivity?
Not necessarily. The labels describe different parts of an implementation and do not force every framework into one of two camps. Vue documents both dependency-based reactivity and a virtual-DOM rendering system, with compiler-informed optimizations. Its rendering mechanism guide and reactivity in depth guide show why it is more useful to examine a framework’s specific combination than to treat “virtual DOM” and “reactivity” as opposites.
Does fine-grained reactivity make an app faster?
The architecture alone cannot answer that. Update cost depends on the workload and the particular implementation, among other factors. A meaningful performance claim needs a defined workload and benchmark method; the cited documentation does not establish a universal speed advantage for either model.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can be said about “Our Fine-Grained Runtime”?
Without an identified framework, repository, specification, or version, its update scheduling, lifecycle rules, dependency behavior, and DOM operations are not established. Solid’s signal model can clarify what fine-grained reactivity means, but it cannot stand in for documentation of a different runtime. The sources cited here are official documentation pages accessed on October 7, 2026; living documentation may change.
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