React developers often hear that JSX isn’t real JavaScript — and it’s true. JSX is a developer-friendly syntax that gets transformed behind the scenes into pure JavaScript before the browser even sees it. But how does that work?

If you're a C# developer diving into React, this analogy might help: JSX + Babel is to React what C# + .NET is to Windows.

.NET (C#) Workflow Breakdown

Step Description
1. Write C# code Developer writes human-readable C# code
2. Compile to IL C# is compiled into Intermediate Language (IL)
3. JIT Compilation Just-In-Time compiler turns IL into native machine code
4. OS Execution Machine code is executed by the OS

React (JSX + Babel) Workflow Breakdown

Step Description
1. Write JSX in .jsx file Developer writes JSX code in React components
2. Babel Transpiles Babel transforms JSX into React.createElement() calls (pure JavaScript)
3. Webpack/Vite Bundles Tools bundle and optimize the code for the browser
4. Browser Executes Transformed JS is run by the browser (e.g., Chrome’s V8 engine)

Example Transformation
JSX:

function Welcome() {
  return <h1>Hello, davinceleecode!</h1>;
}

After Babel:

function Welcome() {
  return React.createElement("h1", null, "Hello, davinceleecode!");
}

Simple Analogy:

JSX is like writing your chill personal notes 📝
But the browser needs a clean printout it can understand 📄
So Babel is like your secretary who rewrites it into clean, readable JS before handing it off to the browser.
Same way that C# goes through IL and gets interpreted into machine code by the .NET runtime and OS.

Summary Table

Scope JSX + Babel C# + .NET
Language JSX C#
Transformation Tool Babel C# Compiler
Intermediate Form JavaScript (via createElement) Intermediate Language (IL)
Final Execution In the browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox) By OS via .NET CLR

So if you're coming from the C# world, just remember: JSX is like C#, and Babel is your IL compiler. It all ends up as something your machine — or in React's case, your browser — can understand.

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