React is a client-side JavaScript library for building user interfaces that is made and open-sourced by Facebook. It uses a virtual DOM for fast rendering and reusable components to build up the UI. Components can have their own state that causes re-rendering when updated. Events are handled through callbacks. JSX allows writing HTML-like code mixed with JavaScript. Managing state across complex apps with many interacting components can be challenging. Flux and Redux address this with a single source of truth store and reducer functions that update state immutably in response to actions. Side effects like API calls require middleware like thunks, sagas, or API-specific middleware to isolate impure logic from pure reducers.