React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It uses several key concepts: 1. Reactive UI - When data changes, the UI updates automatically without needing to specify how to update the DOM. This simplifies UI development. 2. Virtual DOM - React keeps a sketch of the desired UI in memory and syncs it with the real DOM efficiently to minimize updates. 3. Components - Reusable blocks of code that can be composed to build complex UIs. Components manage their own state and re-render when their props or state change.