> Almost all of my React code is "called by React" with the one exception being `ReactDOM.Render()`
It only feels this way because your calls to React are hidden away behind JSX. I believe this is also why you can't write any JSX without importing the React module first.
If you've ever had the "pleasure" of writing React with plain React.createElement() calls (what your JSX ultimately gets transpiled to) then I think you would more likely agree with the notion that React is "just a library".
Create-react-app is much more akin to a framework in that it bootstraps an environment for you where you don't have to do any of the things that make React feel like simply a fancy library for rendering HTML.
It only feels this way because your calls to React are hidden away behind JSX. I believe this is also why you can't write any JSX without importing the React module first.
If you've ever had the "pleasure" of writing React with plain React.createElement() calls (what your JSX ultimately gets transpiled to) then I think you would more likely agree with the notion that React is "just a library".
Create-react-app is much more akin to a framework in that it bootstraps an environment for you where you don't have to do any of the things that make React feel like simply a fancy library for rendering HTML.