I have a simple reconcile function (that I wrote, in umpteen variations) diff the previous and upcoming view state (not the DOM state) for each list item, and i

I have a simple reconcile function (that I wrote, in umpteen variations) diff the previous and upcoming view state (not the DOM state) for each list item, and if there are changes or new items, the changes are made. If not, DOM nodes are not touched. FWIW, it is actually nice to take hold of the details. In many situations you realize that you can alter the way things work to achieve cool effects or performance gains or whatever. Things you don't imagine or explore when React is just going to do whatever it does on your behalf.