Clarify the core React concepts: Element, Component, and Node.

React Element A plain JavaScript object that describes what you want to see on the screen. It’s a lightweight, immutable blueprint—not the actual DOM node.

// A React Element describing a div
const divElement = <div>Hello!</div>;

// What JSX compiles to:
// React.createElement('div', null, 'Hello!')

React Component A function or class that takes props and returns a React Element. Components are the reusable building blocks you write.

// A Function Component - returns a React Element
function MyComponent({ name }) {
  return <h1>Hello, {name}!</h1>;
}

React Node The broadest term—anything React can render:

• React Elements (<div />, <MyComponent />)
• Strings ("Hello")
• Numbers (123)
• Booleans, null, undefined (ignored but valid)
• Arrays of React Nodes

// All of these are valid React Nodes
<ParentComponent>
  <div>Element node</div>
  {"String node"}
  {123}
  {[<p key="1">Array item</p>]}
</ParentComponent>

The Relationship:

• You write a React Component
• A Component returns a React Element
• An Element is a description of what to render
• A Node is anything React can render