it is. one difference i think is that polymer seems to rely on Web Components API and shadow DOM. i guess subviews in React are functionally identical, but React does so without regard for the Web Components API. which has been fine with me.

personally, i don't like seeing stuff like this in Polymer:

    <roster-list persons='[{"name": "John"}, {"name": "Bob"}]'></roster-list>

and i like that React let's you write views without data-as-strings.