React Native Tutorial

What is React Native?

React Native is a JavaScript framework for building native mobile apps. It leverages React, a UI library utilizing components and props for interface creation. Components, reusable UI fragments, manage their state and logic, while props pass data between parent and child components.

Applying React's principles and syntax, React Native renders native UI elements on the device instead of HTML elements in the browser. This approach enables the creation of apps resembling native experiences with reduced code and accelerated development.

Some of the features of React Native are:

• It uses a declarative style of programming, which means you describe what your UI should look like and how it should behave, rather than how to implement it.
• It uses a virtual DOM (Document Object Model), which is a representation of the UI in memory. React Native compares the virtual DOM with the actual DOM and updates only the parts that have changed. This improves the performance and efficiency of your app.
• It supports hot reloading and live reloading, which means you can see the changes in your app instantly without rebuilding or restarting it.
• It supports native modules and native components, which means you can use native code or libraries in your app when you need to access device-specific features or optimize performance.
• It supports Expo, which is a tool that simplifies the development and deployment of your app. Expo provides a set of APIs and services that let you test your app on real devices, share it with others, publish it to app stores, etc.

What are components, props, styles, and flexbox?

• Components, the foundational units of your app’s UI, are functions or classes that return JSX, describing what to render. They can manage their state and logic and exchange data with parent and child components. React Native supplies standard components (View, Text, Image, Button) and allows creating custom components by combining existing ones or utilizing native modules.
• Props, short for properties, are attributes from the parent to the child component, unalterable by the child. They customize appearance and behavior, like using a 'title' prop to control text on a Button. Props enable data or function passage between parent and child components.
• Styles, encapsulated in objects, dictate layout, color, font, etc., for components. StyleSheet from React Native aids in creating styles, and inline styles or style arrays can also be used. While akin to CSS in web development, React Native styles have some differences and constraints.
• Flexbox, a layout system, facilitates flexible and responsive alignment and distribution of components. It involves flex containers (holding flex items) with properties like flex direction, flex wrap, justify content, and align items. Flex items can specify flex grow, flex shrink, and flex basis. While similar to web development's Flexbox, React Native's Flexbox has variations and defaults.

Why Learn React Native?

• It is one of the most popular and widely used frameworks for mobile app development. According to Stack Overflow’s 2020 Developer Survey, React Native ranked as the 8th most loved framework among developers.
• It allows you to create cross-platform apps with one code base. You don’t need to learn different languages or tools for iOS and Android development. You can save time and money by reusing your code and skills across platforms.
• It leverages the power and flexibility of JavaScript and React. You can use all the features and libraries of JavaScript and React in your app, such as ES6 syntax, hooks, Redux, TypeScript, etc.
• It offers a great developer experience and community support. You can use your favorite editor or IDE to write your code, debug your app using Chrome DevTools or React Native Debugger, find answers to your questions on Stack Overflow or GitHub issues, etc.

Audience

This React Native Tutorial is suitable for developers who:

• Have some basic knowledge of JavaScript and React
• Want to use the same code base for iOS and Android development
• Want to leverage the power and flexibility of JavaScript and React
• Want to create native-like apps with high performance and quality
• Want to access native features and capabilities of each platform
• Want to save time and money by reusing code and skills across platforms

Even if you are completely new to software development, learning JavaScript and React Native will not be so hard. But if you have prior knowledge of Javascript or React, it's a plus!

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for setting up the React Native environment are:

• A computer with Windows, macOS, or Linux operating system
• Node.js installed on your computer
• A code editor or IDE of your choice
• A smartphone or emulator for testing your app
• An internet connection
• Depending on your preferred way of developing React Native apps, you can choose between two options: Expo Go or React Native CLI.

Applications of React Native

React Native can be used to create various types of mobile apps for different purposes and industries. Some examples of popular apps that are built with React Native are:

1. Facebook: The social media giant that created React Native uses it for its own app. Facebook uses React Native to improve its performance, user experience, and developer productivity.
2. Instagram: The photo-sharing platform also uses React Native for its app. Instagram uses React Native to add new features faster, reduce maintenance costs, and share code between platforms.
3. Skype: The video-calling service uses React Native for its app. Skype uses React Native to simplify its development process, enhance its performance and quality, and leverage the native features of each platform.
4. Uber Eats: The food delivery service uses React Native for its app. Uber Eats uses React Native to create a consistent and engaging UI, optimize its performance and reliability, and reuse code across platforms and teams.
5. Airbnb: The travel and hospitality service uses React Native for its app. Airbnb uses React Native to improve its development speed and efficiency, deliver a seamless user experience, and access native functionalities.

Characteristics of React Native

React Native has some unique characteristics that make it different from other frameworks or technologies for mobile app development. Some of these characteristics are:

• It is not a hybrid framework. Unlike hybrid frameworks that use web views to render HTML and CSS in the app, React Native uses native UI elements to render the app. This means that your app will have the same look and feel as a native app, and it will not suffer from performance issues or limitations of web views.
• It is not a wrapper or a bridge. Unlike wrappers or bridges that use native code to expose some functionalities to JavaScript, React Native uses JavaScript to control the native UI elements. This means that your app will have full access to all the native features and capabilities of each platform, and it will not depend on third-party libraries or plugins.
• It is declarative and reactive. Unlike imperative programming that tells the app how to do something step by step, React Native uses declarative programming that tells the app what to do. This means that you don’t need to worry about the state or logic of your app, but only about the UI and data. React Native also uses reactive programming that updates the UI automatically when the data changes. This means that you don’t need to manually manipulate the DOM or refresh the app, but only focus on the data flow.

Advantages of React Native

React Native has many advantages over other frameworks or technologies for mobile app development. Some of these advantages are:

1. It is easy to learn and use. If you already know JavaScript and React, you can easily learn and use React Native. You can use the same syntax and concepts that you are familiar with, and you don’t need to learn new languages or tools.
2. It is fast and efficient. React Native uses a virtual DOM and a diffing algorithm to update only the parts of the UI that have changed. This reduces the number of rendering operations and improves the performance and efficiency of your app.
3. It is modular and scalable. React Native uses a modular architecture that allows you to split your code into smaller and reusable components. This makes your code more organized, maintainable, and scalable.
4. It is flexible and customizable. React Native gives you a lot of flexibility and customization options for your app. You can use any JavaScript library or framework that you like, such as Redux, TypeScript, etc. You can also use native modules or components to access device-specific features or optimize performance.