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React Native- What is it, and how does it work?

Ever wondered why you should create React Native apps in 2021? Well, React Native is a JavaScript framework that allows you to create real-time, natively rendered mobile apps for iOS and Android. Facebook builds it on React. React is a JavaScript toolkit for creating user interfaces. It's designed for targeting mobile platforms rather than the web. So web developers can now create mobile apps that look and feel "native," while using the familiar JavaScript library. Also, most of the code you create can be shared across platforms. Because of this, it makes development easy for both Android and iOS at the same time.

Like React for the Web, its apps are made with JSX, a combination of JavaScript and XML-like markup. The React Native "bridge" then calls the native rendering APIs in Objective-C or Java. As a result, your app will appear and feel like any other mobile app. Also, it will be rendered using genuine mobile UI components rather than reviews. React Native also exposes JavaScript interfaces for platform APIs. This allows your React Native mobile apps to use platform capabilities such as the phone camera or the user's location.

React Native is now available for iOS and Android. There is the possibility to expand to other platforms in the future. Also, React Native can be used to create production-ready mobile apps. A few anecdotes: It's already being used in production for user-facing applications.

What is unique about React Native?

React Native is distinct from other cross-platform development options. This is because it does not render WebViews in its code. Instead, it's based on real-world views and components. One of the reasons for React Native's incredible success is because of this difference.

History of React Native

A quick overview of React Native's history: 

• React Native began as an internal Facebook project in the summer of 2013 at a hackathon. 
• React Native 1 Preview was released in January 2015 at the React.js Conference. 
• The official launch of React Native was announced during the F8 Conference in March 2015. 
• React Native is now open for use and available on Github, according to Facebook. 

Two things are clear from the above: React Native is older than Flutter, and it has a larger community. Not to mention that the Facebook team has had ample time to stabilize the API and focus on resolving any underlying issues. 

Also, don't forget that Facebook is working on many other major improvements:

• Lean Core - decreasing the size of a program by dividing optional features into their repositories. 
• TurboModules — for better native module handling. 
• React Native Fabric is a re-architected UI layer for React Native.

Pros and Cons of React Native

Pros

Hot reload makes coding faster

Hot Reload speeds up the development process. This is done by allowing a developer to insert new code immediately into a running app. So, a developer may observe changes in real-time without having to recompile the software. 

It also saves the application's state. This prevents it from being lost during a full reload. It is a significant feature in the context of state-based frameworks. It speeds up the mobile app development process even further. 

The React Native team has included a new functionality called quick refresh to the 0.61 version. This helps to improve the developer experience with hot reloading. It also unifies live and hot reloading. In comparison to the previous edition, it is more resistant to typos and errors. 

Single codebase to power two platforms

Create a single codebase to power two apps, one for Android and one for iOS. 

JavaScript gives you an advantage when creating cross-platform applications. It allows you to share code with web apps. This is done by generating abstraction components that can be compiled for specific systems. 

See the examples below for frameworks that let you code on other platforms at the same time:

• React Native for Web is a cross-platform app. It works on Android, iOS, and the web (Twitter used this to create Twitter Lite) 
• ReactXp Is a Skype-developed app that supports Android, iOS, and the web, as well as Windows 10. (UWP) 
• The Microsoft team created React-native windows. It works with all Windows 10 devices ( PCs, tablets, 2-in-1s, Xbox, Mixed reality devices, etc.)

Uses JavaScript

JavaScript is utilized in React Native. It is a programming language that many developers are familiar with. You can also use TypeScript if you prefer statically typed programming languages.

Freedom for developers

Developers can use React Native to create cross-platform react mobile apps; nothing more, nothing less. 

React Native allows the developer to choose exactly which solutions to utilize. This is based on both the project's requirements and the developer's preferences. 

For example, a developer can pick whether to utilize a custom UI library or write their own. This is done if they need to handle global state, choose a router library, or choose between JavaScript and TypeScript.

It is more mature

The Facebook team has had plenty of time to stabilize the API and focus on correcting faults and solving problems. This is because the official React Native release was more than 5 years ago. 

They're currently working on a few exciting upgrades, such as shrinking the app's size.

Has an active and huge community 

There is a sizable developer community for React Native. Not only that, but there are a plethora of tutorials, libraries, and UI frameworks. These make learning the technology – as well as developing with it – a breeze. 

When it comes to repositories dedicated to collecting articles, tools, and resources about certain technologies, react Native outperforms Xamarin, Flutter, and Ionic. 

React Native is also a member of the "React family." As a result, many of its libraries are platform agnostic. This means you can muse on both the web and mobile.

Expo is also worth mentioning. It is a React constitutional framework that facilitates access to native APIs. In addition, it includes ready-made solutions for common mobile features (e.g., push notifications). 

AWS Amplify. It is a solution that facilitates interaction with AWS capabilities. This is done by addressing authentication, storage, push alerts, and analytics.

Easy to learn for developers

This benefit on our list is aimed squarely at React developers. If you have a web development background and are already familiar with popular React solutions, you can quickly learn React Native without learning new libraries. Instead, the same libraries, tools, and patterns can be used.

At most, 50% less testing

There are roughly 50% fewer automated tests. This is because the same tests can run on both platforms, decreasing the workload on our QA staff.

Cons

Highly Native

Like any cross-platform solution, the UI experience and performance are not the same as native apps. But they will be near. 

But, achieving a "native vibe" using React Native is easier than with Flutter. If you want your Flutter app to feature native components, you'll have to put in some more effort.

Supports only basic components

React Native only supports the most basic components. Many can adapt to a platform outside the box, like loading indicator, button, or slider. 

There are many more React Native components available from outside repositories. You can use them in a project by a developer, but it will take more effort and time.

Freedom for developers

It's both a blessing and a curse. 

After creating a new project, a developer must choose which navigation package to use. They must also choose which global state management. 

Understanding the details of each solution and deciding which is best might take a long time.

Many abandoned package

There are a lot of libraries in React Native. Unfortunately, a large number of them are of poor quality or have been abandoned.

Fragile UI

React Native relies on native components behind the hood. Due to this, you can rest assured that your app's components will be updated as soon as the OS UI changes. 

But, this can cause the app's UI to fail, but it only happens rarely. 

Worse, if updates make changes to the Native Components API, they can become even more harmful. So what's the good news? Unfortunately, this type of occurrence is not frequent.

Apps are larger than the native ones

Javascript code must be able to run in React Native applications because Android lacks this capability by default. Therefore, apps must incorporate a library that allows JavaScript code. This results in apps that are much larger than their native Android counterparts. 

Although iOS apps built using React Native do not have this issue, they are still larger than native apps. So what's the good news? As stated before, the React Native team is aiming to reduce the size of their apps.

Why you should create react native apps in 2021?

React Native is a well-known framework for developing native mobile apps. React Native, like React, is agnostic. This means you'll have to make a lot of implementation decisions. We'll look at the best technique to design a Reactive Native app in this section:

Bootstrap

To begin a new project with React Native, you have a few options: 

React Native CLI 

This is the industry-standard tool for building React Native apps. 

Positive aspects: 

• It's quite adaptable. It generates two apps, one for iOS and the other for Android. Because these are native applications, you can update the native code if you like. 
• You can upgrade to the most recent version of React Native at any time. 
• There are no restrictions, so you can do whatever you want. 

Negative aspects: 

• The first setup is a little difficult. You'll need to set up Xcode and Android Studio first. 
• Updating to a new version of React Native is difficult. This is because it necessitates changes to the native code. 
• There isn't much to pull out of the package.

Expo CLI 

Expo is a set of React Native-focused tools. It offers a lot of functionality and is like a create-react-app. 

Positive aspects:

• The most straightforward method of getting started. There is no native code. 
• There are many features right out of the box (Camera, OTA updates, Push Notifications, and many more). 
• It's simple to test on a genuine device. 

Negative aspects: 

• There are certain limitations. 
• You can't update the native code unless you eject. 
• You'll have to wait until Expo releases a compatible version of React Native.

JavaScript or TypeScript

TypeScript is a language that adds type definitions to JavaScript. 

TypeScript templates are available in both React Native CLI and Expo CLI. 

You may notice that TypeScript slows you down at times. This is especially true given the lack of type declarations in many packages. But, as TypeScript becomes more prevalent, this will become a non-issue in the future. TypeScript has the advantage of catching more errors at compile time. This allows it to prove better code completion.

Classes vs. Functional Components

Many people ask whether to use class-based components or functional components and hooks. We won't go into detail here because it's a complicated topic. But using functional components and hooks to build a project is a popular trend. So, don't worry if you want to use classes; there are no plans to drop them from React.

State Management

State management has the potential to have a significant impact on app development. The way you distribute data across your application is known as state management. Every component in React can have its own state. Also, the data can be shared between parent and child components using props. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to send data between two components that are not related in any manner. Many libraries are attempting to solve this problem, the most popular of which is Redux.

UI kit

A UI kit gives you a set of styled UI components. These components help in building apps faster. These are some of the most popular kits out there :

• React Native Elements
• Native Base
• UI Kitten
• Paper

Styling

JavaScript is used to style your application with React Native. Every core component supports a style attribute. But, inline styles are not advised because they make the code more difficult to read. 

A stylesheet is an abstraction for CSS Stylesheets. It allows you to move styles away from the render method. 

Styled components and emotion are two useful libraries. Both are compatible with React Native and are similar.

Authentication

Authentication is used in almost all current apps. Many programs use social login to handle authentication. This is because it is a quick and secure method. Expo can be used to log in to a variety of services. Firebase Authentication and AWS Amplify Authentication are two other popular options. 

You'll need to persist a JWT or similar token to establish authentication against your own backend. Keep in mind that Async Storage is not safe. Hence, React Native Keychain is a preferable solution.

Can you migrate existing apps to React Native?

Yes, as long as your app does not rely on the smartphone doing significant processing. React Native's capabilities are constantly evolving. Hence you can use it to create increasingly complex apps. 

Also, transitioning to React Native reduces the cost of maintaining your project. This is because there is only one codebase for both Android and iOS.

Alternative to React Native

There are other technologies out there that seek to do the same thing but in different methods. Some instances are as follows: 

NativeScript

Designed by Progress and released in 2014. It allows developers to construct apps for iOS and Android using Angular, Vue, or vanilla JS, CSS, and HTML. 

Cordova 

Created by Nitobi and subsequently purchased by Adobe. Used to create hybrid apps that cover what is a web app. The app has access to the device's native APIs instead of using native components.

Flutter is a relatively new technology, having been released by Google in 2017. Used to create apps for both iOS and Android using the Dart programming language. 

Xamarin 

Microsoft owns it. It allows developers to create apps for both iOS and Android using the C# language.

Better Cross-platform App - React Native vs. Flutter

Why should you use React Native for the web?

The main benefit of React Native Web is that you can develop code once and distribute it across different platforms. 

This library also has native-quality interactions, which is a big plus. Multiple input options, including touch, mouse, and keyboard, are supported. This is regardless of whether you're using it on a desktop computer or a mobile device's browser.

It's also worth mentioning that React Native Web enables server-side rendering. You can also integrate it with popular tools such as Gatsby and Next. Examples of these tools can be seen in the React Native Web repository on GitHub.

Advantages of React Native Web include:

• Single codebase to share across many platforms and devices
• Native-quality interactions
• Support for accessibility
• RTL support
• Server-side rendering support
• Integration with static pages

Is React Native the right choice in 2021?

There is an increase in demand for mobile apps as smartphones become the primary computing device. Choosing between a Cross-Platform and a Native solution is a key step in making a successful app. 

When it comes to new app development in 2021, technology selection is a critical factor. However, the advantages of cross-platform development with RN outweigh the disadvantages.

Conclusion

React Native is an innovative technology. It allows web developers with React and JavaScript experience to create react native apps.

It allows for speedier mobile development and effective code sharing across all operating platforms without sacrificing product quality. 

Work is also thrilling for developers because of its high efficiency and low price. 

With the industry's biggest name backing, this technology is certain to survive the test of time and is one of the reasons why you should create react native apps in 2021.