What is React Native? Get to Know the Amazing Mobile App Framework!

If you’ve heard about ReactJS and its uses for creating web applications and User Interfaces, then you might have heard about React Native as well. These developer tools have been warmly welcomed by the developer community since they offer many advantages, making it easy to create websites and apps.

React Native is a tool used by developers, mainly used for creating Android and iOS apps using JavaScript components. Being a JavaScript Framework allows users to build apps from scratch or modify existing ones to suit their preferences. It’s known for being reliable and easy to put into practice.

This developer tool also presents itself as a JavaScript library, which allows developers to create, save, and store components written in JavaScript. These components can work in Android, iOS, UWP, and Web, meaning that apps developed in this framework can be adapted to many platforms—making it a strong foundation for scalable Cross-Platform App Development Services.

Both React Native and React JS are JavaScript libraries created by Facebook; the main difference is that the latter is optimized for websites, while the former was built to build mobile apps. A developer who knows ReactJS will have a solid understanding of how the Native version works, and it won’t take long to get used to it.

React Native relies on two threads to run. The first one is the UI thread, where the User Interface is shown and where changes to the code are reflected. The second one is responsible for running the JavaScript code, where actions are processed.

Also, because React Native uses JavaScript, developers can easily visualize the results of any changes they make in their code. This will be a relief for those who are used to rebuilding their entire app whenever they want to see the changes they made to their code.

React can also be launched on well-known web browsers like Chrome, meaning that as long as you have access to the Internet and a web browser, you’ll have access to it. It also comes with a particularly useful debugging tool that alerts you to conflicts in your code.

Let’s start with the basics. If you want to create an application using React Native, you need to know how to write code using JavaScript. You don’t need to be an expert, but you’ll benefit a lot more from this tool if you understand more than just the fundamentals. You can also write components in code similar to HTML, thanks to JSX.

You might be asking yourself “But what is JSX?”. JSX is one of React’s most interesting functions, as it allows you to write code similar to XML/HTML when creating apps. This code is later transformed into JavaScript components intended to be interpreted by JavaScript engines. Basically, it allows developers to use both HTML and JavaScript code when creating an app.

After writing the code, developers can choose the platform where their mobile app will launch. This is because developers can create components and User Interfaces for both Android and iOS devices using (in most cases) the same code. Any app created using React Native will look and feel like any other mobile app, while still benefiting from modern cross-platform mobile development approaches that prioritize efficiency and consistency across devices. 

If you want to learn even more about React Native, you can go directly to the official website. You can also join React’s community and even make a test run in a web-based version of React Native.

Continue reading the blog