What is React Native?
React Native is an open-source JavaScript framework created and maintained by facebook. It is used to develop cross-platform mobile apps as well as apps for Android TV, macOS, tvOS. React Native was initially released on March 26, 2015.
Why is it important to learn in 2022?
React Native is a framework built on top of Javascript. JavaScript is the number 1 programming language according to StackOverflow’s survey. By using React Native you can develop apps for android and iOS which wasn’t possible in the past. Additionally, you can use it for developing web apps with React Native for Web and desktop apps with React Native for Windows + macOS. React Native has enabled developers to develop real native mobile apps with just a text editor and mobile emulators which was a dream in the past.
What is Required to Learn React Native?
React Native allows you to use your web development skills in developing mobile apps. If you are familiar with HTML tags then you can learn all the React Native components very quickly. Moreover, CSS Flexbox is used to design the layout of react native apps. Almost all the CSS properties can also be used to style the app content. If you have experience with all these things, you are good to go. But, the most important thing than all others is JavaScript.
Do I need to learn JavaScript before React Native?
Javascript, the main programming language used to create this framework is more important than anything else. Without core concepts of JavaScript, you can’t do much in it. The latest features of JavaScript such as the arrow function, .map function, and .filter function must be learned before starting the journey with react native.
How Does React Native Works?
In React Native application, two threads run in the background at the same time. First, UI thread translates all the User Interface components to native platforms depending on the operating system on which the app is currently running. Let’s say you run the react native application on an android platform then your buttons and other widgets will be converted to android buttons. The same thing will happen on IOS and all the components will be translated to the IOS native components.
The other thread is responsible for handling all the business logic in the application. This thread is called the JS thread. If a button in the application is used to open a new screen then all the code that is responsible for opening the new screen will be running in this thread. These two threads never communicate with each other directly and never block each other in processing.
How do React Native Threads Communicate?
Both the UI and the JS thread communicate through a bridge. When a user interacts with the application and is required to do something based on that event, the UI thread will use a bridge to send instructions to the main thread. The main thread will run the code and then again use a bridge to communicate with the UI thread.
What is the Future of React Native?
Many companies are switching their applications to react native because of it’s benefits. Applications developed with react native are easy to maintain and developers can use third-party libraries that enable them to add features that are very hard to do in java or swift. There are many famous apps that are developed using react native such as Shopify, Walmart, and Instagram.
As react native is based on JavaScript and JavaScript is one of the top programming languages these days so it can be said that it’s is going to be very popular in the future. Moreover, it is created by facebook and their engineers are working on it every single day to make it better. The community of React Native is growing day by day which is also a good indicator of its future. React Native documentation is also clear and easy to understand. This makes it a great framework to work with in the future.
FAQs
Should I learn React JS before react native?
Yes, because all the concepts are based on React JS so it’s better to learn the basics first. All the concepts like state, props, components, etc. are easy to learn in React JS.
How long will it take to learn to react native?
It depends on how much time you spend learning and on practice daily. You can learn to react native in 2-4 months if you already have learned the basics of React JS and you have been using JavaScript in web designing. If you have not worked with JavaScript in the past then it might take 5-10 months.
Is react native easy to learn?
It’s not easy if you are not a web designer and have no experience with JavaScript but if you are already a web designer then it will not be very difficult for you to learn. You just have to understand the basics of react like state, props, components, JSX etc.