Mobile App Development with React: An Overview
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Mobile App Development with React: An Overview

date_rangeMay 02, 2020


Alright, so many of you might not be familiar with the term REACT NATIVE Mobile App Development. Although that’s just a hunch anyhow taking in the most basic question first, React Native is a framework that provides a set of components as well as extensions that authorize the developers to write native Android and IOS applications by employing only JavaScript and the React UI library. Originally created by Facebook, it was made accessible and open source in the year 2015.


Before moving any further, let’s get a bit palsy-walsy with some more related terminologies. And to start with first is Native Apps.  Native apps are apps for particular mobile devices example smartphones, tablets etc. that are installed directly on the respective device. They are generally obtained through an online or marketplace such as The App Store and Google Play for IOS and Android respectively. Examples of native apps are KeePassDroid for Android and Camera+ for IOS.

Next we have, Hybrid Apps which are applications that are installed on any mobile just like others. The difference is that they contain segments from native apps and applications developed for a certain platform like IOS or Android, with segments from websites and web apps that perform like apps but are not installed on a device but are accessible on the internet via any browser.  Examples are Ionic, Framework 7, and Xamarin etc.

And lastly Mobile Web Apps are the internet enabled apps which have certain operation for mobile devices. They are approached through the mobile device’s web browser and hence don’t require to be downloaded and installed on the device. Examples are pretty common like BookMyShow, OLX, Forbes, Pinterest etc.

 

Now the main question is why do we need to use React Native for mobile app development? Alright, so React Native makes it possible to share a lot of codes between Android, IOS and Web. So even if there is a notable part that may have to be platform-specific, there is no requirement for hiring any mobile native developer. Hence it’s a win-win situation you see!

Other reasons are:

·        PERFORMANCE-

Okay so the hybrid apps and mobile web apps working on both IOS and Android have got a lot of appraisal for them being lesser apps. But the fact that hybrid does slow down for a bit complicate apps while performing cannot be neglected. The apps that are made through React Native are assembled into pure native codes which mean that they’ll be working on both the operating systems as well as also function the same way as the natively written apps.

  •  REUSABILITY-

Definitely important when it comes to React Native because the native components are the building blocks which can be assembled into the native languages of objective for example Java and C for Android and IOS respectively. React Native enables same speed in accessing mobile development without abandoning usability and quality which is not the case in web development.

  •   CROSS- PLATFORM-

Originally developed for IOS, React Native was further developed for Android support as well after it became vogue and also due to its favorable outcome by Facebook. This means that henceforth, only codebase is required for the concurrent development of IOS and Android also resulting in lower developmental costs.

  •  MAINTAINABILITY-

One sure thing is that React Native utilizes JavaScript a lot which enables the developers to peep into other people’s projects pretty easily. The parts that are written in React Native, of a specific app, won’t face any issues in collaborating with parts written in the native languages for Android and IOS. For example, a React Native developer is asked to build an app for both the operating systems. Normally, this will be done by writing most of the codes on React Native and then for the optimization of a few segments of the app, the native languages will be used. Nevertheless, the way how he wants to develop the app completely depends on the developer. The native languages of an operating system can be used for the optimization of any app but also it can be used for writing the parts of the app as well.

Now because React Native builds near native apps, Mobile apps that are created using React Native perform well as any other native app. However, JavaScript is not as fast as native language; React Native along with JavaScript can run even the most complicated apps in a flush.

 

It’s quite evident now that React Native is the future when it comes to mobile application development and who knows what it further surprises us with. I think it’s safe to say that many people are indulging in learning this course to give a better dimension to their careers.


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