Go From Zero To Hero: Be Cross-Platform Devs With React Native

We know if we have the fundamental of JavaScript and React knowledge, we can build cross-platform apps. But how many of you have tried out? Learning once and shipping for several operating systems sounds so cool. Don’t you want to experience how it’s easy to transfer your JS & React knowledge and powerful built-in APIs to extend your dev skills? In this talk, we’ll see some facts from a developer perspective and a few examples of how you can transfer your JS & React knowledge.

This talk has been presented at React Summit 2023, check out the latest edition of this React Conference.

Watch video on a separate page

FAQ

With cross-platform technologies, developers can reuse about 50 to 80 percent of their code across different platforms.

The main takeaways from Arisa's talk include the potential of cross-platform development, the ecosystem and technologies involved, and practical examples using React Native.

React Native is often preferred for cross-platform development due to its extensive library of third-party APIs, ease of integration, and the ability to use JavaScript and React, which many developers are already familiar with.

Examples of successful cross-platform applications include Discord, which has achieved 74 million downloads.

Using a CMS with React Native facilitates content management across different devices, reduces the need for manual content editing, and allows real-time content updates and asset management through a user-friendly interface.

Arisa introduced Snack for browser-based previews and an app called X-Bot for previewing on physical devices, both of which help in testing React Native applications across different operating systems.

Unique components of React Native mentioned in the talk include the Pressable component, which handles various touch events, and the StyleSheet component, which helps in applying CSS styles.

Cross-platform development is a method of building applications that are compatible across multiple devices or operating systems, allowing developers to reuse a significant portion of their code.

Arisa Fukuzaki
Arisa Fukuzaki
10 min
06 Jun, 2023

Comments

Sign in or register to post your comment.
Video Summary and Transcription
Cross-platform development allows you to build apps compatible with multiple devices or operating systems, reusing 50 to 80 percent of your code. React Native has a wide range of third-party libraries for using APIs. Code examples cover React Native standalone case and with content management system, exploring built-in core components and third-party library APIs. Content management systems simplify content editing and asset swapping, allowing real-time editing and easy asset uploads. The importance of knowing built-in APIs for mastering cross-platform technologies and building scalable, easy-to-maintain applications is highlighted.

1. Introduction to Cross-platform Development

Short description:

Hi, everyone. Thanks for watching my talk. Let's have a look at Go From Zero to Hero, the cross-platform developers with React Native. There are three takeaways from my talk: cross-platform development potential, ecosystem and cross-platform development technologies, and React Native examples. Cross-platform development allows you to build apps compatible with multiple devices or operating systems. You can reuse 50 to 80 percent of your code. Cross-platform applications like Discord have millions of downloads. Learning JavaScript and React gives you a solid foundation for cross-platform development. The cross-platform ecosystem includes JavaScript-based technologies such as React Native and Ionic Native scripts.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for watching my talk. And less than 10 minutes from now, let's have a look at Go From Zero to Hero, the cross-platform developers with React Native. My name is Arisa, and I'm a DevRel engineer at Storyblock.

So there are three takeaways from my talk. The first takeaway, cross-platform development potential. Second takeaway, ecosystem and cross-platform development technologies. And the third takeaway will be React Native examples.

There are a few notes that I want you to keep in your mind. So this talk is for the cross-platform and the React Native beginners. And the purpose is to aim for showing more front-end technology possibilities. And lastly, I'm going to mainly show you the Web and mobile OS examples.

So what is cross-platform development? First of all, it is a way to build apps that are compatible with multiple devices or operating systems. So let me tell you this, if you build the applications with cross-platform technologies, you can actually reuse 50 to 80 percent of your code. And a cross-platform application like Discord actually has 74 million downloads. And not just only Discord. There are multiple numbers of cross-platform build applications, but here's the little comparison with native apps. So WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, they have quite close numbers of downloads. But you could see how scalable the cross-platform application could be.

So now we know cross-platform development has quite good numbers and effects. But let me tell you this, there are many HD frameworks out there for cross-platform technologies. So you cannot just learn all in one day. But let me also tell you this, if you know JavaScript and React, you already have more than the fundamental. So here's the comparison about the learning cost. So while the native application technologies are requiring you to study the new programming languages such as Java, Swift, you do not actually need to learn the new programming languages from scratch if you choose JavaScript based cross-platform development technologies. There are lots of pros and cons, what is good and what is maybe not fitting depending on different cases.

So let's talk about some of the cross-platform ecosystem. Like I said in the beginning of this talk, and also as you can see in this talk title, we're going to see together the JavaScript based technologies, such as React Native, Ionic Native scripts. And between these technologies, there are a couple of differences. Such as React Native and Native Script can ship with some of the pre-built.

2. Comparison of Ionic and React Native

Short description:

Ionic provides fully adapted components, while React Native has partially adapted components. The point is to choose the best option depending on your cases. React Native has a wide range of third-party libraries for using APIs. Do your own research to find the best approaches and technologies.

On the other hand, Ionic will ship actually with loads of pre-built. The other difference is the other example would be like the React Native actually has partially adapted components while Native Script can provide mostly adapted components. And also Ionic also provides differently, such as fully adapted components. If you see these comparisons, then you might wonder why you're going to talk about React Native. It doesn't sound like the best technology out there. But the point is not to push you to use the one certain technology that I like to use. It is not the point. The point is choosing the best option depending on your cases. And the examples, pros and cons comparison I showed you is just very little information. We are going to see React Native has quite outstanding numbers of the third party libraries to use the APIs on the fly, etc. I would let you do your own little research about choosing the best approaches and technologies out there.

Check out more articles and videos

We constantly think of articles and videos that might spark Git people interest / skill us up or help building a stellar career

Raising the Bar: Our Journey Making React Native a Preferred Choice
React Advanced 2023React Advanced 2023
29 min
Raising the Bar: Our Journey Making React Native a Preferred Choice
Watch video: Raising the Bar: Our Journey Making React Native a Preferred Choice
This Talk discusses Rack Native at Microsoft and the efforts to improve code integration, developer experience, and leadership goals. The goal is to extend Rack Native to any app, utilize web code, and increase developer velocity. Implementing web APIs for React Native is being explored, as well as collaboration with Meta. The ultimate aim is to make web code into universal code and enable developers to write code once and have it work on all platforms.
Opensource Documentation—Tales from React and React Native
React Finland 2021React Finland 2021
27 min
Opensource Documentation—Tales from React and React Native
Documentation is often your community's first point of contact with your project and their daily companion at work. So why is documentation the last thing that gets done, and how can we do it better? This talk shares how important documentation is for React and React Native and how you can invest in or contribute to making your favourite project's docs to build a thriving community
Bringing React Server Components to React Native
React Day Berlin 2023React Day Berlin 2023
29 min
Bringing React Server Components to React Native
Top Content
Watch video: Bringing React Server Components to React Native
React Server Components (RSC) offer a more accessible approach within the React model, addressing challenges like big initial bundle size and unnecessary data over the network. RSC can benefit React Native development by adding a new server layer and enabling faster requests. They also allow for faster publishing of changes in mobile apps and can be integrated into federated super apps. However, implementing RSC in mobile apps requires careful consideration of offline-first apps, caching, and Apple's review process.
React Native Kotlin Multiplatform Toolkit
React Day Berlin 2022React Day Berlin 2022
26 min
React Native Kotlin Multiplatform Toolkit
Top Content
The Talk discusses the combination of React Native and Kotlin Multiplatform for cross-platform app development. Challenges with native modules in React Native are addressed, and the potential improvements of using Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile are explored. The integration of Kotlin Multiplatform with React Native streamlines native implementation and eliminates boilerplate code. Questions about architecture and compatibility, as well as the possibility of supporting React Native Web, are discussed. The React Native toolkit works with native animations and has potential for open-source development.
Building Cross-Platform Component Libraries for Web and Native with React
React Advanced 2021React Advanced 2021
21 min
Building Cross-Platform Component Libraries for Web and Native with React
Top Content
This Talk discusses building cross-platform component libraries for React and React Native, based on a successful project with a large government-owned news organization. It covers the requirements for React Native knowledge, building cross-platform components, platform-specific components, styling, and the tools used. The Talk also highlights the challenges of implementing responsive design in React Native.
MDX in React-Native!?
React Advanced 2021React Advanced 2021
21 min
MDX in React-Native!?
Top Content
This Talk is about the development of MDX, a combination of Markdown and JSX, by a freelance full stack JavaScript developer. MDX is a powerful technology that allows for the creation of interactive content within blog posts and supports React components. The speaker developed RnMDX, a proper and polished MDX library for React Native, which can be dropped into any React Native app. RnMDX provides solutions for common issues with Markdown content in React Native and allows for the rendering of MDX content into native views. Bringing MDX into native apps is now easier, and it can be used for various purposes, such as serving the app layout from a CMS or creating interactive online magazines or blogs.

Workshops on related topic

Introducing FlashList: Let's build a performant React Native list all together
React Advanced 2022React Advanced 2022
81 min
Introducing FlashList: Let's build a performant React Native list all together
Top Content
WorkshopFree
David Cortés Fulla
Marek Fořt
Talha Naqvi
3 authors
In this workshop you’ll learn why we created FlashList at Shopify and how you can use it in your code today. We will show you how to take a list that is not performant in FlatList and make it performant using FlashList with minimum effort. We will use tools like Flipper, our own benchmarking code, and teach you how the FlashList API can cover more complex use cases and still keep a top-notch performance.You will know:- Quick presentation about what FlashList, why we built, etc.- Migrating from FlatList to FlashList- Teaching how to write a performant list- Utilizing the tools provided by FlashList library (mainly the useBenchmark hook)- Using the Flipper plugins (flame graph, our lists profiler, UI & JS FPS profiler, etc.)- Optimizing performance of FlashList by using more advanced props like `getType`- 5-6 sample tasks where we’ll uncover and fix issues together- Q&A with Shopify team
Detox 101: How to write stable end-to-end tests for your React Native application
React Summit 2022React Summit 2022
117 min
Detox 101: How to write stable end-to-end tests for your React Native application
Top Content
WorkshopFree
Yevheniia Hlovatska
Yevheniia Hlovatska
Compared to unit testing, end-to-end testing aims to interact with your application just like a real user. And as we all know it can be pretty challenging. Especially when we talk about Mobile applications.
Tests rely on many conditions and are considered to be slow and flaky. On the other hand - end-to-end tests can give the greatest confidence that your app is working. And if done right - can become an amazing tool for boosting developer velocity.
Detox is a gray-box end-to-end testing framework for mobile apps. Developed by Wix to solve the problem of slowness and flakiness and used by React Native itself as its E2E testing tool.
Join me on this workshop to learn how to make your mobile end-to-end tests with Detox rock.
Prerequisites- iOS/Android: MacOS Catalina or newer- Android only: Linux- Install before the workshop
How to Build an Interactive “Wheel of Fortune” Animation with React Native
React Summit Remote Edition 2021React Summit Remote Edition 2021
60 min
How to Build an Interactive “Wheel of Fortune” Animation with React Native
Top Content
Workshop
Oli Bates
Oli Bates
- Intro - Cleo & our mission- What we want to build, how it fits into our product & purpose, run through designs- Getting started with environment set up & “hello world”- Intro to React Native Animation- Step 1: Spinning the wheel on a button press- Step 2: Dragging the wheel to give it velocity- Step 3: Adding friction to the wheel to slow it down- Step 4 (stretch): Adding haptics for an immersive feel
Deploying React Native Apps in the Cloud
React Summit 2023React Summit 2023
88 min
Deploying React Native Apps in the Cloud
WorkshopFree
Cecelia Martinez
Cecelia Martinez
Deploying React Native apps manually on a local machine can be complex. The differences between Android and iOS require developers to use specific tools and processes for each platform, including hardware requirements for iOS. Manual deployments also make it difficult to manage signing credentials, environment configurations, track releases, and to collaborate as a team.
Appflow is the cloud mobile DevOps platform built by Ionic. Using a service like Appflow to build React Native apps not only provides access to powerful computing resources, it can simplify the deployment process by providing a centralized environment for managing and distributing your app to multiple platforms. This can save time and resources, enable collaboration, as well as improve the overall reliability and scalability of an app.
In this workshop, you’ll deploy a React Native application for delivery to Android and iOS test devices using Appflow. You’ll also learn the steps for publishing to Google Play and Apple App Stores. No previous experience with deploying native applications is required, and you’ll come away with a deeper understanding of the mobile deployment process and best practices for how to use a cloud mobile DevOps platform to ship quickly at scale.
Effective Detox Testing
React Advanced 2023React Advanced 2023
159 min
Effective Detox Testing
Workshop
Josh Justice
Josh Justice
So you’ve gotten Detox set up to test your React Native application. Good work! But you aren’t done yet: there are still a lot of questions you need to answer. How many tests do you write? When and where do you run them? How do you ensure there is test data available? What do you do about parts of your app that use mobile APIs that are difficult to automate? You could sink a lot of effort into these things—is the payoff worth it?
In this three-hour workshop we’ll address these questions by discussing how to integrate Detox into your development workflow. You’ll walk away with the skills and information you need to make Detox testing a natural and productive part of day-to-day development.
Table of contents:
- Deciding what to test with Detox vs React Native Testing Library vs manual testing- Setting up a fake API layer for testing- Getting Detox running on CI on GitHub Actions for free- Deciding how much of your app to test with Detox: a sliding scale- Fitting Detox into you local development workflow
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with building applications with React Native- Basic experience with Detox- Machine setup: a working React Native CLI development environment including either Xcode or Android Studio
Bringing Your Web App to Native With Capacitor
JSNation 2023JSNation 2023
111 min
Bringing Your Web App to Native With Capacitor
WorkshopFree
Mike Hartington
Mike Hartington
So, you have a killer web app you've built and want to take it from your web browser to the App Store. Sure, there are a lot of options here, but most will require you to maintain separate apps for each platform. You want your codebase to be as close as possible across Web, Android, and iOS. Thankfully, with Capacitor, you can take your existing web app and quickly create native iOS and Android apps for distribution on your favorite App Store!
Contents: This workshop is aimed at beginner developers that have an existing web application, or are interested in mobile development. We will go over:- What is Capacitor- How does it compare to other cross-platform solutions- Using Capacitor to build a native application using your existing web code- Tidying up our application for distribution on mobile app stores with naming conventions, icons, splash screens and more