React Native Everywhere

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Developing for each platform individually is so 2010s. These days, with React Native’s component system providing base-level UI constructs, we can efficiently develop for every platform while not sacrificing any particular platform’s uniqueness. Taz will review the approach they’ve taken while developing Guild, and the creation of their Mondrian cross-platform responsive design system as well as how they’ve accommodated the differences in navigational experiences across platforms to accomplish a codebase that can be 95+% shared across every platform.

This talk has been presented at React Summit 2022, check out the latest edition of this React Conference.

FAQ

Gild is a new platform currently in beta, aimed at elevating communities around the world by hosting events and presentations on a unified platform.

Taz Singh is the founder of Gild and started the Toronto JS community in 2010 to bring developers together to learn and share knowledge about JavaScript and related technologies.

React Native is a framework that allows developers to create native apps for multiple platforms using a common codebase, aiming to optimize developer efficiency by enabling high levels of code sharing across platforms.

React Native uses CSS property names and has a Flexbox implementation for layout, but it does not support CSS itself, making it challenging to build responsive UIs similar to web-based applications.

Mondrian is a design system created by Taz Singh for React Native, inspired by the web-based React UI and designed to enhance responsive composition in React Native applications.

Navigation in React Native differs from web navigation primarily in how URLs are handled and the lack of native support for typical web navigation features like back and forward buttons and URL bar navigation.

Gild is planning to expand beyond its web application to include mobile and desktop apps, leveraging its infrastructure for easy adaptation across different platforms.

Taz Singh emphasizes the importance of community, crediting his success and the development of platforms like Gild to the support and collaboration within various tech communities he has engaged with.

Taz Singh
Taz Singh
22 min
17 Jun, 2022

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Video Summary and Transcription
React Native Everywhere enables code sharing and platform individuality, responsive composition and navigation are key focus areas, the React Bangalore community has played a role in the development of React Native design systems, React Native URL Router provides a native feel with drag-from-edge navigation, collaboration with Software Mansion has been beneficial, and token-based centralization is important for consistent adaptation of design systems.
Available in Español: React Native en todas partes

1. Introduction to React Native Everywhere

Short description:

I'm Taz Singh, the founder of Gild, a platform aimed at elevating communities around the world. I started the Toronto JS community in 2010, and now I'm in London exploring communities worldwide. I was introduced to React Native on every platform, and its core strength is the ability to have common code run on every platform, while addressing each platform's uniqueness. This optimizes developer efficiency.

♪ I'm Taz Singh, and I'm here today to talk about React Native everywhere. And by everywhere, yes, I mean everywhere, even down here, with these lovely penguins.

For those of you that don't know me, I'm the founder of Gild. It's a new platform that's in beta at the moment aimed at elevating communities around the world. Currently, we're focusing on events, like the one we're at right now, and presentations, like the one I'm giving, all hosted on the same platform. So come chat with me later if you're curious about the platform.

But by now, you might have noticed that my accent is certainly not from around here. And that's because I'm from Toronto, where I started the Toronto JS community back in 2010. Back in those early days, I was subject to a lot of banter about Javascript. Oh, you aren't a real developer, they used to say, unless you program in C++ or .NET or Java. And for me, it was like taking a back at that, because if you've ever built a Javascript web application, you know how much diligence goes into it. Back around 2010, we started to build apps using Backbone and Underscore, which were immensely complex beasts. So I started Toronto JS to get folks together and learn from each other, to elevate the craft together. And a lot of what we did back then serves as my impetus for starting Guild today. That's because I quickly discovered that communities like Toronto JS are everywhere. We're in a similar community here right now. In fact, a lot of my closest friends are people that I met via the community, some of whom are in this very room.

So I packed my bags and moved to London in 2017 to explore those communities around the world. And it was also then that I was introduced to React Native on every platform. Here you can see me giving a talk about that in London just after I moved. This tweet is from Ellie, who's actually just over there. She's an organizer of that event where I spoke and now a very good friend as well. You can find that presentation posted on Guild by heading over to my profile, clicking on the presentations I've given, or clicking on 6 and 1, that will take you to a video of the talk I gave back then. So feel free to check it out.

But to give you a very quick rundown of that talk, essentially the goal was to have common code run on every platform. Of course, each platform is different and requires unique consideration to properly address each platform's advantages. This is one of the core strengths of React Native. We can push that uniqueness to the boundaries and keep the core of your code base common for every platform. Things like date selectors, file inputs, notifications, maps, and more can be addressed along the edges, leaving the internals of your application to focus on the common experience. For us, an early stage startup, it's important for us to optimize developer efficiency.

2. Code Sharing and Platform Individuality

Short description:

We want every change to our code base to be as impactful as possible. React Native makes it easy to respect each platform's individuality and create truly unique mobile experiences. Realistically, we aim for 95% plus code sharing across every platform.

We want every change to our code base to be as impactful as possible. We don't want separate teams working on each platform that will result in no code sharing at all. We don't want some low level of code sharing that maybe some elements are shared, but the majority is still separate. In an unrealistically ideal world, we'd want 100% of our code to be shared across every platform, but that wouldn't address the uniqueness of individual platforms and in my opinion, React Native makes it easy to respect each platform's individuality and by leveraging that you're able to create truly unique mobile experiences, or sorry, native experiences. Realistically, what we want is the vast majority of our code shared across every platform, aiming for 95% plus code sharing and making our developers as impactful as possible.

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