Astro – Island Technology in the Name of Optimization

React Advanced

React Advanced 2024

Szymon Chmal

How I Hacked React Native DevTools (And Built a Plugin Framework)

React Advanced 2025

<p>Ever wondered how React Native DevTools work under the hood? I went down the rabbit hole, reverse-engineered the whole thing, and figured out how to inject custom code - no forks, just a bit of hackery. In this talk, I’ll walk you through the journey: how the DevTools architecture works, how I hooked into it cleanly, and how that led to building a framework for writing your own plugins, complete with React-based UIs and sandboxed execution. Let’s make DevTools truly extensible.</p>

<p>Next.js is the default choice for most teams, although there are many other solutions on the market. One of such solutions is Astro, which in certain areas, due to its eccentric approach, seems to outclass the Vercel king. During this lecture, I will present the key features of Astro, as well as the differences between it and the aforementioned Next.js. You will learn what interactive islands are, why MPA (multi-page application) is still a very good choice for content-driven websites, and much more. Who knows - maybe you will use Astro in your next project?</p>