WHAT IS REACT NATIVE & HOW IT IS USED IN MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT?

If you want to jump into React native app development, then the react native framework is the best tool you can use. With react native, also known as RN, you can develop mobile applications using JavaScript. In a normal situation, the mobile apps use Java while developing an Android mobile app while Swift or Obj-C for app development for iOS. 
 
With React Native, you can develop mobile apps that function efficiently on both platforms. Additionally, the development time is reduced significantly as the coding is done in the same language, regardless of the platform. React Native is a framework launched by Facebook around the year 2015 as an open-source. Facebook had also launched ReactJS, also known as React, for mobile development. 
 
ReactJS was released before React Native, while in the competition of ReactJS vs React Native, ReactJS was first declared as open-source by Facebook. Gradually, react native was developed. While ReactJS focused on mobile-first design, React Native is used for native mobile app development. 

During the earlier phases when React Native was released, it was considered infeasible for commercial usage. It was still unable to produce native mobile apps. Yet, gradually, react native has become a popular tool that has gained community support and market share. You can use react native to build excellently functioning mobile apps. 
 
Let us see a few things that enable the understanding of the importance and benefits of React Native:

1. TRUSTWORTHY

Before React Native was developed and launched, Facebook created its mobile app to check the viability of the platform. It managed to help the developers develop a stunning mobile app for the social media platform.

These days, everyone uses Facebook mobile apps and sure it feels like a native mobile app. As React Native has come out as an open-source, various other platforms are using it to develop their mobile apps. 

2. CROSS-PLATFORM COMPATIBILITY

If you develop a mobile app using React Native, you inherently develop an app that works fine on both the platforms - iOS and Android. As the code of the app is compiled, it comes down to native Java and Swift code. 
 
React Native connects the web UI components and their native counterparts. The most basic benefit that comes with it is, you don't need to develop two different apps for each of the platforms. Also, the layout and the features don’t need any kind of synchronization. This leads to a significant reduction in developmental costs.

3. CODING IN A FAMILIAR PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

It is very obvious to think that you need to learn a different language and coding syntaxes to start working with react native. This myth needs to change. Someone who is well versed with programming using JavaScript can also write code for the react native app development. 
 
React Native is easy to learn, provided the developer has a working knowledge of JavaScript or React. The developer just needs to understand which mobile components can integrate with their corresponding web components. Once this is done, the developer can start working on the mobile app development using react native.

4. CONTINUOUSLY GROWING 

People from Facebook are constantly working on react native development to improvise the framework. Chances are, you are unable to solve a problem using react native, but this can change in a few months. 

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5. CONSUMES LESS TIME

Consider a situation where you already have a web app built using ReactJS. The components of the frontend developed using ReactJS can be shared among the mobile and web interfaces. This facilitates faster development. 

6. PLATFORM CONSISTENCY

React Native comes with cross-platform compatibility. In a general scenario, there is a lot of difference between an app built for Android and Apple. When it comes to developing an app using react native, these differences are dealt with. 
 
This has been made possible because of a shared codebase. This enables a developer to spend less time in the development of apps for each platform. Instead, the same app can work on both platforms with the same efficiency.

7. LARGER AUDIENCE

Since the mobile apps developed using React Native are cross-platform compatible, you can develop one app and target a larger audience. A single mobile app developed using React Native can work independently on both Android and iOS platforms. Hence, you can develop React Native iOS & React Native Android apps that are platform-independent. 
 
This makes sure that through one app development, you can target both platforms, hence a wider section of the audience. 

SUSTAINABLE CODE

As React Native supports cross-platform development, one codebase can work to develop apps for Android and iOS platforms. To develop a native mobile app, you need to write different codes for changing platforms. This requirement is eliminated by using React Native app development. Thus, a React Native Android App doesn’t need to be reframed to develop a React Native iOS app.
 
Looking at the benefits of React Native, it is not hard to guess why it is widely preferred for mobile app development. Similar to React Native launched by Facebook, there are various other mobile app development frameworks provided by various companies. The same tools also offer cross-platform compatibility. Following are the frameworks under consideration:

FLUTTER

Google also released an open-source framework called Flutter which aided developers in building cross-platform compatible mobile apps. With Flutter, it is easy to work with a new feature set while putting a fast refresh feature of it to good use. You can instantly see the changes made by the developer without restarting the app. Comparing Flutter vs. React Native, Flutter can stand along with React Native because of the benefits it has to offer. 

XAMARIN

Microsoft also came up with its open-source solution which enables the developers to share from 75%-90% of the code between the apps. Since it is developed using the language called C#, it is difficult to be adopted by the developers. The developers that intend to work with xamarin development need to learn C# which is a little more difficult compared to JavaScript. When we talk about Xamarin vs. React Native, the latter happens to be the most preferred framework for mobile app development.  

Since the launch of React Native in 2015, so many companies have used the framework to develop native-looking mobile applications. Let us take the examples of React Native apps to see how we have been using them without knowing React Native:

React Native has been elemental in mobile app development since its inception. If you are looking to develop platform-independent mobile app development, then React Native is an answer. If you look at the benefits and importance of React Native, you can see how you can save time, cost, and effort for mobile app development. All the popular apps that we use on a day to day basis have started using React Native to encompass all the benefits it has to offer.