Getting Started with React Native

Learn to build modern native iOS and Android applications using JavaScript and the incredible power of React

About This Book

• Learn to design and build a fully-featured application using the newest cutting-edge framework from Facebook
• Leverage your JavaScript skills to become a native app developer
• Develop custom UI components, implement smooth navigation, and access native features such as geolocation and local storage

Who This Book Is For

This book is for web developers who want to learn to build fast, good-looking, native mobile applications using the skills they already have. If you already have some JavaScript knowledge or are using React on the web, then you will be able to quickly get up and running with React Native for iOS and Android.

What You Will Learn

• Set up the React Native environment on both devices and emulators
• Gain an in-depth understanding of how React Native works behind the scenes
• Write your own custom native UI components
• Learn the ins and outs of screen navigation
• Master the art of layout and styles
• Work with device-exclusive data such as geolocation
• Develop native modules in Objective-C and Java that interact with JavaScript
• Test and deploy your application for a production-ready environment

In Detail

React Native is a game-changing approach to hybrid mobile development. Web developers can leverage their existing skills to write mobile applications in JavaScript that are truly native without using cross-compilation or web views. These applications have all of the advantages of those written in Objective-C or Java, combined with the rapid development cycle that JavaScript developers are accustomed to.

Web developers who want to develop native mobile applications face a high barrier to entry, because they are forced to learn platform-specific languages and frameworks. Numerous hybrid technologies have tried to simplify this process, but have failed to achieve the performance and appearance that users expect.

This book will show you all the advantages of true native development that React Native has without the steep learning curve, leveraging the knowledge you already have. We do this by getting you up and running quickly with a sample application. Next, we'll introduce you to the fundamentals of creating components and explain how React Native works under the hood. Once you have established a solid foundation, you will dive headfirst into developing a real-world application from start to finish. Along the way, we will demonstrate how to create multiple screens and navigate between them, use layout and style native UI components, and access native APIs such as local storage and geolocation. Finally, we tackle the advanced topic of Native modules, which demonstrates that there are truly no limits to what you can do with React Native.

Style and approach

This book provides a simple and easy way to build mobile applications in JavaScript. Each topic takes you through the life cycle of creating a fully-functional native app, with detailed explanations of the entire process.