By 2020, the mobile app market is expected to reach almost $190 billion. It holds out that the demand for the relevant software engineers will keep growing in the coming years. On that account, there are many enthusiasts who want to improve their own skills or enhance their expertise in developing apps for smartphones and portable devices. However, a problem of choice may become a stumbling block for the knowledge seekers since there is a huge selection of technologies to choose from. These include the native tech stacks like Objective-C or Kotlin, as well as hybrid frameworks like Ionic or Apache Cordova. At the same time, there is a solution called React Native that settled in-between the native and hybrid app building approaches. Some say it determines the future of mobile development. Does it?
What makes React Native special
Facebook introduced its vision of how a tool for cross-platform app development should work in 2015. React Native did not experience any adamant opposition because of its elder brother React. It got the name in the developer community, and the level of skepticism was rather low. Besides, the technology put all chips on the table – it allowed JS-savvy programmers to build mobile apps that are close to native in terms of performance and user experience.
But the biggest benefit associated with the framework was code reusability. This hallmark denotes the capability to create a single app for different operating systems used on mobile devices. In other words, one development team can cope with a task that is usually split between two or more squads. The most of the codebase (sometimes up to 95%) is written in JavaScript, and the UI platform-specific modules allow you to change the vector of the target OS. If an Android app is needed, the corresponding modules are in action. In practice, such an approach offers developers a significant budget reduction, as well as a time-efficient pipeline. That’s the reason why many software companies like Railsware pick React Native for their toolboxes.
Reasons to learn
We’ve said a lot of praiseful words about React Native, but they may be unpersuasive enough to induce for mastering the framework. Some are afraid that they’ll waste time or the technology will fade away soon. Things happen. However, the following reasons should be forcible to draw the attention to learning it.
Demand
Some experienced engineers know the feeling when the knowledge they have got become useless due to the lack of demand for a particular technology. It is expected to be different with React Native because of a high rate of growing popularity and relevance on the current market of mobile apps. The showcase of the framework on its official website is a good metric of high demand because the technology powers Bloomberg, Instagram, Tesla, UberEATS, and other big names’ mobile products.
Short learning curve
In fact, the learning curve will be extremely short for JS-programmers. So, the majority of front-end engineers are unlikely to face any troubles in learning. In addition, there is no shortage of learning resources like React Native books, blogs, tutorials, courses, etc. Professionals that are proficient in other technologies should not lose heart because JavaScript is deemed one of the easiest programming languages so far. Aspiring programmers will have to cover a longer distance and get in JS at first. Nevertheless, the game is worth the candle.
React as a concept
It’s impossible to master the framework without knowing the working principles of its older brother – React. And this JS library is definitely worth learning. This technology can be used for building a bunch of things including web, mobile, terminal-based, virtual reality apps, command line interfaces, avionics software and much more. Building any complex UI with React is not a problem. That’s why it is one of the leading JS libraries in terms of popularity.
Powerful and cost-effective tool
The tool, which allows you to make a good product in the cheapest and most effective way, is deemed the best according to the realities of contemporary competitive practices. React Native has all the hallmarks of such a tool. It may reduce hiring and operational costs for cross-platform projects, save a bunch of time due to code shareability, and the outcome will be a close-to-native app.
It goes without saying that the framework is not free of drawbacks compared to native app development. Nevertheless, it keeps strengthening its positions on the market, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming years. Perhaps, now it is a good time to join the cohort of React Native engineers.
