React Native is a cross-platform framework designed for app development, that was by Facebook in 2015. Keep reading to know more about it, its main features and operational advantages.

If you've heard about React, a framework for developing web interfaces, you should know that React Native does have a connection with it, and that it goes way beyond the name. The code produced by React Native is similar to React for the web, as React served as the basis for the creation of React Native.

Today, large companies with solutions focused on the best possible user experience, such as Instagram, Uber and Airbnb also use React Native development to create their mobile apps.

The framework is very useful for those who need to develop apps that need to run on both Android and iOS. Development is simplified, despite some adaptations, while any operating system can be used for the construction (Windows, macOS or Linux) and the performance of the products created is above average.

React Native works as a JavaScript resource library and facilitator that enables the development of mobile applications, both for Android and iOS. Before React Native, some hybrid solutions already existed, such as Apache Cordova (also open-source), IBM's MobileFirst Platform Foundation and Adobe PhoneGap (which also uses Cordova).

For native solutions, the development professional who needed to run an application for both operating systems had a much more complex project at hand, since it used specific languages (Java for Android and Objective-C for iOS), in addition to not being able to take advantage of almost anything between the two codes.

This has always been an issue in mobile app projects, as the number of professionals involved and project costs increase. Also, it was often necessary to have a team specialized in JavaScript and another in Objective-C, causing applications to be created in parallel, since the codes did not match. In this aspect, React Native came to facilitate (and a lot!) the development of applications that should run on both operating systems.

With the challenge of developing a framework for cross-platform mobile applications (Android and iOS) in hand, in 2015 the internal Facebook team created React Native under the MIT license. With the new tool, the creation of mobile applications for iOS and Android was made easier, time was saved and resources were optimized.

Over time, in addition to the internal use of the Facebook brand umbrella in applications, other companies have joined the framework and today it has gained the attention of many developers. As all code developed in React Native uses only JavaScript, its learning curve is shorter for professionals who are already used to programming in JS for web applications.

In addition, the code is transformed to native language for the diverse operating systems, which makes apps developed in React Native faster, more fluid, safer and with better and more complete integrations with other apps and mobile devices´ functionalities.

And the option really offers a lot of interesting features and functionality, such as native code generation, development using components, use of plugins and live reload / Hot reload.

The framework facilitates productivity in the development of hybrid mobile applications through interesting features that vary from other options for mobile development. As it was already mentioned, React Native is a hybrid framework that lets the developer program in a single code, which can be used for both iOS and Android.

Some hybrid tools generate code that runs on a browser encapsulated within the application. This type of construction ends up resulting in slower and less performing applications than those created directly in native code. Regarding React Native, when the framework generates apps, it converts the original hybrid code to native code, using JavaScript through XML and React language, which is equivalent to HTML. This allows apps created with React Native to be faster and more fluid in operation, as they directly correspond to the final user's mobile operating system.

Another benefit is that it develops using components. React Native was built from React. Despite this, the framework does not use HTML tags to create its code elements (as in web applications built with React), but native tags with components. React Native builds apps with a clear structure and focus in the layout.

To facilitate interface development, the framework works with components and subcomponents which are displayed on screens through what is known as the render method. There are also some specific elements for each operating system that can be included and it is possible to create your own components with optimized text field or with more specific and intelligent functions.

Also, using React Native also allows you to add ready-made components created by users through plugins. These allow the functionality to be extended, by using custom plugins, and the developers who create the plugins are able to share them with other developers.