Why I Chose To Learn React Native

Gus Reksoprodjo
2 min readSep 9, 2021
Picture by Oskar Yildiz

“Action comes about if and only if we find a discrepancy between what we are experiencing and what we want to experience.” — Philip J. Runkel

This is my first time learning a frontend framework. So, this is just my two cents. React Native is a Javascript-based framework developed by Facebook in the early 2015. The framework trend has been going uphill until now. There are several things that I would like to share about my findings while exploring React Native

Developing For iOS and Android At The Same Time

Since React Native is a Javascript-based framework. We can use it for iOS and Android; both operating systems support Javascript well. It will be easier for us to maintain our codebase as well. Killing two birds with one stone is always better.

However, there is a limitation. We can’t use React Native to develop an app that is specified to use a certain API that is unique to each operating system.

Large Community

React Native has been around for 6 years now, the numbers of developers that are well-versed in this framework are numerous. By using a framework that is backed by a strong and solid community, it will make us easier to solve our problems and make things easier. Also, it doesn’t close the opportunity for new API to show up which makes our work undemanding.

Hot Reload

This is what makes React Native my choice as a frontend framework. As a UI/UX designer, every time I make a change in the interface, I need to make sure that it also looks the same in the app compared to the prototype. I also need to make sure what my application will look like on multiple devices regardless of size. This feature is by far the most important one and the one I’m going to use the most.

Final Words

To sum up, getting to know React Native has been kind of fun for me. I also encourage you to get to know other frontend frameworks as well and find the one that suits you the best. Thank you.

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Gus Reksoprodjo

A UI & UX designer that focuses on simplicity and usability