Recently, I spoke at React Nexus on “Accessibility and TV Apps.” One question I kept getting was: “As a ReactJS developer, how easy is it to start with React Native?”
In short, for a ReactJS developer, starting with React Native would be easy.
In this blog, I am going to share the five things ReactJS developers can use in React Native.
1. Components
In React Native, you will create components similarly to how you do in ReactJS. The concepts and best practices remain the same.
import { View, Text } from ‘react-native‘;
const GreetingComponent = () => {
return (
<View>
<Text>Hello, Neha!</Text>
</View>
);
};
export default GreetingComponent;
2. Props and state
In React Native, props and state work the same way as in ReactJS. To communicate between components, you will use props. To update values, you will use state.
import { View, Text } from ‘react-native‘;
const GreetingComponent = ({ name }) => {
return (
<View>
<Text>Hello, {name}!</Text>
</View>
);
};
export default GreetingComponent;
3. Hooks
Just like in ReactJS, you can use all the hooks in React Native, such as useState(), useMemo(), useEffect(), etc. Additionally, you can create your own custom hooks.
import { View, Text, Button, StyleSheet } from ‘react-native‘;
const GreetingComponent = () => {
const [name, setName] = useState(‘John‘);
const changeName = () => {
setName(‘Jane‘);
};
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
<Text>Hello, {name}!</Text>
<Button title=“Change Name“ onPress={changeName} />
</View>
);
};
export default GreetingComponent;
4. Testing
If you are a fan of the React Testing Library, the good news is you can use the same library for testing in React Native.
import { render, fireEvent } from ‘@testing-library/react-native‘;
import GreetingComponent from ‘./GreetingComponent‘;
test(‘it renders correctly and changes name on button press‘, () => {
// Render the component
const { getByText } = render(<GreetingComponent />);
// Assert initial state
expect(getByText(‘Hello, John!‘)).toBeTruthy();
// Find the button and simulate a press
const button = getByText(‘Change Name‘);
fireEvent.press(button);
// Assert that the name has changed
expect(getByText(‘Hello, Jane!‘)).toBeTruthy();
});
5. JSX
In React Native, there are a handful of components that can be used to create views in JSX. However, in ReactJS, you can use any valid HTML DOM elements.
import { View, Text } from ‘react-native‘;
const GreetingComponent = () => {
return (
<View>
<Text>Hello, Neha!</Text>
</View>
);
};
export default GreetingComponent;
Happy Learning!!
