React Native has emerged as a powerhouse for web developers. It has revolutionized the way developers create cross-platform applications. Presently, with the advanced tools and libraries, the world of React Native development is more vibrant and dynamic than ever before.
To navigate this exciting journey and make the best of React Native, developers need the tools and libraries in their arsenal. So, we welcome you to the ultimate guide to React Native development tools and libraries in 2023.
Here, we’ll take you through the essential resources to supercharge your React Native development. Whether you’re a seasoned React Native pro or just beginning your journey, this guide will be your compass in the ever-expanding universe of mobile app development.
So, let’s start this exploration of React Native development and discover the tools and libraries that will empower your creations in the coming year and beyond. But before we come to the tools, let’s understand React Native in detail!
What is React Native Development?
React Native is an open-source JavaScript framework that has become a game-changer in the world of mobile app development. The React Native ecosystem is created and maintained by Facebook.
It offers a unique approach to building mobile applications for multiple platforms, such as iOS, Android, and even the web. According to Statista, 32% of developers used React Native in 2022, the number proves the popularity of React Native among developers.
What sets React Native apart is its ability to enable developers to write code in a single language, JavaScript, and deploy it across various platforms, eliminating the need to develop separate apps for each one. This framework leverages the power of React, a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces, and extends it to mobile app development.
React Native combines the flexibility and efficiency of web development with the performance and native capabilities of mobile platforms. As a result, React Native developers can create high-quality, feature-rich apps that look and feel native while reducing the time and effort required for cross-platform development.
With the continued growth and innovation in the React Native ecosystem, it has developed a vast and active community of developers and contributors. Its GitHub repository has over 230,000 stars and over 30,000 forks.
Top React Native Libraries
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NativeBase
NativeBase, a mobile-first library, establishes a cohesive design system across iOS, Android, and the web. This open-source user interface library equips developers with essential components like cards, buttons, input fields, etc.
Think of it as a CSS framework tailored for crafting mobile applications with React Native. By offering pre-built styles that align with your project requirements, NativeBase significantly accelerates your development process.
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Redux
When it comes to React Native libraries, Redux is a trusted name! Redux is the go-to library for efficient state management. This library excels at organizing and centralizing scattered data, ensuring a systematic and structured approach to state management.
In simple terms, Redux stores the state centrally, which defines the user interface. The UI, in turn, triggers actions, which are then directed to reducers. These reducers calculate the new state based on the action input and update the state in the store.
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React Native Elements
React Native Elements is one of the most straightforward and longstanding React Native libraries available. It serves as a cross-platform user interface toolkit adhering to material design principles.
This library provides a basic structure using built-in components, granting developers greater control over customization. React Native Elements boasts a wide array of pre-built packages, including modules like dividers, search bars, and more, designed to assist developers in mobile app development.
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Axios
When making HTTP requests within the app, Axios comes to the aid of React Native developers. This versatile library simplifies the process of performing CRUD operations and other asynchronous HTTP requests to REST APIs.
Developers prefer Axios for its broad browser support and automatic data serialization, which saves them from manual data handling compared to other methods, like fetch. It also excels in error handling, providing robust capabilities. Additionally, Axios is cross-platform compatible, allowing seamless usage of a single HTTP request in both React Native and server-side Node.js environments.
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React Native Vector Icons
Icons play an important role in enhancing the visual appeal of any application. Thus, React Native offers a dedicated library of React Native Vector Icons, which enables users to incorporate icons into their React Native applications effortlessly. With an extensive selection of approximately 3000 icons, developers can easily integrate and customize them to suit their needs.
Should the existing icons fall short of your requirements, you also have the flexibility to create your own. React Native Vector Icons enjoy widespread adoption across popular UI libraries like React Native Paper, Magnus UI, and React Native Elements, making them a versatile choice for icon integration.
Top React Native Tools
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Visual Studio Code
A leading name among React Native tools, Visual Studio Code enjoys widespread popularity. It is an integrated development environment (IDE) frequently used in React Native development, catering to various platforms such as iOS, Android, Linux, and Windows.
Developed using languages like CSS, TypeScript, and JavaScript, Visual Studio Code is an open-source, robust, and cost-free code editor. This IDE boasts several built-in features, including Git commands, debugging capabilities, intelligent coding assistance, extensible themes, and more, making it an indispensable tool for React Native developers.
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Reactotron
Reactotron: A desktop app for inspecting React Native apps on various platforms, including iOS, Android, Linux, and Windows. It monitors API activity, and tracks errors, action dispatch, and Redux store interactions.
The standout feature of Reactotron is its automatic execution of these tasks, significantly saving developers time and enhancing the efficiency of app development. It simplifies debugging and monitoring activities, further streamlining the development process.
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Nuclide
Nuclide: a popular, free, open-source React Native dev tool for real-time editing and debugging.
Supported by Facebook and a vibrant community, Nuclide provides essential tools for scalable React Native apps: fast opening, context view, health stats, task runner, debugger, and remote development.
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WebStorm
WebStorm is a straightforward yet robust IDE tailored for React Native development. This tool empowers developers to write high-quality code efficiently, regardless of project complexity. WebStorm supports both front-end and back-end development, including Node.js.
Apart from React Native, it extends its support to various other technologies, reducing the time developers spend on environment setup and allowing them to dive right into their work. Additionally, WebStorm offers code completion features for Flow and React Symbols. For React Native, this functionality extends to React-specific attributes, React Methods, React events, HTML tags, component names, and more.
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Atom
Atom is a renowned open-source text editor celebrated for its user-friendly approach and customization capabilities. Introduced by GitHub in 2014, it is compatible with Mac, Linux, and Windows.
Atom is a text editor that empowers developers to create and personalize components with added functionality and features. It offers cross-platform editing, customizable designs and themes, an integrated package manager, and the ability to navigate through multiple files using a single window.
Final Words
So, these were the top tools and libraries of React Native development. React Native is well-known in the development world due to its user-friendly features and customization options. Whether a beginner or an experienced developer, the tools and libraries mentioned above can make your development smoother. So what are you waiting for? Find your professional React Native developers right now!