At Codana, we make mobile app development easier and more accessible than ever. Instead of separate teams for Android and iOS, we work with a single codebase that supports both platforms, thanks to React Native. This smart technology, developed by Meta, allows us to quickly build apps that look great and work efficiently on both mobile and web. Thus, we not only guarantee a beautiful, uniform look across all devices, but also ensure faster development times and strong, low-maintenance applications.
React Native uses JavaScript (one of the most popular programming languages) along with React, a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. With React, developers can build UI components that can be efficiently reused and manipulated.
This JavaScript code is compiled to native Android and iOS respectively, allowing development for these platforms to be done from a single codebase. This application brings several advantages.
Unlike other cross-platform frameworks, React Native does not generate web views, but uses true native components that are addressed via a so-called "bridge." This allows React Native apps to deliver the same performance and user experience as fully native-written applications. In addition, these apps also have access to all native functionalities of the device. Think push notifications, geolocation, bluetooth or the camera.
Under the hood, React Native uses the same programming principles as React for web. This also means that developers can use the components created to compile both web and native applications.
This reuse of components, in turn, also offers several advantages.
React native has an active and growing community of developers and organizations. As a result, there is a wide scale of open source libraries, tools and documentation for developers. New technological evolutions and needs are picked up and shared faster this way.
Hybrid or cross-platform development has evolved tremendously in recent years. Where once the possibilities were limited, these technologies are now increasingly aligning with a true native experience. The ability to drive an ecosystem of applications from a single codebase can be a huge cost and time saver in many cases.
