What is React Native?

Learn that React Native is a mobile app development framework.

What is React Native?

React Native is a mobile framework that lets you build iOS and Android apps with JavaScript. It is developed by Meta (formerly Facebook) and compiles to both platforms from a single codebase.

Unlike web technologies, it uses the device's native components instead of a browser. So <View> is actually a ViewGroup on Android and a UIView on iOS.

This course uses React Native 0.7x and Expo for development.

Developing with Expo

Expo is a framework built on top of React Native. It lets you start, test and ship your app without setting up a native build environment.

To create an Expo project, you run npx create-expo-app in the terminal. This command downloads all required dependencies and creates a ready-to-use App.js file.

By installing the Expo Go app on your phone and scanning a QR code, you can see your app on the device instantly.

Exercise Write the import

Import the View and Text components from the react-native package.

Show example solution

import { View, Text } from 'react-native';

Test yourself

Which platforms does React Native target?
- Only web browsers
- Only iOS
- Only desktop
- iOS and Android
Show answer

iOS and Android — React Native compiles for iOS and Android.
Match the concepts

React Native

Mobile framework
Expo

Development toolkit
JavaScript

Programming language
JSX

Markup syntax

Import syntax

import { View, ____ } from 'react-native';

Show answer

import { View, Text } from 'react-native';

Next lesson: Expo setup

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