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Facebook's 'Create React Native App' Is To Help Developers Create React Native Projects On Any OS

React

Developers may have great ideas, but the process for executing that idea can be troublesome. Especially with the numerous platforms and requirements they need, things can get quite difficult.

To get things going, Facebook introduces 'Create React Native App' (CRNA) as a way to help developers in executing their ideas.

With CRNA, developers aren't required to Xcode or own a Mac to build iOS apps, for example. They don't need Android Studio and other dependencies to create Android apps either. With CRNA, developers can start developing apps for both platforms using Windows or Linux.

CRNA is the product from a collaboration between Facebook and Expo (formerly Exponent). It enables developers to compile native code and allows them to control native UI components on both mobile platforms using JavaScript. Developers can also access APIs to use a smartphone's camera, contacts or apps' authentications.

The only limitation is until developers wanting native code in their project. If so, they still need Xcode or Android Studio.

To use CRNA, developers need to install the tool using command-line interface instructions. There they can create a project and start the React Native packager to then generate a QR code in which can be opened using Expo's iOS or Android app. Then they're good to go.

React

NCRA's philosophy, as stated on its GitHub page:

  1. Minimal "Time to Hello World:" CRNA should reduce the time it takes in building mobile apps.
  2. Develop on Your Device: Making things easier for developers to develop apps on a physical device when they want to test how the apps feels and responds..
  3. One Build Tool: Developers aren't required to install Xcode, Android Studio, NDKs, or other environment variables..
  4. No Lock-In: Developers can always "eject" to their own build setup if they need to write custom native code or modify how an app is built..

The idea to create NCRA was to make the process of building and testing mobile apps to be just as simple as web apps. Developers that are already familiar with Facebook's React JavaScript library should see themselves also familiar with NCRA.