React Native in Action

by Nader Dabit

React Native just may be the holy grail of cross-platform app development that many developers and companies have been hoping for. Using React Native, developers can build performant cross-platform native apps much easier than ever before, all with a single programming language: JavaScript. With the growing demand for apps and the increasing complexity that app development entails, React Native comes along at a perfect time. If you're serious about app development or want to stay ahead of the curve on emerging and disruptive technologies, take a look at React Native.

React Native in Action gives iOS, Android, and web developers the knowledge and confidence to begin building high quality iOS and Android apps using the React Native framework. You'll start by getting a clear understanding of what React Native is and how it works. Then you'll follow step-by-step instructions to build your first functional app while you learn the fundamentals. This clearly-written book dives into more complex application development topics like styling, cross-platform and OS specific components, APIs, network requests, and animations. In the last part of the book, you'll learn to develop data architectures and thoroughly test your apps. By the end, you'll know to build high quality, cross-platform mobile apps with React Native.

Genres: Programming, Computer Science, Technology

320 pages, ebook

Published July 1, 2017

Reviews

[Cory Fitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agonized a bit over whether I should give this book 3 or 4 stars. It's a good book, which does a good job of covering the basics of React Native, but it desperately needs a new edition. A lot has happened in the React Native ecosystem since it was published (especially the rise of frameworks like Expo, which has become the recommended meta framework for React Native). Still, the only books out there that I can see that are newer than Dabit's book are published by packt, and my previous experience with packt books is that their quality sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.

So, I went with 4 stars since it's probably the best RN book out there currently. My suggestion for someone just starting out with RN then would be to speed read this book, so you'll get a big picture view of how it works, not really bothering with doing the coding projects yourself, and then start off coding with the Expo tutorials, which will teach you modern React Native and JavaScript practices.

[Ketan Ramteke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book if you are getting started with React Native.
It's detailed enough to clear most of the concepts but small enough to be finished in a week or two.