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Yeah, but why use another patch on top of a patch where there are modern type-safe languages like Swift. JS has its uses, but it's difficult to debug, doesn't t

by pzh 10y ago

Yeah, but why use another patch on top of a patch where there are modern type-safe languages like Swift. JS has its uses, but it's difficult to debug, doesn't take advantage of all the advances in modern languages design that help prevent whole classes of bugs, and carries a lot of baggage. The only benefit would be universal app development, but even then Xamarin seems like a better choice.

DenisM 10y ago
Speaking of Xamarin. RN supports iOS, Windows, and Android. Plus RN is somewhat close to React, so some code could be reused between the two. Plus you get out-of-band code updates! Xamarin supports iOS, Windows, and Android. But there is no web story. Or is there?
steego 10y ago
> Yeah, but why use another patch on top of a patch where there are modern type-safe languages like Swift. The JavaScript toolchain is more than good enough to build the kinds of applications that React Native targets. Most of these applications aren't stellar apps that require critical performance or rigorous type checking, they're just dumb front-ends to REST endpoints. If you're going to build an awesome app, then use better tools. The reason I would use React over Xamarin is simple: Speed of training and development. I can hire, train and get a React developer up and running and building proof-of-concepts a lot quicker than on Xamarin.
leshow 10y ago
>Yeah, but why use another patch on top of a patch where there are modern type-safe languages like Swift. Because targetting javascript has a lot of advantages, being cross platform is a major one of them. You basically get the type-safety of swift, with the ability to target multiple platforms. The fact that it transpiles to JS is irrelevant, you can provide a safe interface to something unsafe. Take Elm for example, it transpiles to JS and yet guarantees that you will never produce a runtime exception.

by pzh 10y ago

DenisM 10y ago

Speaking of Xamarin. RN supports iOS, Windows, and Android. Plus RN is somewhat close to React, so some code could be reused between the two. Plus you get out-of-band code updates! Xamarin supports iOS, Windows, and Android. But there is no web story. Or is there?

steego 10y ago

> Yeah, but why use another patch on top of a patch where there are modern type-safe languages like Swift. The JavaScript toolchain is more than good enough to build the kinds of applications that React Native targets. Most of these applications aren't stellar apps that require critical performance or rigorous type checking, they're just dumb front-ends to REST endpoints. If you're going to build an awesome app, then use better tools. The reason I would use React over Xamarin is simple: Speed of training and development. I can hire, train and get a React developer up and running and building proof-of-concepts a lot quicker than on Xamarin.

leshow 10y ago

>Yeah, but why use another patch on top of a patch where there are modern type-safe languages like Swift. Because targetting javascript has a lot of advantages, being cross platform is a major one of them. You basically get the type-safety of swift, with the ability to target multiple platforms. The fact that it transpiles to JS is irrelevant, you can provide a safe interface to something unsafe. Take Elm for example, it transpiles to JS and yet guarantees that you will never produce a runtime exception.