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> Does anyone seriously doubt FB's commitment to RN? When they themselves dogfood it? After the shutdown of Parse, I don't see how anyone could avoid having do

> Does anyone seriously doubt FB's commitment to RN? When they themselves dogfood it? After the shutdown of Parse, I don't see how anyone could avoid having doubt about Facebook's commitment to React Native, or to anything else outside of their core business.

oakesm9 9y ago
Parse was never used internally at Facebook I don't think. React Native is used for major parts of the main app and in parts of Instagram. I don't think it's an apples to apples comparison.
- askafriend 9y ago
  What major parts of the main Facebook app is React Native used for? Serious question. In the Instagram app, really only the settings screens and the bookmarks feature are written in RN - 2 of the simplest features in the entire app.
  - LeoNatan25 9y ago
    FB app uses it for esoteric views. Most portions of the app is rendered using Component Kit.
  - chrisco255 9y ago
    Not true, see link: https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-dd828a9a90c7 https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-... Push Notifications, Edit Profile, Photos Of view, Post Promote, Comment Moderation, Lead Gen Ads, SMS Captcha...and that was in February. They are ramping up their usage all the time.
    - askafriend 9y ago
      I think these examples only strengthen my larger point right? I want to see examples of React Native usage in the feed or the main profile architecture. Something critical.
      - chrisco255 9y ago
        They are gradually transitioning their code base to RN. Instagram has been in production for quite a few years now, it can't be an easy task to rewrite everything in RN. I think the above examples are significant, and they claim in the article that it's working well for them, so I expect them to continue to expand usage of it.
- LeoNatan25 9y ago
  Where's your proof? The FB app uses RN for very esoteric and small portions of the flows. It has 230MB (at least) of compiled binary. Instagram also uses it minimally, mainly to replace what used to be webviews. Those are not "major parts".
  - dymk 9y ago
    It's used in Marketplace. https://facebook.github.io/react-native/blog/2017/08/07/react-native-performance-in-marketplace.html https://facebook.github.io/react-native/blog/2017/08/07/reac...
  - chrisco255 9y ago
    https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-dd828a9a90c7 https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-...
morgante 9y ago
React Native is increasingly a key part of Facebook's core business as it powers their own apps. Facebook never used Parse themselves.
- askafriend 9y ago
  “Powers” is a strong word for how it’s used in practice at FB from what they’ve detailed.
madeofpalk 9y ago
To me, Parse instils confidence of Facebook's ability to handle (open source) projects. The shutdown of Parse would have to be one of the best sunsettings that I've ever seen. They announced it in Jan 2016 and gave one years warning and shut it down in Jan 2017. Parse open sourced many of its components and provided an easy migration path for applications depending on it. React Native, IMHO, is a fundamental part of their core business. Among many things, it lets them ship updates and more efficiently A/B test features more frequently. If Facebook gets sick of RN, at least it's a completely open source library that's able to be transitioned to fully community supported.
nathan_f77 9y ago
I'm still using Parse today, and it's still great. They shut down the Parse servers, but all the code is open source. Other hosting companies have popped up, and you can host it yourself. React Native doesn't have any servers to shut down. If Facebook stops maintaining it, the community will pick it up.

oakesm9 9y ago

Parse was never used internally at Facebook I don't think. React Native is used for major parts of the main app and in parts of Instagram. I don't think it's an apples to apples comparison.

askafriend 9y ago
What major parts of the main Facebook app is React Native used for? Serious question. In the Instagram app, really only the settings screens and the bookmarks feature are written in RN - 2 of the simplest features in the entire app.
- LeoNatan25 9y ago
  FB app uses it for esoteric views. Most portions of the app is rendered using Component Kit.
- chrisco255 9y ago
  Not true, see link: https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-dd828a9a90c7 https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-... Push Notifications, Edit Profile, Photos Of view, Post Promote, Comment Moderation, Lead Gen Ads, SMS Captcha...and that was in February. They are ramping up their usage all the time.
  - askafriend 9y ago
    I think these examples only strengthen my larger point right? I want to see examples of React Native usage in the feed or the main profile architecture. Something critical.
    - chrisco255 9y ago
      They are gradually transitioning their code base to RN. Instagram has been in production for quite a few years now, it can't be an easy task to rewrite everything in RN. I think the above examples are significant, and they claim in the article that it's working well for them, so I expect them to continue to expand usage of it.
LeoNatan25 9y ago
Where's your proof? The FB app uses RN for very esoteric and small portions of the flows. It has 230MB (at least) of compiled binary. Instagram also uses it minimally, mainly to replace what used to be webviews. Those are not "major parts".
- dymk 9y ago
  It's used in Marketplace. https://facebook.github.io/react-native/blog/2017/08/07/react-native-performance-in-marketplace.html https://facebook.github.io/react-native/blog/2017/08/07/reac...
- chrisco255 9y ago
  https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-dd828a9a90c7 https://engineering.instagram.com/react-native-at-instagram-...

morgante 9y ago

React Native is increasingly a key part of Facebook's core business as it powers their own apps. Facebook never used Parse themselves.

askafriend 9y ago
“Powers” is a strong word for how it’s used in practice at FB from what they’ve detailed.

madeofpalk 9y ago

To me, Parse instils confidence of Facebook's ability to handle (open source) projects. The shutdown of Parse would have to be one of the best sunsettings that I've ever seen. They announced it in Jan 2016 and gave one years warning and shut it down in Jan 2017. Parse open sourced many of its components and provided an easy migration path for applications depending on it. React Native, IMHO, is a fundamental part of their core business. Among many things, it lets them ship updates and more efficiently A/B test features more frequently. If Facebook gets sick of RN, at least it's a completely open source library that's able to be transitioned to fully community supported.

nathan_f77 9y ago

I'm still using Parse today, and it's still great. They shut down the Parse servers, but all the code is open source. Other hosting companies have popped up, and you can host it yourself. React Native doesn't have any servers to shut down. If Facebook stops maintaining it, the community will pick it up.