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> do you really think you can call yourself an iOS developer when... I don't really want to call myself an iOS developer. I just want to port a simple web app

by freyr 12y ago

> do you really think you can call yourself an iOS developer when... I don't really want to call myself an iOS developer. I just want to port a simple web app to iOS, and my options are learning just enough iOS development to do it myself, or hiring a real iOS developer. So I'm curious if this framework would tip the scale in favor of the first option.

thebouv 12y ago
Sounds like you've answered this yourself. You don't even have to dive into React (which has its own unique way that I'd call barely JS anymore). Have you tried Cordova / Phonegap?
- mbrock 12y ago
  "You don't even have to dive into React (which has its own unique way that I'd call barely JS anymore)." Eh, I assume you're referring to the JSX syntax. I happily don't use it at all. It's all just JavaScript functions and objects.
  - thebouv 12y ago
    Yes, the JSX is "weird" to me. But even the pure JS method. I shouldn't have said "barely JS anymore". I'm just not a huge fan of apps built entirely in JS that spit out markup. I find it so messy personally, but also a giant brain shift too. The commenter I was replying to wanted a way to take a web site and get it to run as an app. HTML, CSS, JS -- Cordova / Phonegap is one way to do it that requires very little rewriting of your code. At least compared to taking a HTML/CSS/JS web app and rewriting it in React. Granted, I am no React expert and plan to give it more time soon. But at the 30k ft view, it's simpler to port your app that's already built by using Cordova. If you're going to rewrite anyway, sure, use React Native if you're already a strong JS programmer.
    - mbrock 12y ago
      Sure, that's reasonable. If you already have a site and want to run it with native features quickly, Cordova is an excellent choice. That goes even if your site is already built on React. Compared to more complex frameworks, React hems closely to JavaScript as a language. I enjoy working with it because it lets me write entirely in JavaScript without any weird template languages or typical framework "bloat." In my experience, it helps me write readable and correct frontend code. Random tangent: sometimes I imagine that React would have another name—say, something dull like "libdomdiff." The JavaScript world for some reason seems to operate by making everything into a fancy big deal; every library needs its own conferences and consultancies. I feel like being a "React expert" is kind of overrated. It's basically just a library with like a dozen functions. But you're right too that it is a different way of writing apps. I hope your experiences with it will be as positive as mine!
JonnieCache 12y ago
Diving straight into a framework while learning the underlying system in parallel can teach you a lot about best practices and design patterns and so forth. Personally I'd say doing both is a good idea. Just make sure you learn the whys and hows for everything the framework is doing. You can vacuum up all the accumulated knowledge of the framework team. Saying this, I have no real idea how abstracted react native is from normal IOS dev, so maybe it wouldn't be as helpful as, say, learning python and django at the same time.

by freyr 12y ago

thebouv 12y ago

Sounds like you've answered this yourself. You don't even have to dive into React (which has its own unique way that I'd call barely JS anymore). Have you tried Cordova / Phonegap?

mbrock 12y ago
"You don't even have to dive into React (which has its own unique way that I'd call barely JS anymore)." Eh, I assume you're referring to the JSX syntax. I happily don't use it at all. It's all just JavaScript functions and objects.
- thebouv 12y ago
  Yes, the JSX is "weird" to me. But even the pure JS method. I shouldn't have said "barely JS anymore". I'm just not a huge fan of apps built entirely in JS that spit out markup. I find it so messy personally, but also a giant brain shift too. The commenter I was replying to wanted a way to take a web site and get it to run as an app. HTML, CSS, JS -- Cordova / Phonegap is one way to do it that requires very little rewriting of your code. At least compared to taking a HTML/CSS/JS web app and rewriting it in React. Granted, I am no React expert and plan to give it more time soon. But at the 30k ft view, it's simpler to port your app that's already built by using Cordova. If you're going to rewrite anyway, sure, use React Native if you're already a strong JS programmer.
  - mbrock 12y ago
    Sure, that's reasonable. If you already have a site and want to run it with native features quickly, Cordova is an excellent choice. That goes even if your site is already built on React. Compared to more complex frameworks, React hems closely to JavaScript as a language. I enjoy working with it because it lets me write entirely in JavaScript without any weird template languages or typical framework "bloat." In my experience, it helps me write readable and correct frontend code. Random tangent: sometimes I imagine that React would have another name—say, something dull like "libdomdiff." The JavaScript world for some reason seems to operate by making everything into a fancy big deal; every library needs its own conferences and consultancies. I feel like being a "React expert" is kind of overrated. It's basically just a library with like a dozen functions. But you're right too that it is a different way of writing apps. I hope your experiences with it will be as positive as mine!

JonnieCache 12y ago

Diving straight into a framework while learning the underlying system in parallel can teach you a lot about best practices and design patterns and so forth. Personally I'd say doing both is a good idea. Just make sure you learn the whys and hows for everything the framework is doing. You can vacuum up all the accumulated knowledge of the framework team. Saying this, I have no real idea how abstracted react native is from normal IOS dev, so maybe it wouldn't be as helpful as, say, learning python and django at the same time.