RN overview

React Native is a free, open-source framework developed by Meta Platforms that allows developers to build mobile applications for both iOS and Android platforms using a single codebase. It's built on the JavaScript programming language and is often used to create applications that are indistinguishable from those built with native languages like Swift or Java.

Benefits

React Native's main selling point is its cross-platform capabilities

• Code Reusability: Developers can reuse up to 90% of their code between Android and iOS.
• Faster Time-to-Market: The ability to use one codebase drastically reduces development time, letting businesses launch their apps sooner.
• Hot Reloading: This feature lets developers see changes to their code in real-time without having to fully recompile the app, speeding up the development and debugging process.
• Native Performance: Unlike older "hybrid" frameworks that used web views, React Native renders components using native APIs. This results in apps with performance and responsiveness that are very close to that of a truly native app.
• Strong Community: As an open-source project, React Native has a large and active community of developers, which provides extensive documentation, support, and third-party libraries.

How it works

React Native works by using a "bridge" to communicate between JavaScript code and native platform code.