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by throw_m239339 1749 days ago
> With React Native you can just use file.ios.js or file.windows.js etc if you want to do something different entirely for a platform. You can also check the platform with a function for minor adjustments. You can also handle these differences in a RN extension if they involve native code.

Well if you need a specific widget or library that react native doesn't support by default you have to write bindings, and unless your business logic is very basic it happens most of the time. You might be lucky somebody already did write some bindings for you. As someone that used Titanium in the past, React Native suffers from the exact same problems.
1 comments
hunterb123 1749 days ago
Not really as you'll have to do that work anyway if it doesn't exist. It's better to do a small extension than to duplicate all of your other shared code just to do that change.

Most of the time there will already be a 3rd party extension, but it's really easy to make them. You will need some slight native experience, but you would need more for a full native app.

With Titanium it wasn't easy to do these extensions, with RN you have direct access to the native platforms and code. You can go as native as you want in one or all platforms while sharing the code you want to.

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throw_m239339 1749 days ago
Point being these are leaky abstractions. You have to have some measure of knowledge as to how the underlying platform works in a professional context.
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hunterb123 1749 days ago
The abstractions depend on the dev. The knowledge needed is considerably less to make an extension vs making a full native app.

RN is useful if you're a solo dev, like myself, or a small team and you want to support all platforms.

I have enough knowledge to get all my apps in production, enough to make extensions for the platforms, and quite a bit in web to remake native features on the web. I am not what I consider an Apple or Android dev though, far from it.

I can learn from a middle out approach when it comes to all platforms. Similar to compilers and such, you can always go lower level to understand more and more, but it's not needed to get your vision out.

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