Two years since our last meetup, we hosted the first ever offline React and React Native meetup on the 22nd of April yesterday hosted by us at GeekyAnts at our headquarters in Bangalore. Our meetups are a fun way of us discussing with our friends in the community about what is new and growing with this technology. This meetup was very special to us as it was the first time in two years that we met up in person to discuss what is happening with this ever-evolving technology. There were a lot of things that were discussed including the new architecture of React and React Native, its new functionalities which allow it to be used for web along with our in-house contributions which include NativeBase. We had a full-house where we encouraged developers from across Bangalore to come and pitch in with their two cents about the state of React and React Native and where it would go next.
In this article, we have outlined all the talks that took place of the day along with the links to the sessions:
Designing A Low-Code UI Kit In React For A JavaScript SDK: Ekaansh Arora
The first talk in-line was delivered by Ekaansh Arora, a developer at Agora, who spoke about building a low code React UI kit with a JS SDK. He specialises in developing low-code and no-code platforms to reduce developers’ effort and his experience in the field gave him the expertise to deliver this session in a very well-rounded manner. He spoke about coupling the JS SDK with React along with the benefits of CSS when it is available out-of-the-box over Tailwind which is more popularly used. Another topic that was discussed during the session was how to create React patterns for cool APIs which can be used internally in your project by substantiating an object using JavaScript. He also spoke about how to get started with React Hooks and customising the design and features for React props.
Universal Navigation In A React Native+Next.js Stack: Rohit Singh
The second session which ensued was delivered by one of the in-house software engineers from GeekyAnts who has extensively worked with React Native and was also one of the co-developers of NativeBase. He started the discussion by talking about the popularity of React Native with Next.js and why you can use it to create apps for both iOS and Android as well as web applications. He also spoke about the importance of Next.js and the benefits it brings to server-side rendering in React while explaining two ways in which it can be carried out, i.e. via page routing and by using a Next.js link and router along with hooks and components which play a role in navigation.
React Native’s New Architecture: Mandeep Singh
The last talk for the day was regarding the topic of React Native’s new architecture, its functionalities and benefits and it was delivered by Mandeep Singh, a React and React Native developer who works at Hiring Express. He started the discussion by explaining React Native’s current architecture and comparing it to the new one. The topics of how an OS understands JavaScript code and compiled into platform languages using the bundling process was also discussed. He also spoke about natively rendering apps and how the UI of a React Native app is rendered and explained the process through a demo app.
While all of our meetups are a forum to exchange ideas, what sets this one apart is that it gave folks an opportunity to catch up, socialise and talk about common interests in person. The event was closed with a panel discussion and what set this one apart from the rest of our meetups is its interactive nature where the audience jumped in to contribute to the conversations and queries around React and React Native. The panelists not only discussed the new architecture of React Native and the advantages it brings to developers but they also spoke about topics like debugging in order to enhance the quality of code that is being written. Performance issue was another subject that was discussed along with state management and how to implement it the right way. The panelists discussed the advantages of Redux and what it brings to the table in terms of React state management but also how to vary and implement it according to the use case. They also spoke about technologies like Chrome DevTools and React DevTools and how to fix performance issues using these technologies.
