Is React native useful for experienced native android developer?

Question

I am in mobile development since last 10 years, and in native android development since last 3 years. I have created 4-5 native android applications. I am very much comfortable with front end development.

Now I have joined a new company which is a start up company. They want to make applications for both android and ios and want me to use React Native. From the earlier documentation of React Native, I got an idea that React Native will be useful for the developers who came from web development background and who have idea about java script and React for Web.

I have never done web development and not even no java script.

So I want to know that React Native will be helpful to those who dont know native, or it really helpful for all?

And how much flexibility it gives if I need to develop some features purely in native?

Thanks in advance, Krishna

Answer 1

Not sure this question should be on SO but anyway, I'm native android dev, recently I started a project using react-native.

What I can say, yes it's cool you can build something quickly even if you don't come from web. But when I'm developing I just have the feeling to do tricky things.

Do this to manage iOS specific thing, do that for android... I don't have the feeling to code something smooth and produce a good code, maybe it's due to my lack of xp with react-native, but I'm really not comfortable to code in that way. It's probably cool to release quickly an MVP of your app and experiment. But if you plan to build the next billion dollar app which will be maintained long term I would definitely not go with react.

It's only my personal feeling off course. There is plenty articles about the topic very well augmented you should google for it