Impact of React Native 0.61 Fast Refresh on Developers
Whenever we discuss cross-platform development, React Native naturally comes up.
Before cross-platform solutions like React Native emerged, developers faced challenges with traditional methods like Native technology, requiring separate codebases for each platform. For example, building an app for both iOS and Android meant doing everything twice. React Native revolutionized this process by introducing WORA (Write Once, Run Anywhere), simplifying development significantly.
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React Native has been so well-received that it’s now among the top 10 cross-platform frameworks. However, it isn’t without its drawbacks, which can sometimes impede mobile app development.
Persistent Issues in React Native:
Upgrading Versions:
Upgrading React Native from one version to another is often tedious and time-consuming, especially if several updates have been missed and must be applied simultaneously.
Debugging Challenges:
Identifying the root cause of exceptions can be difficult. The stack trace in the Chrome debugger often leads to the Exception Manager rather than the original error, making debugging time-consuming. The component Did Catch method is not very helpful in these cases.
Hot Reload Issues:
The popular Hot Reload feature does not work well with Stateless Functional Components (SFCs). Fixing this issue would make hot reloading more reliable without needing to reload the entire app.
Crash Resilience:
React Native does not always provide sufficient information on why an app crashes, making it less resilient to crashes.
OTA Platform Support:
React Native’s RAM bundle is not supported by OTA platforms like CodePush due to its limited connected community.
Introducing React Native 0.61 – Solutions to Persistent Issues:
The React Native team recently announced React Native 0.61, addressing several of these persistent issues. This update optimizes existing features from version 0.60, eliminates previous bugs, and introduces new, improved features.
New Features in React Native 0.61:
Improved CocoaPods Support:
The issues with integrating CocoaPods by default in 0.60, especially with use_frameworks!, have been resolved, making it easier to integrate React Native into iOS projects with dynamic frameworks.
New use Window Dimensions Hook:
This hook naturally offers and subscribes to dimension updates, often replacing the Dimensions API.
React Upgraded to 16.9:
This includes deprecated old names for UNSAFE_ lifecycle methods and improvements to the act method.
Fast Refresh:
Combining live reloading and hot reloading, Fast Refresh fully supports modern React, including function components and Hooks. It recovers gracefully from mistakes like typos and falls back to a full reload when necessary. Unlike its predecessor, Fast Refresh is reliable and non-invasive, working seamlessly with both class components and functional components.
Impact of Fast Refresh on Developers:
Fast Refresh addresses the longstanding “hot reload” issue, offering:
- Complete support for modern React, function components, and Hooks.
- Graceful recovery from errors.
- Non-invasive code transformations, making it reliable enough to be enabled by default.
Developers find Fast Refresh highly reliable and flexible, reducing the need for manual reloads. It works well with both class and functional components and is believed to update faster.
Summing Up!
To upgrade to the new version, the React Native team recommends using the React Native Upgrade Helper, which highlights the necessary file changes. Though it may seem basic, it is an effective and straightforward upgrade method.
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These enhancements in React Native 0.61 are poised to significantly improve the React Native app development experience.
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