Getting Started with Expo

Stewart Snyder Mobile, React, React Native, Tutorial Leave a Comment

Expo is a platform and framework that allows you to write cross-platform code using React Native, taking advantage of the APIs native to each platform. This makes it extremely simple to develop and deploy apps to a variety of platforms. Additionally, it allows the apps to make use of the native components of whatever platform they are deployed to.

This post first reviews the different features of Expo and how they can be used to rapidly develop and deploy software. Then, we’ll talk through the steps you’ll need to take to get up and running with the tool.

How TypeScript Can Take Your React Development to the Next Level

Justin Hurt JavaScript, React, TypeScript Leave a Comment

No matter how much you love JavaScript, as with all languages, there are certain aspects of it that are bothersome and frustrating. The lack of strict typing of variables/objects and the mysterious reference errors that don’t present themselves until run-time are among the most common complaints about JavaScript. Luckily, TypeScript offers a solution, especially for React-based applications.

TypeScript alleviates these headaches for vanilla Javascript. When integrated with a JavaScript framework like React, web application development becomes much more consistent with a standard object-orientated language.

In this blog post, I will be giving you a high-level breakdown of what TypeScript is and how to use it with either a new or existing React application.

Storybook with React

Braden Niswonger Development Technology, JavaScript, React, React Native Leave a Comment

In most React applications, there are many components working closely together to share and pass data between them. This can sometimes make it difficult to test components individually. Maybe you want to see how a component will react when given invalid data, or you want to test your component visually in different states. Storybook gives you a great way to do this in isolation, without worrying about the app-specific dependencies or requirements.

Storybook is an open-source tool for developing user interface components in isolation. In other words, it’s a playground for UI components. In this blog, we will dive into the basics of Storybook, write a Storybook for Material UI’s button component, and look at a couple of its add-ons.

A Look at Styled-Components

Nick Brown Development Technology, JavaScript, React, React Native Leave a Comment

The React framework’s component-based approach makes managing large projects simpler. By making it easier to break functionality down into logical pieces that are encapsulated, the framework makes it easier for developers to manage. With that in mind, there have been a lot of choices when it comes to styling your React application. One approach is styled-components. This is a really …

A Reactrospective: A React Retrospective

James Bradley Angular, Development Technology, HTML5, JavaScript, React Leave a Comment

Most, if not all, of my experience has been with .NET and .NET Core. I’ve also worked with most of the front-ends throughout history including Classic ASP, Code Behind, Model View Presenter, MVC, Backbone, and, over the last few years, Angular 1… Angular 6… not Angular 2…AngularJS. To me, AngularJS is that old t-shirt that you put on to sleep in; comfortable.

At first, most of us on the team were a bit apprehensive about moving to React. AngularJS was very familiar and Angular 2 seemed like the natural next step. I could learn TypeScript, and as primarily C#-based developer, I really liked the idea of a little typing. I like shiny new things, and I’m always game to learn, so challenge accepted. Since then I’ve had a hand in writing three applications in React and have learned more than a few lessons. These are their stories… dun dun.