

React Native Radio
Jamon Holmgren, Robin Heinze, Mazen Chami
Exploring React Native Together
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 4, 2020 • 56min
RNR 153: Getting Down with Native Code
In this episode of React Native Radio the panel dives deep into native code. They discuss how it works and shares their experiences using it. They start by discussing why native code is useful and why would anyone choose to use it. The panel defines the bridge and what it means for native code. They consider why React Native developers coming from a web development background are intimidated by the native side.
The panel shares use cases for native code, when native SDKs need to be integrated and building UI components, two specific examples from their jobs. They discuss, Java, Kotlin, Swift, and Objective C. They compare these different languages and explain which one is the best for certain situations. The panel shares learning resources and discusses native code for iOS and Android.
Panelists
Josh Justice
Jamon Holmgren
Christopher Reyes
Sponsors
G2i
Infinite Red
CacheFly
____________________________________________________________
"The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today!
____________________________________________________________
Links
Chain React Conf workshop on native coding
Turbo Modules RFC
RNR 133 with Eric Lewis on Turbo Modules
https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/native-modules-android.html
https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/native-modules-ios
Native UI Components - iOS
Native UI Components - Android
React Native Fabric RFC
React-native-webview
Draftbit
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio
Picks
Josh Justice:
Pitch Meetings
Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids
Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids Online Course
Christopher Reyes:
https://fourhourworkweek.com/
Jamon Holmgren:
https://www.spaceengineersgame.com

Jan 28, 2020 • 1h 14min
RNR 152: Tips and Tricks When Using React Native with Yassir Hartani
In this episode of React Native Radio Josh Justice interviews Yassir Hartani. Yassir writes a blog about all he learns while programming with React Native. They begin by discussing his article about React Native Navigation. Yassir explains why he prefers React Native Navigation and walks Josh through the article.
They move on to share tips for getting into React Native development. Yassir shares the differences between React Native development and developing on the web. He explains the difference in base components, syntax, and naming. For those used to developing on the web he recommends using styled-components.
Next, the discuss best practices for upgrading and explain why upgrading in React Native can be painful. They discuss tips for improving user experience including, keyboards, clickable buttons, native feedback, and safe area view. Developer experience tips are next. Yassir recommends building for both iOS and Android, test for both platforms as well. They also recommend testing on a physical device. The panel shares other testing tips and gives error tracking recommendations.
Panelists
Josh Justice
Guest
Yassir Hartani
Sponsors
G2i
Infinite Red
CacheFly
____________________________________________________________
"The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today!
____________________________________________________________
Links
An Introduction to React-Native-Navigation
Styled Components for React Native
React Native Upgrade Helper
React Native CLI “upgrade” command
KeyboardAvoidingView
TouchableNativeFeedback
React-native-platform-touchable
SafeAreaView
https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/improvingux
Sentry
Bugsnag
Android keystores
Fastlane
CircleCI
App Center
CodePush
Detox
Travis CI
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio
Picks
Josh Justice:
Big Nerd Ranch Guides
PouchDB
`pouchdb-react-native`
Yassir Hartani:
Deep Work
4-Hour Workweek

Jan 21, 2020 • 1h 7min
RNR 151: JavaScript Language Features
In this episode of React Native Radio the panel discusses JavaScript Language Features. They discuss their uses, which ones they prefer and how they shape the language. Josh Justice starts the discussion with Babel, a transpiling tool. They explain what it is and invite listeners to donate to the project. Josh also explains what ECMAScript is.
Next, they discuss arrow functions, explaining what they are used for. Arrow functions clean up code and encourage clean programming. They also help with “this” keyword binding. The panel discusses the class keyword, and how it made its way into JavaScript. They discuss class features, class properties, and private fields.
Though it is a bit of a controversial topic right now the panel discusses the keywords for declaring a variable, var, let, and const. They share thoughts on the controversy and their preferences. ESLint and Prettier are recommended. They compare promise and async-await. Jamon Holmgren shares his experiences from the time before promise and async-await.
The panel discusses destructuring and shares experiences from their own work. They discuss property value shorthand, a feature they use every day. Rest and spread are considered. Jamon brings up string literals, proxies, and decorators. They end by discussing the value of learning new languages.
Panelists
Josh Justice
Jamon Holmgren
Sponsors
G2i
Infinite Red
CacheFly
____________________________________________________________
"The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today!
____________________________________________________________
Links
https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode
https://dank.sh/
JS Private Fields and OO Design
On let vs const
Promises for asynchronous programming
Feature watch: ECMAScript 2020
Gluegun
Property value shorthands
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio
Picks
Josh Justice:
Donate to Babel
https://overreacted.io/
Jamon Holmgren:
https://academy.infinite.red/
Beginning Machine Learning with TensorFlow.js

Jan 14, 2020 • 56min
RNR 150: React Native Pros and Cons
In this episode of React Native Radio the panel walks through an article written by Net Guru outlining the pros and cons of React Native. The first pro the panel discusses is that is React Native is faster to build. The panel shares their experience with building with React Native. They agree that React Native is fast unless unique customization is necessary; this leads them to discuss one of the cons of React Native, the lack of some custom modules.
The next pro they discuss is the fact that this one framework can work across multiple platforms. While they agree React Native is not perfect, it does do a good job sharing code and other things across platforms. This saves on cost and time. Another pro they discuss is hot reloading, which included over the air updates and fast refresh.
Smaller teams are both pros and cons according to the panel. Smaller teams are possible because everyone works together, there is no longer a need for an iOS team and an Android team. The panel does point out specialists in those platforms may still be needed to work out any kinks in the different platforms. They explain how whether smaller teams are a pro or a con is based on the case.
They discuss the controversy of how fast React Native is. It is faster than some frameworks and slower than others. The panel discusses their experience with React Native speed, performance, and how they are measured. Simplified UI is the last pro on the list.
The cons they overview once more, though they do discuss them in how they relate to the pros. The first con the panel discusses is less smooth navigation. The panel believes that the navigation works great unless you create something custom or irregular. The other cons are the lack of custom modules and the need for Native developers. They end by discusses the alternative frameworks to React Native and their experience with them.
Panelists
Josh Justice
Charles Max Wood
Christopher Reyes
Sponsors
G2i
Infinite Red
CacheFly
____________________________________________________________
"The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today!
____________________________________________________________
Links
React Native Pros and Cons
RN Platform module
RN Device Info
RN 0.61 with Fast Refresh
RNR 145 Five Approaches to RN
Ash Furrow, The Case for React Native
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio
Picks
Charles Max Wood:
https://kanbanflow.com/
https://tomato-timer.com/
Josh Justice:
It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy At Work
Christopher Reyes:
https://www.letgo.com/en-us
https://offerup.com/

Jan 7, 2020 • 39min
RNR 149: React Native Radio Still at RxJS Live
In this episode of React Native Radio Charles Max Wood continues interviewing speakers at RxJS Live. First, he interviews Mike Ryan and Sam Julien. They gave a talk about Groupby, a little known operator. They overview the common problems other mapping operators have and how Groupby addresses these problems. The discuss with Charles where these types of operators are most commonly used and use an analogy to explain the different mapping operators.
Next, Charles talks to Tracy Lee. Her talk defines and explains the top twenty operators people should use. In her talk, she shows real-world use cases and warns against gotchas. Tracy and Charles explain that you don’t need to know all 60 operators, most people only need about 5-10 to function. She advises people to know the difference between the different types of operators. Tracy ends her interview by explaining her desire to inspire women and people of minority groups. She and Charles share their passion for diversity and giving everyone the chance to do what they love.
Dean Radcliffe speaks with Charles next and discusses his talk about making React Forms reactive. They discuss binding observables in React and how Dean used this in his business. He shares how he got inspired for this talk and how he uses RxJS in his everyday work.
The final interview is with Joe Eames, CEO of Thinkster. Joe spoke about error handling. He explains how he struggled with this as did many others so he did a deep dive to find answers to share. In his talk, he covers what error handling is and what it is used for. Joe outlines where most people get lost when it comes to error handling. He also shares the three strategies used in error handling, Retry, Catch and Rethrow and, Catch and Replace. Charles shares his admiration for the Thinkster teaching approach. Joe explains what Thinkster is about and what makes them special. He also talks about The DevEd podcast.
Panelists
Charles Max Wood
Guests
Mike Ryan
Sam Julien
Tracy Lee
Dean Radcliffe
Joe Eames
Sponsors
Infinite Red
G2i
CacheFly
____________________________________________________________
"The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job" by Charles Max Wood is now available on Amazon. Get Your Copy Today!
____________________________________________________________
Links
https://www.rxjs.live/
RxJS Live Youtube Channel
https://twitter.com/mikeryandev
https://twitter.com/samjulien
https://twitter.com/ladyleet?
https://www.npmjs.com/package/rx-helper
https://twitter.com/deaniusol
https://twitter.com/josepheames
https://devchat.tv/dev-ed/
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio

Dec 31, 2019 • 1h 3min
RNR 148: What's in My Stack?
In this episode of React Native Radio the panel overviews the libraries and tools they choose for their stack and explain why they choose them. Christopher Reyes starts by discussing his favorite notes app, Bear Notes. He shares the features from the app that makes him love it so much. The panel also discusses Notion as a good resource for organizing teams.
Next, Chris outlines the stack he would recommend for someone new to development and React Native. He recommends React Native CLI, React Native Navigation, Native Base, and Async Storage. Chris explains why he recommends these tools.
The panel also discusses the importance of going back to your source to make sure you are using the most up to date product. The panel considers what version five of React Navigation with the component-based API will change in their everyday work. They all express their excitement to try it.
Jamon Holmgren is the next panelist to outline his stack. He builds with Ignite and uses the stack that it provides. Jamon explains how Ignite works and what it has in its stack. He likes React Navigation, MobX and, React Native Screens. Jamon goes over the pros and cons of a Native navigation stack compared to a JavaScript one. He also explains why he prefers MobX and goes over the differences over their various tools. He also discusses the boilerplates built by Infinite Red and what to expect in their upcoming boilerplates.
Next, Charles Max Wood shares his troubles with his current DevchatTV app and the panel tries to help. Josh Justice is the last to overview his stack, he discusses one of his hobby apps, building a todo app. He is using Orbitjs, ESLint, Prettier, React Native Elements, and React Native Paper. Josh emphasizes the need to test even in hobby projects, for that he uses Dependabot, React Native testing library, and Detox.
Panelists
Josh Justice
Charles Max Wood
Christopher Reyes
Jamon Holmgren
Sponsors
Infinite Red
G2i
CacheFly
Links
Bear Notes
Notion
NativeBase
AsyncStorage
React Native CLI
React Navigation
React Navigation v5 preview
Ignite
React Native screens
MobX State Tree
React Native EU 2019: Jamon Holmgren
MobX
Jamon Holmgren - Build an iOS and Android app in 15 minutes using React Native
Orbit JS
nativeup
Dependabot
Material UI guidelines
iOS Human Interface Guidelines
Appium
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio
Picks
Charles Max Wood:
The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job
Buy DevchatTV a coffee
Josh Justice:
Editor Snippets
Christopher Reyes:
MacBook Pro Web Developer Setup — From clean slate to dev machine
Jamon Holmgren:
Software Libraries Are Terrifying

Dec 24, 2019 • 40min
RNR 147: Libraries vs Omakase
In this episode of React Native Radio the panel discusses the different approaches frameworks have for building stack. The panel takes a moment to define the two major approaches, libraries and batteries included. They list various frameworks and discuss where they lie on the scale of libraries to omakase.
Frameworks like React and React Native are the panels examples of a libraries approach framework. Developers pick and choose libraries to build their stack, React is basically just a UI library. They use Ruby on Rails as the example of an omakase approach; about 80% of the stack is chosen for you.
The pros and cons of each approach are considered. The panel shares their experiences picking libraries for their React and React Native apps and describe some of the challenges. Along with the freedom and flexibility given to the developer with a libraries approach, there is also the stress of keeping up with the latest libraries and tools. The beauty of this approach is the diversity and decentralization.
The omakase approach relieves the stress of keeping up with the latest libraries because it chooses them for you. There is safety in numbers, meaning the libraries chosen by omakase frameworks will always be supported. Also, substitutions are still possible. This approach can also be helpful for beginners, giving them training wheels and room to learn without too much responsibility.
The panel discusses when each approach is helpful. They share their experiences with each approach and with frameworks that lie somewhere on that spectrum. The panel shares their preferences. The needs for conventions and standards are considered. The panel shares options for an omakase approach for React.
Panelists
Charles Max Wood
Josh Justice
Christopher Reyes
Sponsors
Infinite Red
G2i
CacheFly
Links
Ignite
Rails Doctrine
Ember.js
https://nativebase.io/kitchen-sink-app
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio
Picks
Josh Justice:
Frozen II
redux-thunk
Christopher Reyes:
JSJ 246 GraphQL and Apollo with Uri Goldshtein
Artsy Omakase
Charles Max Wood:
The Bishop's Wife
Miracle on 34th Street
How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Dec 17, 2019 • 28min
RNR 146: React Native Radio at RxJS Live
In this episode of React Native Radio Charles Max Wood does interviews at RxJS Live. His first interview is with Ben Lesh, a core team member of RxJS. Ben has been working on RxJS for the last four years. In his talk, he shares the future of RxJs, the timeline for versions 7 and 8. With Charles, he discusses his work on RxJS and the adoption of RxJS.
Next, Charles interviews Sam Julien and Kim Maida. They gave a talk together covering the common problems developers have when learning RxJS. In the talk, they share tips for those learning RxJS. Charles wonders what inspired them to give this talk. Both share experiences where they encouraged someone to use RxJS but the learning curve was to steep. They discuss the future of RxJS adoptions and resources.
Finally, Charles interviews Kim alone about her second talk about RxJS and state management. She explains to Charles that many state management libraries are built on RxJS and that it is possible to roll out your own state management solution with RxJS. They discuss why there are so many different state management libraries. Kim shares advice for those looking to roll out their own solutions.
Panelists
Charles Max Wood
Guests
Ben Lesch
Sam Julien
Kim Maida
Sponsors
Infinite Red
G2i
CacheFly
Links
https://twitter.com/benlesh
http://www.samjulien.com/
https://twitter.com/samjulien
https://twitter.com/KimMaida
https://www.rxjs.live/
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio

Dec 10, 2019 • 1h 8min
RNR 145: The Five Approaches to Using React Native
In this episode of React Native Radio the panel discusses Josh Justice’s blog post outlining four approaches to using React Native and a fifth approach he has heard about since publishing the post. Josh summarizes the post and explains how knowing the benefits of each approach can minimize the downsides of using React Native that scare people away from using it. Understanding each approach can also help you decide which approach would work best for your company.
The first approach and the recommend approach recommended by React Native is Expo. Josh explains what Expo is and how it simplifies React Native for those starting out. The panel shares their experiences with Expo and considers the benefits of using it. They list many of the tools that Expo has right of the box and praise the simplicity of setting up and using for developers unfamiliar with native development tools.
The next approach to using React Native is React Native CLI. React Native CLI is the default approach to using React Native. This approach does require some knowledge of Xcode and android studio. It is the best option if you need to use some native integration not included in Expo. The panel shares recommendations for learning and the use of React Native CLI.
The next approach is inserting React Native into an existing native app. Josh explains how this is done and the benefits of doing so gradually. The panel considers why this approach might be used. Josh shares some challenges he saw when using this approach. The panel briefly discusses the approach Josh does not mention in his post, Expo Kit.
The final approach from the blog post and the most complex is using React Native in an independent component library. The panel considers the benefits of this approach including the isolation of the React Native code and freeing up native developers. Reusing code is discussed including how this approach can be used to save time and be used for testing.
The episode ends as the panel gives recommendations for native developers wanting to get into React Native or bring React Native to their companies. React Native has a very helpful and tightknit community and the panel invites anyone struggling or wanting to know more about React Native to reach out to the community.
Panelists
Charles Max Wood
Josh Justice
Narendra Shetty
Christopher Reyes
Sponsors
Infinite Red
G2i
CacheFly
Links
Four Approaches to React Native
Big Nerd Ranch guides for iOS and Android
ExpoKit
React Native Community CLI
Reactiflux
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio
Picks
Josh Justice:
GitHub Actions
GitHub Packages (Package Registry)
Exploring JS
Deep JavaScript Foundations
Christopher Reyes:
Ignite cli
reactotron

Dec 4, 2019 • 9min
RNR 144: At RxJS Live with Hannah Howard
In this episode of React Native Radio Charles Max Wood interviews Hannah Howard at RxJS Live about her talk. Hannah is really enthusiastic about RxJS especially when it comes to frontend development. Her talk is about how to architect full-scale apps with RxJS. Hannah gives a brief summary of her talk. Charles having met Hanna previously at Code Beam asks her how functional programming and reactive programming work together in her mind. Hannah describes how she sees programming.
Panelists
Charles Max Wood
Guest:
Hannah Howard
Sponsors
Infinite Red
G2i
CacheFly
Links
https://www.rxjs.live/
RxJS Live Youtube Channel
https://twitter.com/techgirlwonder
https://www.facebook.com/ReactNativeRadio/
https://twitter.com/R_N_Radio


