react-native

Modern React Native development with Expo, navigation patterns, and native module integration.

When to Use

• Building cross-platform mobile applications
• Setting up Expo projects
• Implementing navigation patterns
• Integrating native modules
• Optimizing mobile performance

Project Setup with Expo

# Create new Expo project
npx create-expo-app@latest my-app --template tabs

# Or with blank template
npx create-expo-app@latest my-app --template blank-typescript

# Start development
cd my-app
npx expo start

Project Structure

my-app/
├── app/                    # Expo Router (file-based routing)
│   ├── _layout.tsx         # Root layout
│   ├── index.tsx           # Home screen
│   ├── (tabs)/             # Tab group
│   │   ├── _layout.tsx     # Tab layout
│   │   ├── index.tsx       # First tab
│   │   └── settings.tsx    # Settings tab
│   └── [id].tsx            # Dynamic route
├── components/
│   ├── ui/                 # Reusable UI components
│   └── features/           # Feature-specific components
├── hooks/                  # Custom hooks
├── lib/                    # Utilities
├── constants/              # App constants
├── assets/                 # Static assets
└── app.json               # Expo config

Expo Router (Navigation)

Root Layout

// app/_layout.tsx
import { Stack } from 'expo-router'
import { StatusBar } from 'expo-status-bar'

export default function RootLayout() {
  return (
    <>
      <StatusBar style="auto" />
      <Stack>
        <Stack.Screen name="index" options={{ title: 'Home' }} />
        <Stack.Screen name="(tabs)" options={{ headerShown: false }} />
        <Stack.Screen 
          name="modal" 
          options={{ presentation: 'modal' }} 
        />
      </Stack>
    </>
  )
}

Tab Navigation

// app/(tabs)/_layout.tsx
import { Tabs } from 'expo-router'
import { Ionicons } from '@expo/vector-icons'

export default function TabLayout() {
  return (
    <Tabs screenOptions={{ tabBarActiveTintColor: '#007AFF' }}>
      <Tabs.Screen
        name="index"
        options={{
          title: 'Home',
          tabBarIcon: ({ color, size }) => (
            <Ionicons name="home" size={size} color={color} />
          ),
        }}
      />
      <Tabs.Screen
        name="settings"
        options={{
          title: 'Settings',
          tabBarIcon: ({ color, size }) => (
            <Ionicons name="settings" size={size} color={color} />
          ),
        }}
      />
    </Tabs>
  )
}

Navigation

import { Link, useRouter, useLocalSearchParams } from 'expo-router'

// Declarative navigation
<Link href="/profile">Go to Profile</Link>
<Link href={{ pathname: '/user/[id]', params: { id: '123' } }}>
  User 123
</Link>

// Imperative navigation
const router = useRouter()
router.push('/profile')
router.replace('/home')
router.back()

// Get params
const { id } = useLocalSearchParams<{ id: string }>()

Styling Patterns

StyleSheet

import { StyleSheet, View, Text } from 'react-native'

export function Card({ title, children }) {
  return (
    <View style={styles.card}>
      <Text style={styles.title}>{title}</Text>
      {children}
    </View>
  )
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  card: {
    backgroundColor: '#fff',
    borderRadius: 12,
    padding: 16,
    shadowColor: '#000',
    shadowOffset: { width: 0, height: 2 },
    shadowOpacity: 0.1,
    shadowRadius: 4,
    elevation: 3, // Android shadow
  },
  title: {
    fontSize: 18,
    fontWeight: '600',
    marginBottom: 8,
  },
})

NativeWind (Tailwind)

npm install nativewind tailwindcss

// With NativeWind
import { View, Text } from 'react-native'

export function Card({ title, children }) {
  return (
    <View className="bg-white rounded-xl p-4 shadow-md">
      <Text className="text-lg font-semibold mb-2">{title}</Text>
      {children}
    </View>
  )
}

Components & Patterns

Safe Area Handling

import { SafeAreaView, SafeAreaProvider } from 'react-native-safe-area-context'

// In root
export default function App() {
  return (
    <SafeAreaProvider>
      <RootLayout />
    </SafeAreaProvider>
  )
}

// In screens
export function HomeScreen() {
  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{ flex: 1 }} edges={['top', 'bottom']}>
      <Content />
    </SafeAreaView>
  )
}

FlatList Performance

import { FlatList } from 'react-native'
import { useCallback } from 'react'

export function UserList({ users }) {
  const renderItem = useCallback(
    ({ item }) => <UserCard user={item} />,
    []
  )
  
  const keyExtractor = useCallback(
    (item) => item.id.toString(),
    []
  )

  return (
    <FlatList
      data={users}
      renderItem={renderItem}
      keyExtractor={keyExtractor}
      // Performance optimizations
      removeClippedSubviews={true}
      maxToRenderPerBatch={10}
      windowSize={5}
      initialNumToRender={10}
      // Pull to refresh
      onRefresh={handleRefresh}
      refreshing={isRefreshing}
      // Infinite scroll
      onEndReached={loadMore}
      onEndReachedThreshold={0.5}
      ListFooterComponent={<LoadingFooter />}
      // Empty state
      ListEmptyComponent={<EmptyState />}
    />
  )
}

Keyboard Handling

import {
  KeyboardAvoidingView,
  Platform,
  TouchableWithoutFeedback,
  Keyboard,
} from 'react-native'

export function FormScreen() {
  return (
    <KeyboardAvoidingView
      behavior={Platform.OS === 'ios' ? 'padding' : 'height'}
      style={{ flex: 1 }}
    >
      <TouchableWithoutFeedback onPress={Keyboard.dismiss}>
        <View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
          <TextInput placeholder="Email" />
          <TextInput placeholder="Password" secureTextEntry />
        </View>
      </TouchableWithoutFeedback>
    </KeyboardAvoidingView>
  )
}

State Management

React Query for Server State

import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider, useQuery, useMutation } from '@tanstack/react-query'

const queryClient = new QueryClient()

// Provider
export default function App() {
  return (
    <QueryClientProvider client={queryClient}>
      <RootLayout />
    </QueryClientProvider>
  )
}

// Usage
export function UserProfile({ userId }) {
  const { data, isLoading, error } = useQuery({
    queryKey: ['user', userId],
    queryFn: () => fetchUser(userId),
  })

  const mutation = useMutation({
    mutationFn: updateUser,
    onSuccess: () => {
      queryClient.invalidateQueries({ queryKey: ['user', userId] })
    },
  })

  if (isLoading) return <LoadingSpinner />
  if (error) return <ErrorView error={error} />

  return <UserView user={data} onUpdate={mutation.mutate} />
}

Zustand for Client State

import { create } from 'zustand'
import { persist, createJSONStorage } from 'zustand/middleware'
import AsyncStorage from '@react-native-async-storage/async-storage'

interface AuthStore {
  user: User | null
  token: string | null
  login: (user: User, token: string) => void
  logout: () => void
}

export const useAuthStore = create<AuthStore>()(
  persist(
    (set) => ({
      user: null,
      token: null,
      login: (user, token) => set({ user, token }),
      logout: () => set({ user: null, token: null }),
    }),
    {
      name: 'auth-storage',
      storage: createJSONStorage(() => AsyncStorage),
    }
  )
)

Native Modules & APIs

Camera (Expo)

import { CameraView, useCameraPermissions } from 'expo-camera'

export function CameraScreen() {
  const [permission, requestPermission] = useCameraPermissions()

  if (!permission) return <View />
  
  if (!permission.granted) {
    return (
      <View>
        <Text>Camera permission required</Text>
        <Button onPress={requestPermission} title="Grant Permission" />
      </View>
    )
  }

  return (
    <CameraView style={{ flex: 1 }} facing="back">
      <View style={styles.overlay}>
        <Button title="Take Photo" onPress={handleCapture} />
      </View>
    </CameraView>
  )
}

Notifications

import * as Notifications from 'expo-notifications'
import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react'

Notifications.setNotificationHandler({
  handleNotification: async () => ({
    shouldShowAlert: true,
    shouldPlaySound: true,
    shouldSetBadge: true,
  }),
})

export function useNotifications() {
  const notificationListener = useRef()
  const responseListener = useRef()

  useEffect(() => {
    registerForPushNotifications()

    notificationListener.current = Notifications.addNotificationReceivedListener(
      (notification) => console.log(notification)
    )

    responseListener.current = Notifications.addNotificationResponseReceivedListener(
      (response) => console.log(response)
    )

    return () => {
      Notifications.removeNotificationSubscription(notificationListener.current)
      Notifications.removeNotificationSubscription(responseListener.current)
    }
  }, [])
}

async function registerForPushNotifications() {
  const { status } = await Notifications.requestPermissionsAsync()
  if (status !== 'granted') return

  const token = await Notifications.getExpoPushTokenAsync()
  console.log('Push token:', token.data)
}

Secure Storage

import * as SecureStore from 'expo-secure-store'

export const secureStorage = {
  async setItem(key: string, value: string) {
    await SecureStore.setItemAsync(key, value)
  },
  
  async getItem(key: string) {
    return await SecureStore.getItemAsync(key)
  },
  
  async removeItem(key: string) {
    await SecureStore.deleteItemAsync(key)
  },
}

Platform-Specific Code

import { Platform, StyleSheet } from 'react-native'

// Inline
<View style={{ paddingTop: Platform.OS === 'ios' ? 20 : 0 }} />

// Platform.select
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    ...Platform.select({
      ios: { shadowColor: '#000', shadowOffset: { width: 0, height: 2 } },
      android: { elevation: 4 },
    }),
  },
})

// File-based (Button.ios.tsx / Button.android.tsx)
import Button from './Button' // Auto-resolves to platform file

Performance Optimization

Memoization

import { memo, useCallback, useMemo } from 'react'

// Memoize components
const UserCard = memo(function UserCard({ user, onPress }) {
  return (
    <Pressable onPress={() => onPress(user.id)}>
      <Text>{user.name}</Text>
    </Pressable>
  )
})

// Memoize callbacks
const handlePress = useCallback((id) => {
  navigation.navigate('User', { id })
}, [navigation])

// Memoize expensive computations
const sortedUsers = useMemo(
  () => users.sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name)),
  [users]
)

Image Optimization

import { Image } from 'expo-image'

// Use expo-image for better performance
<Image
  source={{ uri: imageUrl }}
  style={{ width: 200, height: 200 }}
  contentFit="cover"
  placeholder={blurhash}
  transition={200}
/>

Avoid Re-renders

// Bad: inline function creates new reference
<FlatList
  renderItem={({ item }) => <Item data={item} />}
/>

// Good: stable callback reference
const renderItem = useCallback(
  ({ item }) => <Item data={item} />,
  []
)
<FlatList renderItem={renderItem} />

Testing

// __tests__/UserCard.test.tsx
import { render, fireEvent } from '@testing-library/react-native'
import { UserCard } from '../components/UserCard'

describe('UserCard', () => {
  it('renders user name', () => {
    const { getByText } = render(
      <UserCard user={{ id: '1', name: 'John' }} />
    )
    expect(getByText('John')).toBeTruthy()
  })

  it('calls onPress with user id', () => {
    const onPress = jest.fn()
    const { getByTestId } = render(
      <UserCard user={{ id: '1', name: 'John' }} onPress={onPress} />
    )
    
    fireEvent.press(getByTestId('user-card'))
    expect(onPress).toHaveBeenCalledWith('1')
  })
})

Common Pitfalls

1. Don't use flex: 1 without parent flex container
2. Always handle keyboard on forms
3. Use keyExtractor in FlatList
4. Test on both iOS and Android
5. Handle safe areas properly
6. Don't forget to add permissions in app.json

Production Checklist

• [ ] Handle all permission requests gracefully
• [ ] Implement proper error boundaries
• [ ] Add offline support where needed
• [ ] Optimize images and assets
• [ ] Test on physical devices
• [ ] Configure app icons and splash screens
• [ ] Set up EAS Build for production builds
• [ ] Implement deep linking
• [ ] Add analytics and crash reporting