Top 11 React Native Development Mistakes to Avoid

When it comes to developing cross-platform, responsive applications, React Native is the go-to choice. Owned by Facebook and started as Facebook’s internal hackathon, it launched officially in 2015. Since then, it has changed the way developers develop applications as well as websites.

According to Statista, React Native is the most popular cross-platform mobile framework used by developers. Many companies like Uber, Instagram, Facebook, Bloomberg, Airbnb, and more use React Native to power up their applications. This shows how much companies and developers prefer to use it as their first choice.

Going further, let’s see some of the common mistakes made by developers during React Native app development:

Lack of Image Optimization:

One of the most common mistakes React Native developers carry out is the lack of image optimization. Most of the time, they do not give much importance to image optimization and as a result, it affects apps’ performance. Image optimization is one of the most important things to avoid a decrease in the performance of applications. It also affects the app size and will make your application lightweight. So, the key to making your application lightweight is to optimize images before using them in the software.

Redux Function:

Another mistake while creating an application with React Native is the redux function shows an illegal warning, and the state will mutate if the developer does not follow the guidelines. In React Native app development, the State store and view are linked together to provide enhanced performance. There is a set state function in React Native that provides the value of the previous state. This data is then stored in a Data Store, which renders according to the state of each software development cycle. You can also view the new state from the Data Store using the component life cycle. When developers make React Native applications, it is essential to be aware of the previous state merging with the new state. The directly mutate state usually ends up with larger apps, unmanageable code, custom code, and inside the component uncontrolled state.

Console.log Statement:

Leaving console.log statements at the end of the programming is one of the biggest mistakes. It helps developers to detect bugs, easily understand the problems in the line of code and know the reasons for performance failure. Once the app is debugged, it is important to remove the sentence from the line of code as it can slow down the app and impact its performance. So make sure to remove the console.log statement before finally uploading your application.

Passing Extra Parameters:

When you bind in the render method, it creates a new method instead of using the previous method. The issue with this approach is that React Native developers like you are very likely to forget the different callbacks. To solve this issue, you will need to have the handleWatchList() binding method in the property initializer syntax or constructor. This will solve your issue with the render method and will be a great asset for child components.

Existing Components:

Being a React Native developer, the basic expectation is that you know the importance of in-built libraries. Using in-built libraries will help a lot to make the development process easier and faster. But, the problem with them is, they do not work with the unique design layout. So, make sure while using a unique design layout, choose the libraries that are useful to code and do not make your development a difficult task. Moreover, you also need to make sure that some components have different behavior for Android and iOS. Some component props which are available for Android might not be available for iOS or vice-versa. Hence, before using any in-built library, make sure you have done the research, and it will help in your development.

Lack of Development Estimation:

When developing cross-platform applications, you need to take care of multiple things and have the right amount of estimation of software development. Following are some of the expected estimations from developers:

• React Native developers must estimate the layout for Android and iOS platforms separately. There are some development components that you can use in development and some in design. The structure of Android and iOS pages should be different as they have different layouts and features.
• You connect and plan Redux stores with the help of DB structuring and connecting varied entities.
• You need to check the endpoints of web app development according to their backend. Handle the logic correctly and place the code in a way that will not decrease anything.
• Each device has different dimensions, so as a developer, you are expected to develop a responsive design that works for landscape and portrait modes.

Coding Practices:

Having proper and defined coding practices is necessary to keep the software development process simple. If you do not have proper coding practice, you are very likely to miss the requirements of the applications. But, with proper planning and practice, you can code better and finish the application on time. Especially when you are writing thousands of lines of code, it is important to have coding practices, documentation, and planning.

External Modules:

When using external modules for React Native app development, make sure native modules are correctly linked. It is important to verify the codes to avoid any mistakes. Most of the time, mistakes happen mainly due to the lack of knowledge and experience while using external modules. Thus, before using any external code, make sure to study it, understand, and then use it to help you save time and avoid any development mistakes.

Not doing Unit Tests:

Unit tests are one of the essential things. You need to focus on the unit test to ensure that the application can run independently. Unit tests are useful to test the functionality of apps. You need to test all the major components and track down bugs which can help in saving time while debugging. So, regardless of any cost, make sure to carry out unit testing.

Project Structure:

Having a proper project structure speaks about the project itself. The wrong structuring of the project can result in affecting the entire project adversely. Working in a complex structure can be difficult for experienced and inexperienced developers. Make sure to divide the project into parts and project files and folders as it will help everyone relate to the project to get things easily and understand it.

Stateless Components and Wrong Initialization of State:

States in React Native can often be confusing, and developers can often make two common mistakes:

• Using stateless components
• Initiating the state in the wrong way

Developers often prefer to have stateless components in React Native to boost the performance of applications. Stateless components often do not have any local state or extend any classes, they simply return the functions in the DOM structure. This makes it easy to test and push React Native app development faster, eventually releasing the app early. After React 16, developers use Pure Component or React. A memo can be a better solution as it re-renders along with parent components.

Another mistake that developers often make is wrong initialization. With the framework, the setState() function is useful for initializing and retrieving the new object state. It is then compared with the new state, and once completed, the state merges with the existing one. If the initial state is set properly, then the cycle continues, but developers make mistakes that break the cycle. As a result, it can lead to poor app performance.

Read Also: React Vs React Native

Conclusion:

Being a developer making mistakes is a widespread thing. But, with the help of colleagues and gaining experience over a year, you can easily avoid some of the mistakes. Talking about React Native holds a bright future in the developer community because of its ease of developing cross-platform applications. Thus it is worth investing your time and money in React Native app development.

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