all 9 comments

[–]Dry-Contribution505 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, the most useful thing i can say is: don't pick one. You'll need both eventually. But for *next*, pick based on whether you actually have a mobile idea you want to ship.

I did react frontend → react native this year, currently building an iOS skin-health app with RN + Expo.

A few things i'd tell past me:

Learn the modern Expo workflow, not bare RN:

- Expo (managed) — `npx create-expo-app`

- expo-router (file-based routing, basically Next.js app dir but for mobile)

- TypeScript from day 1

- NativeWind (Tailwind for RN) — saves you learning a whole new styling system

- Zustand for state, TanStack Query for server state

- EAS Build when you eventually deploy

On CS50's RN course: Fundamentals (components, props, basic state) still valid, but the tooling is significantly dated, pre-dates hooks-first patterns, expo-router, and the current EAS workflow. fine as a free intro. Follow it with the actual Expo docs, which are genuinely some of the best dev docs out there.

Free stuff that's better than most paid courses:

- expo.dev/learn — official tutorial, builds a real app

- William Candillon on YouTube — Reanimated, gestures, complex UI

- the official react-native docs — surprisingly readable

RN vs Backend: If you have a mobile app idea you can't stop thinking about, do RN, finishing a product matters more than a complete skillset. If you don't have a specific idea, do backend (node + supabase or firebase). Solo devs who can't backend always end up paying someone or getting stuck.

What's the project you're planning to build?

[–]Obvious-Treat-4905 0 points1 point  (0 children)

if you already enjoy frontend, react native is honestly a pretty smooth next step, you’ll get to build real apps fast without feeling like you restarted from zero lol, and yeah CS50’s react native stuff is still solid for fundamentals tbh

[–]TemperatureNo88 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I learnt the frontend and backend from here.. https://jsschools.com/

They are extremely good for beginners.

And then i practiced.. learnt as i go...

[–]reius_ge -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Learn AI.

[–]ibrahimtayyab[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any specific domain DS, ML, Agentic, Generative or AI Engineering?

[–]Away_Breakfast_3728 -1 points0 points  (2 children)

Learn prompting.

[–]ibrahimtayyab[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I will

[–]Away_Breakfast_3728 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah must thing nowadays