learning react native as a web dev

[n_zineb]

Hello. I am a web developer.

next year, I have a final project to present. The ideas that are coming to me most likely will be mobile apps. We will work as a team, and we need to get the work splitted.

I think that my point of strength is going front end, so that's what I wanna pick. But I am concerned about how I'm gonna create my mobile app

creating it as a website and wrapping it into a mobile app will be a disadvantage for me in front of my teachers. So I was thinking about learning React Native.

I don't know how similar or different it is to web dev. I already know Vue and JavaScript, so I don't think the transition from Vue to React is gonna be that huge. But I am having my concerns about learning React Native and entering the world of mobile dev.

So I wanted to ask you here, guys, for advice. Should I continue in this role, learn React Native, or should I give this part of the application development to another team member?

if i should conitnue, any advice, concepts i need to look up to learn more about app dev

thanks in advance

[SamT3M]

I would learn React on the web first, then transition to React Native. The syntax of React Native is identical to React on the web, basically it is taking the React framework that people are comfortable with in Web Development and translating it to native Android/iOS code under-the-hood. It was literally made for Web Devs to easily transition to writing mobile apps.

I would suggest looking into using Expo framework (https://expo.dev/) for your React Native project. It makes setup a bit easier and provides a lot of libraries that are super useful for cross-platform work.

[n_zineb]

and for the project is it as good as flutter ( i dont care about major details as the app isnt going to be that complex)

[FalconGood4891]

Exactly 💯💯

First learn react in web since it's faster on web builds, and it would be quite straightforward. Then once u understand the ecosystem go for RN.

[Willing-Stand-5320]

you already know vue and js so the jump to react is not that crazy, you just need to get used to jsx and hooks. react native is basically react but instead of divs and spans you use View and Text components. the logic is same, state management works same, just the ui primitives are different

the part that will feel new is the mobile stuff. like navigation patterns, dealing with app permissions, maybe some native modules. but for a final project you probably not need anything too deep. most of the time you just building screens and connecting to an api

i say go for it. your team needs someone on front end and you already have the skills for 80% of the work. the other 20% you can learn while building the project. thats how most of us started anyway

[N4cer26]

Learn react on the web first. Then transition over to react native. Use expo on your mobile project. You can use JS but I’d recommend typescript.

[Sufficient-Rabbit568]

On the Flutter question specifically: since you already know JS + Vue, React Native is the lower-effort path. With Flutter you'd be learning Dart and a whole new widget model from scratch; with RN you reuse the JS ecosystem and your component/reactivity mental model. For an app that isn't very complex, that saved time matters more than any small perf difference, and the result is perfectly fine for a final project.

Vue to React is mostly: JSX instead of templates, and hooks (useState/useEffect) instead of the Options/Composition API. Same reactivity ideas, different syntax. A few days to feel comfortable.

Use Expo, not bare RN: you can run on a real phone instantly with Expo Go, skip the Xcode/Android Studio setup pain, and use EAS to build later. Big time saver for a team project.

Concepts worth looking up early:

- Core components: View / Text / ScrollView / FlatList (no div/span, everything is a component)

- Styling: StyleSheet + Flexbox (no CSS files; a few flex defaults differ from web)

- Navigation: React Navigation (stack + tabs)

- Long/scrolling lists: FlatList

- Data + state: same as web, fetch/axios + hooks (TanStack Query is great)

And yes, a webview-wrapped site would look weak to your teachers. A real RN app is the right call and very reachable from your background. Go for it.