Stein describes how JavaScript can take an app far, but some features require native code. Creating and extracting a module for sharing is manageable once, but repetitive when done several times.
Scaffolding plugins for React Native
Speaker
Johannes Stein of Callstack explains how to scaffold shareable native modules for React Native and reduce repetitive setup.
React Native Create Library generates a module from a Hello World example. Its scaffold includes Android, iOS, and Windows folders, plus a package and README. Stein adds a `helloWorld` method on iOS and Android that logs a message.
The tool supports iOS, Android, and Windows, and produces a library ready to publish with `npm publish`. In a React Native project, developers can install the package, run `react-native link`, then import the module and call its method.
The generator defaults to the `RN` prefix but recommends choosing initials or another distinctive prefix to reduce naming collisions. It rejects `RCT`, which Stein says is reserved for React Native core modules.
The tool can be installed as a development dependency and used to create a module folder inside an app, though developers must link it manually. Stein points to `react-native-create-bridge` as a more capable alternative, with UI modules and Swift and Kotlin support.
Takeaways
- Automate repeated native-module scaffolding to make library creation more consistent.
- Check which platforms a generator scaffolds before adopting it; this tool supports iOS, Android, and Windows.
- Choose a distinctive native prefix to reduce naming collisions, and avoid reserved prefixes such as `RCT`.
- Confirm how generated modules are linked inside an app; this tool requires manual linking for that workflow.
- Compare generators by their needs: `react-native-create-bridge` also supports UI modules, Swift, and Kotlin.
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What was claimed 8
- featureReact Native Create Library: Scaffolds boilerplate for native module libraries
“Then it creates the module for us in a new folder.”
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- built
“I created this a while ago, and it's called React Native Create Library.”
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- featureReact Native Create Library: Supports iOS, Android, and Windows
“That means iOS and Android, and we actually have Windows support as well”
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- integrates withReact Native Create Library integrates with React Native
“we run react-native link in our React Native project”
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- featureReact Native Create Library: Generated boilerplate is ready to publish
“the boilerplate you get is ready to publish directly”
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- featureReact Native Create Library: Recommends customizing the default RN prefix and rejects the reserved RCT prefix
“it says it will use RN as the default prefix, but recommends customizing it”
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- featureReact Native Create Library: Can run as an in-app plugin to create a library folder
“the library is created as a new folder inside the app”
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- featureReact Native Create Bridge: Supports UI modules, Swift, and Kotlin
“it supports UI modules in addition to native modules, and it also supports Swift and Kotlin”
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