Rapid Native Prototyping With Expo Client, Redux, Native Debugger, and Styled Components

Building a data-handling, live-reloading, style-loving machine to play with

I can already hear the purists, even before I admit how much I love this stack. I’m not going to discuss the merits of multi-threading or the anxieties of APK obfuscation.

I am a prototyper by profession and by passion, and any technology which seeks to bring the prototype closer to production will have my full attention.

Here’s a summary of links to the libraries and why I chose them:

Expo client

Run your project before you deploy it. QR codes for testing your project on a physical device. Expo even has a browser-based React Native IDE, called Snack.

You may have legitimate reasons to go full native, especially around Expo’s build process, but the speed at which you can start creating interfaces with this client is too great to ignore.

Redux

A predictable state container for JavaScript apps.

I’m a fan of Redux because it’s disciplined but flexible and it’s a pleasure to debug. If you think Redux can’t handle the level of state management your UI requires…