How the F#$% do I build an App?! (Part 0/5)
A story about using React to build applications
So you want to build an App..
- You’ve heard how much App developers earn
- You’re a PHP / C++ developer and you want to leave these legacy languages behind you and move to something more trendy
- You’ve got an App idea that’s going to be the next Uber
As the first natural response to any question, you head to Google for answers. This will likely result in a multitude of realisations, like:
Oh shit, there are a 1000 ways to build an Application.
In fact, there are not only a multitude of ways, there are hundreds of different types of Applications. So you quickly decide:
Screw all the old ways, I want to build the best App on using the best language
After a quick re-visit to Google you realise there is no real consensus on the best programming language, wait… framework, library, platform, API, toolkit, IDE, host.
WTF?!
This is a rabbit warren no-one wants to go down. So let’s just simplify things, you want to use the same technology as these guys right?
OMG yes!
Yup, that’s an impressive list, and they all use a JavaScript library called React.
So that settles that. You’re going to learn React, and build the next big Airbnb, Uber, Spotify or Netflix.
Yeah! … Wait, what is React exactly?
Starting your React journey
The experience outlined above is not far from what I went through a couple months ago.
I am a solution developer and lead a team of solution developers at Pango, we want to take our work to the next level and build world-class digital solutions. Through the above thought process we came to the conclusion that we needed to learn React.
This series aims to take you through the main questions and choices made along this journey, and what we learnt along the way.
NB: This is not intended as a step-by-step tutorial to take you from zero-to-Netflix. The goal is to outline the major questions encountered and decisions made along the journey with learning to build and App with React.
However, where possible I will try guide you to helpful resources.
WTF React JS Series
This series is a work-in-progress, posting new parts as I unravel the React mysteries myself. You can link to the available parts below. As a logical starting point, I dive into what exactly React is:
- Part 1: WTF is React?!
- Part 2: WTF?! Creating your first React App
- Part 3: WTF?! Routing in a React App (Coming soon)
- Part 4: WTF!? Styling in a React App (Coming soon)
- Part 5: WTF!? Redux in a React App (Coming soon)
