React and React Native: Build cross-platform JavaScript and TypeScript apps for the web, desktop, and mobile

Get a big-picture view of modern React and React Native and see how they go hand-in-hand, covering TypeScript development, Vite, state management strategies, unit testing with Vitest, advanced techniques, and AI tips and tricks.

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Key Features

• New update:TypeScript, React frameworks, state management strategies, unit testing, and AI-powered productivity.
• Get to grips with React fundamentals and modern React techniques and architecture
• Broaden your React expertise through mobile development with React Native

Book Description

Welcome to your big-picture guide to the React ecosystem.

If you’re new to React and looking to become a professional React developer, this book is for you. This updated sixth edition reflects the current state of React, including coverage of React frameworks and TypeScript.

Part 1 introduces you to React. You’ll discover JSX syntax, hooks, functional components, and event handling, learn techniques to fetch data from a server, and tackle the tricky problem of state management. Once you’re comfortable with writing React in JavaScript, you’ll pick up TypeScript development in later chapters.

Part 2 transitions you into React Native for mobile development. React Native goes hand-in-hand with React. With your React knowledge in place, you’ll appreciate where and how React Native differs as you write shared components for Android and iOS apps. You’ll learn how to build responsive layouts, use animations, and implement geolocation.

Finally, a new chapter shows you how to use AI as a learning partner, covering practical workflows for AI-assisted debugging, evaluating AI-generated code, recognizing common pitfalls in React and React Native output, and writing code deliberately to deepen your understanding.

By the end of this book, you’ll have a big-picture view of React and React Native, and be able to build applications with both.

What you will learn

• Explore React architecture, component properties, state, and context
• Work with React Hooks for handling functions and components
• Fetch data from a server using the Fetch API, GraphQL, and WebSockets
• Dive into internal and external state management strategies
• Build robust user interfaces (UIs) for web apps using Material-UI
• Perform unit testing for your components with Vitest and mocking techniques
• Manage app performance with server-side rendering, lazy components, and Suspense

Who this book is for

This book is for any JavaScript or TypeScript developer who wants to start learning how to use React and React Native for web and mobile app development.

No prior knowledge of React or React Native is required. However, a working knowledge of JavaScript is necessary to be able to follow along with the content covered.

Table of Contents

1. Why React?
2. Rendering with JSX
3. Understanding React Components and Hooks
4. Event Handling in the React Way
5. Crafting Reusable Components
6. Type-Checking and Validation with TypeScript
7. Handling Navigation with Routes
8. Code Splitting Using Lazy Components and Suspense
9. User Interface Framework Components
10. High-Performance State Updates
11. Fetching Data from a Server
12. State Management in React
13. Server-Side Rendering
14. Unit Testing in React
15. Why React Native?

(N.B. Please use the Read Sample option to see further chapters)

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Mikhail Sakhniuk is a seasoned software engineer specializing in TypeScript, React, and React Native. With extensive experience in developing web and mobile applications, he has worked for start-ups, fintech companies, and product companies serving millions of users. Currently, Mikhail holds a Principal Frontend Engineer position at KappaPay. In addition to his professional work, he actively contributes to the developer community by maintaining several open-source projects and sharing his knowledge through books and articles.

Rodrigo Lobenwein is a Tech Lead and full-stack engineer who works with React, TypeScript, .NET, and modern cloud architectures. He transitioned to tech after 15 years of leading sales and business teams, bringing an analytical mindset and a product-oriented perspective. Throughout his career, in tech and before it, Rodrigo has been the person teams turn to when they need something explained clearly. This book is a natural extension of that instinct: building solid foundations, one concept at a time.

Adam Boduch has been involved in large-scale JavaScript development for nearly 15 years. Before moving to the frontend, he worked on several large-scale cloud computing products using Python and Linux. No stranger to complexity, Adam has practical experience with real-world software systems and the scaling challenges they pose.