React Native vs. Kotlin: A Quick Comparison

Mobile applications have become an emerging platform, and the traffic of mobile applications is very large and people respond very well. Therefore, entrepreneurs focus on the mobile application development process to develop their business to the next level.

To meet all the business requirements, many technologies were introduced and many developers and businesses got confused with different languages ​​and frameworks.

Therefore, we will discuss the most famous technologies like React Native and Kotlin to find out which framework is the best for your application. Let’s get started.

React Native

Facebook created React Native for the development of mobile applications. It is considered as the best JavaScript framework for developing Android and iOS applications. As an open-source platform, React Native is free to meet every business need and develop the latest applications for every developer.

Apps built with React Native

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Uber Eats
• Myntra
• AirBnB

NOTE: In addition to the apps listed above, there are many more apps.

Kotlin

On the other hand, Kotlin is famous for developing web applications and mobile applications on the Android platform. iOS platform capabilities are under development, but Kotlin is always one of the best choices for Android app development.

Applications built with Kotlin

Most of the apps use Kotlin language to develop their Android versions. Some examples are:

• Pinterest
• Evernote
• Corda
• Uber
• Atlassian or Trello

Since most popular applications are built using these technologies, it’s worth comparing them to find out the best platform for your application needs.

React Native and Kotlin

Here are six things we’ll compare to see which framework is best for your application:

1. technology
2. Performance
3. Time and Code
4. Development Environment
5. Developer Support
6. Availability

1. Technology

When talking about the technology stack of these platforms, React Native and Kotlin both have their own development languages ​​that you have to learn to use in your application. You are not allowed or flexible to choose your language.

React Native

React native is generally a JavaScript framework, and developers should use JavaScript/JSX syntax in react native applications, which means that if you want to develop React native-based applications, you need to know JavaScript programming language.

Kotlin

Kotlin is designed specifically for developing mobile applications. Therefore, you can use Kotlin to get the functionality and experience of native applications when developing Android applications.

2. Performance

Performance is one of the factors that developers consider when choosing the best application technology.

React Native

When delving into React Native, there are multiple parts to developing a native experience Android app. With React Native, developers should need JavaScript code to develop an Android app with API components. To achieve these code functions, React Native uses third-party libraries.

Kotlin

On the other hand, Kotlin is designed for Android development and is created with native functions. Therefore, Kotlin automatically provides a native app experience for your Android app and does not require third-party libraries to communicate with your app components. In simple terms, native app technology is more appreciated than cross-platform technology.

Overall, Kotlin provides the best Android app performance compared to React Native.

3. Code reusability

React Native

React native provides you with all the resources you need to build applications efficiently. It allows developers to write code based on any platform such as Android, iOS, or Web.

Kotlin

Kotlin requires less code to use the feature. Therefore, developers can easily and efficiently write or modify the code with the help of Kotlin.

In general, React Native and Kotlin have good code reusability and can help developers design applications with less code.

4. Development Environment

The development environment is the main thing to start the application development process.

Similar to code reusability, the development environment of React Native and Kotlin is also in the same vein.

React Native

With React Native, you can use any integrated development environment (IDE) or text editor with the help of NPM package manager. The “hot reload” feature in React Native helps you reload the code automatically, thus simplifying the development process.

Kotlin

Kotlin also gives you the flexibility to choose the best text editor from many other editors, and Kotlin installation and development does not take much time. The auto-reload feature is a little slow in Kotlin. Therefore, React Native is more productive than Kotlin.

5. Developer Support

React Native

The largest technology company Facebook currently has experienced and professional software engineers to maintain the React Native technology. According to GitHub statistics, React Native has a huge responsive community.

Kotlin

Kotlin is managed by a great company called JetBrains. The JetBrains development team is known for developing the best application IDE. The dedicated developers always focus on the improvement of Kotlin language to help programmers develop efficient Android applications.

6. Availability

React Native

React Native is the best choice for developers who are proficient in JavaScript. You don't need to set up separate teams for Android and iOS app development. Instead, you can use a single React Native team. The React Native framework meets the requirements of both Android and iOS apps.

Kotlin

Kotlin is known for growing effectively to ignore the problems faced by Android developers. Hence, it is considered to be the future of Android applications by providing advanced features to its programmers.

Which is better?

React Native, which is managed by Facebook and used by many popular applications, is undoubtedly one of the best frameworks for developing mobile applications. However, Kotlin is also maintained by coders and passes many tests before release.

If you are planning to develop an Android-only app, then you must consider Kotlin. However, if you want to develop Android and iOS apps along with your web app, then React Native is the best choice for you.