IDC report: React Native changes the rules of the game for hybrid mobile app development

[51CTO.com Quick Translation] The JavaScript framework from Facebook can provide a set of interface solutions that are no different from the native interface in terms of usage experience, while continuing to maintain the agile development advantages of Web applications.

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Facebook's React Native JavaScript framework has emerged as a game changer in hybrid mobile app development, according to a recent IDC research report.

The report, titled "The Evolution of Mobile Software Development," was written by IDC analyst Al Hilwa and mentions React Native, Telerik's NativeScript, and Appcelerator's Titanium as examples of how to use Web platform skills and development workflows to build sophisticated applications. This hybrid development approach, combining Web technologies with JavaScript and compiled or native device objects, will redefine hybrid Web applications, the report explains.

By releasing these solutions, especially React Native and NativeScript, as open source, this will be a great help to developers. React Native has gained considerable market traction, the report states, because it can provide a set of interface solutions with a native interface experience while maintaining the agility of web development.

"IDC believes that React Native brings an important new specification to hybrid application development, and its success has helped mobile developers break free from the WebView component that was commonly used in Apache Cordova hybrid solutions. By eliminating the dependency on WebView, React Native can essentially provide native-level performance and open a door to native device platforms for web developers," the report emphasized. However, in this regard, React Native is still immature and may not be able to meet the actual needs of enterprise users until the end of 2016, IDC pointed out.

Of course, web development has always lagged behind native development in terms of functionality. "My feeling is that native development is still the best mobile development solution for consumer and even business-to-consumer applications," Hilwa wrote in an email. "Web development is growing rapidly, and as I pointed out in the report, all kinds of web-based solutions will become more popular in the mobile business application level." The report also pointed out that the disadvantage of native development is that it requires a lot of effort and time from developers, and it is relatively inefficient in terms of time to market.

IDC also believes that HTML 5 "will eventually rise", when browser vendors will more fully support the standard and limit plug-in support. The report also mentioned that enterprise customers are increasingly taking a coordinated approach, using a unified front-end mobile development effort to connect Web, mobile and desktop environments. In view of this, Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform model will become an important goal for enterprise software developers, and Android and iOS will also join this transformation, IDC said.

Among other findings, IDC said the principle of microservices -- building complex systems with independent components that still fit together to form a complete system -- has been expanding in mobile development. "First, most backend services now provide APIs that can be used directly by mobile devices," the report states. "While this feature may not be useful in large-scale mobile deployments, there is an increasing number of mobile API aggregation services being developed to pre-integrate data and assets from mobile devices so that they can be more fully utilized within front-end devices or IoT software and back-end systems."

Original title: IDC: React Native changes the game for hybrid mobile app development

[Translated by 51CTO. Please indicate the original translator and source as 51CTO.com when reprinting on partner sites]