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WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

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Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#11

Post by pavlov »

visarga wrote: post #9
pavlov wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve done both native (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Gtk+, Tizen) and React. Your post comes off as condescending fanboy hype. I understand you want to promote React, but this approach does more damage than good. My personal experience is that “declarative” in this industry is a perennial silver bullet. What often goes unnoticed is that declarative languages are not very future-proof, as extensions are constrained by t…

> imagine you’re stuck working in a 15 year old patched up JavaScript/HTML hybrid That should be quite a powerful language by then, if it's not already.

My point was that the world around will change, and at some point the declarative language that seemed so succinct will become clunky and inadequate to express the new requirements.

Java+XML really is the poster child for this. There was a time when it was the fresh declarative kid. React will most likely follow a similar path, not through any fault of its own.

Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#12

Post by ontouchstart »

faceyspacey wrote: post #6
briandear wrote: post #3

Why a company the size of Walmart does this cross platform crap is beyond me. Do they not have the resources to actually write real native apps in actual Swift? Why is it desirable to code to the the worst common denominators for devices? Cross platform is just lazy. And React “Native” is inferior to actual native.

Ultimately the declarative way of writing apps is objectively better and more predictable than the old mutable way :) Now that said, I agree on the performance costs, and too wonder why Walmart is hellbent on this strategy, given the endless resources they have. But at the end of the day, they have a head of engineering and need to make their lives simpler just like everyone else. If you know how to squeeze the perfo…

Declarative way of thinking is closer to how humans think while imperative code is closer to how machine works. That is why declarative way is objectively better and more predictable to model human behaviors, not necessarily the more efficient for machines.

Performance will improve due to Moore's law and optimizations.

The big picture is with more and more companies open source their technologies, software development is becoming a more and more social activity and Darwinian.

The mindshare winners are the survivors in technology (and talent) market.

Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#14

Post by colomon »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #8
briandear wrote: post #3

Why a company the size of Walmart does this cross platform crap is beyond me. Do they not have the resources to actually write real native apps in actual Swift? Why is it desirable to code to the the worst common denominators for devices? Cross platform is just lazy. And React “Native” is inferior to actual native.

It's this assumption that "same experience on all platforms" (aka "branding") is desirable to "native experience on all platforms". Facebook wants facebook to feel like facebook whether you're on an iPhone or an Android or your PC. Same with Chrome - it eschews native platform UI on all devices in favor of looking the same everywhere. Good UI - by definition - doesn't get in your way. But "good UI" may not be "good m…

I use OS X (laptop), Windows (VM), Android (phone), and iOS (iPad). It's not at all unusual for me to have apps installed on at least three of those platforms, and I really appreciate it when the UI is the same across platforms.

Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#15

Post by jeswin »

pavlov wrote: post #7
faceyspacey wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ultimately the declarative way of writing apps is objectively better and more predictable than the old mutable way :) Now that said, I agree on the performance costs, and too wonder why Walmart is hellbent on this strategy, given the endless resources they have. But at the end of the day, they have a head of engineering and need to make their lives simpler just like everyone else. If you know how to squeeze the perfo…

I’ve done both native (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Gtk+, Tizen) and React. Your post comes off as condescending fanboy hype. I understand you want to promote React, but this approach does more damage than good. My personal experience is that “declarative” in this industry is a perennial silver bullet. What often goes unnoticed is that declarative languages are not very future-proof, as extensions are constrained by t…

> Java+XML and CSS — both of these were hailed as declarative breakthroughs originally, and today they are the stuff of “TheDailyWTF” nightmares.

Java+XML isn't declarative, XSLT was. XSLT declined when XML declined. CSS works quite well even today and is still widely used.

Declarative coding style is in many ways resistant to obsolescence since you're just declaring what you want than how to do it. The best example is SQL; mostly unchanged in decades.

Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#17

Post by pavlov »

jeswin wrote: post #15
pavlov wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve done both native (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Gtk+, Tizen) and React. Your post comes off as condescending fanboy hype. I understand you want to promote React, but this approach does more damage than good. My personal experience is that “declarative” in this industry is a perennial silver bullet. What often goes unnoticed is that declarative languages are not very future-proof, as extensions are constrained by t…

> Java+XML and CSS — both of these were hailed as declarative breakthroughs originally, and today they are the stuff of “TheDailyWTF” nightmares. Java+XML isn't declarative, XSLT was. XSLT declined when XML declined. CSS works quite well even today and is still widely used. Declarative coding style is in many ways resistant to obsolescence since you're just declaring what you want than how to do it. The best example…

XML is certainly declarative.

As far as CSS goes — ask any front-end web developer if they would like all programming to be more like CSS...? It is a collection of thousands of properties, often overlapping or contradictory, some with their own sublanguages for further specification, and many features are defined as hidden side effects of one property when nested inside another. A total mess.

You can only declare what you want if the language lets you say it. (Think of Wittgenstein’s famous maxim.) SQL was a great design informed by decades of research. Most software designs are not like that, unfortunately.

Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#18

Post by nerdponx »

briandear wrote: post #3

Why a company the size of Walmart does this cross platform crap is beyond me. Do they not have the resources to actually write real native apps in actual Swift? Why is it desirable to code to the the worst common denominators for devices? Cross platform is just lazy. And React “Native” is inferior to actual native.

Just because you have the resources do so some particular thing doesn't mean you should spend those resources doing that thing.

Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#19

Post by kcorbitt »

mrmondo wrote: post #4
briandear wrote: post #3

Why a company the size of Walmart does this cross platform crap is beyond me. Do they not have the resources to actually write real native apps in actual Swift? Why is it desirable to code to the the worst common denominators for devices? Cross platform is just lazy. And React “Native” is inferior to actual native.

Absolutely agree, I avoid react / JavaScript ‘apps’ at all cost, they perform poorly, use excessive resources and seem to discourage an engineering mindset when writing code.

Out of curiousity, how are you able to detect React Native apps so you can avoid them? Facebook introduced React Native to their main app months before anyone noticed. Airbnb also was using it for a while before they publicly announced the fact.

Re: WalmartLabs opensources its tool for bringing React Native to mobile apps

#20

Post by menckenjr »

faceyspacey wrote: post #6
briandear wrote: post #3

Why a company the size of Walmart does this cross platform crap is beyond me. Do they not have the resources to actually write real native apps in actual Swift? Why is it desirable to code to the the worst common denominators for devices? Cross platform is just lazy. And React “Native” is inferior to actual native.

Ultimately the declarative way of writing apps is objectively better and more predictable than the old mutable way :) Now that said, I agree on the performance costs, and too wonder why Walmart is hellbent on this strategy, given the endless resources they have. But at the end of the day, they have a head of engineering and need to make their lives simpler just like everyone else. If you know how to squeeze the perfo…

I already did give these tools a try and first rat out of the trap the sample code generated by React Native had build errors in production XCode8. I will confess that it did confirm my bias against bringing in any 3rd party dependency at all unless there is absolutely no choice in the matter and it also confirmed my practice of structuring my code so that any dependencies I'm forced to bring into a project (either by time crunch or clueless management) can be removed as soon as possible.
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