Like most modern development, there are a few tools required to build a React Native application. Luckily, React Native is pretty easy to configure relative to many frameworks out there. We'll get into installing all these tools shortly. First, let's review what all the tools are how they fit into the bigger picture of developing a React Native app.
In order to build an iOS application, you'll need Apple's Xcode IDE. React Native runs on iOS 7 and above. This means that you'll need Xcode version 7.0 or higher. (We'll be using Xcode 8 in this book.) Whether you love, hate, or are altogether indifferent about Xcode, we won't actually be spending much time in it.
Initially, we'll just use Xcode to launch our app in the iOS Simulator. Also, because we'll mostly be testing our app in the iOS Simulator, you don't need to worry about enrolling in the Apple iOS Developer Program. However, if and when you wish to ship an app to the App Store, you will need...