Chapter 1, First Project - Creating a Basic To-Do List App, begins the process of writing a to-do list application with React Native. You will plan the app and gain an overview of StyleSheet, Flexbox, and ES6. You will also create the building blocks of the app with four different parts of the React Native SDK.

Chapter 2, Advanced Functionality with the To-Do List App, dives deeper into the app we started build in the first chapter. You will learn how to handle navigation, date and time selection, building buttons, and create a custom collapsible and animated component for use in the app. You will also take those lessons and translate them into an Android version of the app.

Chapter 3, Second Project - The Budgeting App, will begin the second project of the book. You will plan an expense-tracking application, install a third-party vector icon library for React Native, create utility files that can be used throughout the app, and create a Modal component.

Chapter 4, Advanced Functionality with the Budgeting App, is a continuation of the second project. You will learn how to create a dropdown-like component for users to select from a list of items and create tabbed navigation for the app.

Chapter 5, Third Project - The Facebook Client, will begin the third and final project of the book. You will plan an app that connects to the third-party Facebook SDK, install said SDK to your project, allow users to log in with their Facebook credentials, then make requests for information.

Chapter 6, Advanced Functionality with the Facebook Client, wraps up the project you began in the previous chapter. You will learn how to build a pull-to-refresh mechanism for the app, render images for your users, allow users to open links without having to leave the app, and then use those lessons to make an Android version of the app.

Chapter 7, Adding Redux, introduces the popular Redux architecture. You will learn how to convert the to-do list app in the second chapter to an app supported by the principles of Redux.

Chapter 8, Deploying Your Applications, shows you how to package, upload and make your apps available for download on the Apple iOS App Store and Google Play Store. You will also gain some tips on creating app logos and screenshots, as well as how to launch beta tests for your apps.

Chapter 9, Additional React Native Components, dives into parts of the React Native SDK that we were not able to fit into the rest of the book. In it, you will build a playground style app learning different parts of the SDK. You will grab data from any third-party endpoints, control the user’s vibration motor, open other installed apps with links in your app, and much more. You will also learn how to convert the budgeting app in the fourth chapter to Android, since space in that chapter was limited.

Hardware-wise, you will need a Mac for this book. The content in this book is iOS-first, and to develop iOS apps you must have an Apple computer. Optionally, both an iOS and Android device would be helpful for testing apps on-device, but not mandatory. There is one API in the final chapter of the book that requires a physical device to test (Vibration), and another where testing would be easier on a physical device (Linking).

You will need to install the React Native SDK for your Mac. Instructions can be found at https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started.html. Prerequisites for installing the React Native SDK are available on that page.

Instructions to install Xcode and Android Studio are also available on that same page for installing the React Native SDK to your machine.

If you are keen on learning to use the revolutionary mobile development tool React Native to build native mobile applications, then this book is for you. Prior experience with JavaScript would be useful.

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Based on this layout, we see that the entry point for the iOS version of our app is index.ios.js and that a specific iOS folder (and Android for that matter) is generated."

A block of code is set as follows:

class Tasks extends Component { 
  render () { 
    return ( 
      <View style = {{ flex: 1, justifyContent: 'center',  
        alignItems: 'center', backgroundColor: '#F5FCFF'  
      }}> 
        <Text style = {{ fontSize: 20, textAlign:  
          'center', margin: 10 }}> 
          Welcome to React Native! 
        </Text> 
      </View> 
    ) 
  } 
}

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

react-native init Tasks

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "When you open the Developer menu, you'll see the following options."

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