devtools.fm: Developer Tools, Open Source, Software Development Nathan Walker, Eduardo Speroni - NativeScript. Use Native API right in JS
Jul 29, 2024
Nathan Walker and Eduardo Speroni, key contributors to the NativeScript team, share their insights on harnessing native platform APIs within JavaScript. They delve into the evolution of NativeScript and its unique bridging capabilities that set it apart from other frameworks. Performance aspects on Android and iOS are contrasted, alongside a discussion on advancements in NativeScript engines. The potential for NativeScript to expand into desktop environments is explored, highlighting its adaptability and community-driven innovations.
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Platform APIs From JavaScript
- NativeScript exposes platform APIs directly to JavaScript so you can use Swift, Kotlin, Objective-C, or Java constructs from JS.
- It combines native view primitives with web-like templating and CSS to build apps without a webview.
Different Philosophies Than React Native
- NativeScript and React Native both operate on platform view primitives, but NativeScript exposes the platform 'as is' so you can use native paradigms directly.
- That makes NativeScript closer to writing platform code in JS rather than a React-style abstraction layer.
Pre-Gencode Metadata For Performance
- Generate platform metadata at build time to avoid runtime lookup costs and ship it with the app binary.
- Use TypeScript-first typings to catch API mismatches at compile time instead of runtime.