back to article Microsoft looks to React Native as a way to tackle the cross-platform development puzzle

Microsoft has hinted that cross-platform development framework React Native is a key solution to the problem of writing applications that span both Windows and mobile. Cross-platform development is critical for Microsoft since both first-party and third-party apps accessing Office 365 or Azure services need to run on iOS and …

  1. MrKrotos

    I read that as React OS

    Even the logo thingy looks the same(ish)

  2. bombastic bob Silver badge
    Devil

    Microsoft "not depending on .Net" for cross-platform development

    Well, according to the article, the title is what's happening.

    And yet, also from the article:

    "In 2016 the company acquired Xamarin, enabling development for iOS, Android and macOS using C# and .NET. Microsoft has also invested in .NET Core, which runs on Windows, macOS and Linux."

    Yeah, how's that going again, Microsoft, with ".Not" development at around 8% of the TIOBE index? That includes BOTH VB and C-POUND by the way... which last I checked were 4%-ish each.

    "React Native for Windows generates .NET code, but this will be replaced with a C++ implementation in an upcoming release"

    That sounds like a clue "has been gotten" to me. /me slow-claps

    "WinUI, which is the next-generation API for Windows desktop applications, is built in C++"

    Probably "yet another failed framework", but they're at least steering towards the right general direction this time.

    (Hey Microsoft: LEAVE Win32 API ALONE, and do NOT *REQUIRE* using SHARED LIBS!!! I static link MFC runtime for my windows stuff, DELIBERATELY *NOT* using shared MFC or runtime because *I* do *NOT* want "the midnight phone call" when some *IDIOT* installs a game or virus-ridden 'something' and KILLS MY APPLICATION with it by replacing MFC and/or runtime with NEW DLLs. I learned this lesson in the 90's, when YOU broke ODBC with Win '98 and '95 OSR/2's shared MFC DLLs)

    Yeah, _I_ have been using MFC (and before that, direct Win32) with windows applications since Visual C++ 1.0 so there ya go. I have my preferences and prejudices, and ain't changing. because, after all, I am *RIGHT* about these things, and I don't apologize for my CONFIDENCE.

    1. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: Microsoft "not depending on .Net" for cross-platform development

      I should've mentioned, wxWidgets is very MFC-like *AND* cross-platform.

      MS can't you JUST use THAT???

      1. trevorde Silver badge

        Re: Microsoft "not depending on .Net" for cross-platform development

        There's also Qt... Not sure if there's a market for cross-platform software as Windows dominates the desktop market.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Microsoft "not depending on .Net" for cross-platform development

        Maybe because MFC is terrible and the only reason you'd use it is if you don't know anything else and haven't looked for better alternatives in 20 years.

    2. chucklepie

      Re: Microsoft "not depending on .Net" for cross-platform development

      Crikey, you're a bit of a Microsoft hater. Don't let it get in the way of a proper critique of the technology.

      You sound like a typical brexiteer blaming immigrants for the decline of the nhs.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Microsoft "not depending on .Net" for cross-platform development

        And you sound like a typical remoaner. If the topic has nothing to do with Brexit, don't mention Brexit.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Microsoft "not depending on .Net" for cross-platform development

          Or just "don't mention Brexit". :) (it seems doing so has about a 90% chance of causing a problem, irrespective of the correctness/wrongness/context of said statement)

  3. tekHedd

    Your turn is coming

    Mono has been the bastard stepchild ever since... oh right it always has been. Flavor of the month doesn't last. Enjoy it while it does.

    1. J27

      Re: Your turn is coming

      I suspect they'll merge Xamarin in with .NET Core... Sorry .NET 5.

  4. GPapadopoulos

    Xamarin vs React.Native

    I think MS will keep both, similar to what they did with SL and HTML5. However I don't think they're dropping either in this case, because 1st, this is a different MS; and 2nd, it wants to be able to attract as many developer audiences as possible, as the article says anyway.

    1. Major Page Fault

      Re: Xamarin vs React.Native

      I'm not sure since they only mention mobile and Windows Desktop. Many developers prefer Mac OS or Linux.

  5. Steve Channell
    Happy

    This is more to do with webassembly

    Web assembly changes everything and is destined for the Universal client platform React fills the GUI hole for browser integration

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. Bronek Kozicki
    Trollface

    So ...

    ... when will VSCode get rid of Electron?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can someone please explain......

    Quote: "The React web framework was developed by Facebook for building a user interface in JavaScript."

    *

    Am I dreaming here, or maybe I'm just a completely uninformed outsider........but doesn't this article assume that 99% of "application programming" targets "the web"?

    *

    Here at Fedora Mansions almost all programming is being done in Python3. Almost all database support is either SQLITE or various ways of integrating legacy dBASE tables. Almost all GUI programming is done using Glade and Python3 and GObject/GTK. Now...my uninformed take is that all of this is potentially "cross platform". And the (very few admittedly) times I've built the same functionality in both C and Python, Python HAS NOT COME OUT SIGNIFICANTLY SLOWER. I know, I know....your mileage will vary.

    *

    So why the focus in this article on Micro$oft and Windows? I don't understand. Can someone please explain.....

  8. Danny 14

    We did a quick xamarin mobile app to interface with our intranet. It was quick and painless plus it just worked. This was using VS2019.

  9. atarasyuk

    ReactXP

    I think worth to mention that MS has an OOS project called ReactXP. The new version of Skype uses https://github.com/microsoft/reactxp, which is based on React / React Native, React Native Windows.

    1. jelabarre59

      Re: ReactXP

      I think worth to mention that MS has an OOS project called ReactXP

      Is that so they can confuse people looking for ReactOS? Or are they going to claim a trademark violation on a project that started in 1998?

  10. This post has been deleted by its author

  11. maexfrae

    Xamarin.Forms vs. ReactNative

    ReactNative has the advantage that many webdevelopers can step in fastly and do some app programming but if you have to write any iOS/Android/UWP platform specific code your are lost. You have to use muliple IDE (XCode, Android Studio, VSCode, VS,... ) with its properitary languages like Kotlin, Java, Objective-C or Swift... despite of using also JavaScript on ReactNative side. Furthermore the JSON-JavaScript bridge of ReactNative is still very slow (see E.g. DroidCon2019 WIX screencast). Furthermore ReactNative code is not compatible to React. Its just similar. As is said -> Learn once, develope everywhere instead of -> Xamarin: Write once run everywhere.

    RN has hotreloading feature which is very cool. But also Xamarin supporting that already.

    With Xamarin (Forms) you wirte everything in .NET, even any newest API given by iOS / UWP or Android. Customizing any platform specific UI controls is also easily possible and for debugging you just use VS2019 for any plattform.

    So Xamarin wins clearly if you have to write advanced Apps, may have to access bluetooth or other non trivial APIs or want to write plattform specific code / UI controls. If developing simple Apps or Apps which interact a lot with web stuff or social plattform integrated app may its more comfortable to got with RN (specially if you have already or only JavaScript experience). But tooling infrastrucutre with RN will be a pain anyway compared to VS2019 today. E.g. just try to push you app on a iPad/iPhone with provisioning profile, thats incredible badly -> Compared to VS2019 / Xamarin.

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