This product may die, however I believe competition and the fire to get what you want is more valuable than king making through bad reviews (whether intentional or unintentional). Tbh, Im not going to look at the product because Im more interested in terminal editors at the moment. But criticism should be used to enhamce a product, not degrade the blood sweat and tears that went into it
I applaud effort. I just feel there's some glaring gaps that make alarms go off. I'm sharing those. I know this looks fantastic, but that's when I start checking for a venire. And when I do, those smells popped up.
Facebook releases so fast. So when something is brand new and it's already not using the latest, I feel afraid.
The example project doesn't use the import syntax, it's using require, and feels like it's coming from ECMA5 in a brand new video. I just worry, can they keep up? Facebook releases breaking changes often so it's a valid concern.
Facebook, as well as most of the code out there, is still using CommonJS, since there are very real issues with ES6 modules that are still unresolved[1]
I'm very excited to try this out. We've built one (very simple) React Native application so far and felt like the build chain could use some improvements.
Do you plan on supporting imports instead of require?
What do you need differently about the build chain? It's so damn simple. Just use code push if you wanted to, then you only have to build & release & submit to app store once. https://microsoft.github.io/code-push/
This looks pretty awesome. I really like the import package feature with the scaffolding. That looks like it saves a ton of time on whatever you're building.
This is great! Helps a ton for someone new to react native, lowers the already low barrier to entry. Integration with microsoft code push (https://github.com/Microsoft/react-native-code-push) could be cool.
I apologize that this comment is slightly off topic but does it worry anybody else that people are putting so many of their eggs in the React basket? Considering how fickle the world of front-end libraries can be..
So I just started developing a react native Android app and a react desktop app in electron and it's actually been a very rewarding experience so far. Some thoughts I have on this:
1. I'd be interested to see the Android emulator and live reload in Deco. I'm using Genymotion and the live reload seems to work about half the time (as in I usually have to save the file twice to see my changes). It also sometimes can't connect to Chrome devtools. At some point I'll dive into webpack, genymotion, watchman, and devtools to see if I can fix these things but it'd be nice to have everything work smoothly out of the box.
2. Speaking of devtools, devtools! I could imagine some really nice UI that wraps devtools directly into Deco but I didn't see that in the video (admittedly I skipped around a little).
3. I love the built in styling bar. Right now styling for me involves having a color palette tab, a CSS reference, and an HTML/React native UI components reference tab open.
4. I have one more problem that could probably be solved with a 10 minute investment on my part: react with electron and react native require different nodejs versions. React native needs at least v4.0 and I believe electron only works with 0.12.9 and below. Currently I switch between them using "n". I suppose this problem is unique to my situation but this is also the kind of thing an IDE could handle with project settings.
Well this kind of devolved into me listing my pain points with React but I'm excited to try this editor and I just signed up for the waitlist!
To point #4, if your toplevel react+electron vs. react native projects are in distinct working directories, then you can use tools like ndenv[1] to manage node/npm versions using a .node-version file at the root of each project directory, as well as a configurable 'global' default setting. ndenv is great for this, since it uses PATH to do its work, and is therefore far more widely compatible with tooling than nvm. (nvm unfortunately requires executing within a bash w/ a mess of shell functions injected into it.)
As a HEAVILY involved React Native developer, I am strongly suggesting you to NOT use Deco Software. It's pointless. Get Vim or Atom editor if you want to build a React Native app. There are CLI tools anyways to make your life easier. Your hardest battle will be you needing to afford a new computer to be able to run both the iOS simulator and Android simulator (or Genymotion) all at the same time. HMR reloading is already in RN v0.18+ I believe. I'm on 0.20 and it's AWESOME. We even have pull to refresh in now. The RN docs are FINE. Don't use this IDE. Again, don't use it!!! You're better off learning on your own with GitHub. The environment changes so much, because its so new, and things break all the time, that you'll be left in the dust because of this IDE. Just look at my GitHub activity feed to see all the issues that spring up, not to mention all the ones I don't bother documenting because I want to keep moving so fast.
so i need to learn IOS and Android development to learn what's going on behind the scenes as well? Ideally right? But that's definitely not a prerequisite of building RN apps. Abstractions are great if its done well..
Why the bad karma? Look, there are people that like Emacs (like me) and there are people, especially designers, that like drag-and-drop. Even if all it accomplishes is rapid prototyping, there is great value in closing the gap between UXPin and Emacs.
I disagree. This seems to strike a good balance between ease of use and power. It offers a visual tool for layout while still placing the code front and center.
Haha not really, it's bloated. You end up wasting time dragging a slider when you could just put in a number and enable HMR hot module reloading which is BUILT INTO REACT NATIVE. Lol.
You've inundated this thread with uncivil and dismissive comments. I'm sure you do know a lot about this space, but the way you've chosen to express it here is not at all ok.
People go on tilt sometimes, so it's not the end of the world, but we've banned your account for now. If you don't want it to stay banned, email hn@ycombinator.com.
I tried to below, but I continously get downvoted by friends of the OP here. This thing is a joke, the time you spend reading about it and trying to get it installed/setup you could have already read the docs for RN, installed the ACTUAL React Native CLI tools that Facebook THEMSELVES! This is for people that are lazy, don't actualy build a product that gets anywhere, or prototype something that is actually junk and needs rewritten because they had no idea what they were doing, because they didn't read the docs that the creators of RN put SO much effort into maintaining (WITH EXAMPLES!).
I've no idea who the OP is and I've downvoted you. Your comments are rude and inflammatory. I'd imagine most of the other downvotes are from people who feel the same, rather than friends of the OP.
There are a lot of fanboy lurkers that downvote me because they are friends of the OP on here. That's why. The hate is because I am so frustrated with all the scrubs on here that praise this thing when they could just use the amazing tools that Facebook and the open source crowd made to do this themselves, actually learning to code and think. Instead of dragging sliders and stuff. There is built in LiveReloading into React Native now even. This is a useless layer for noobs is the message I am trying to get across, that will leave you with an app that needs rewritten from scratch.
> There are a lot of fanboy lurkers that downvote me because they are friends of the OP on here.
FYI: I'm not a friend of OP but are down voting most of your posts here. If something, you look like the fanboy here.
I now see elsewhere that you are an active react native developer. You should be happy for people building a community around the platform, shouldn't you?
I did look at his repo and it's respectable. Putting aside the personality issues the way we do with Terry Davis (TempleOS) I'd like to hear his complaints about this.
This is one of the most useful-looking things I've seen on HN for some time, going by the video. It's a step closer to being able to live art-direct (as it were) sitting with a developer.
OR you could just install react native CLI tools, then use the BUILT IN hot module reloading (which is basically like LiveReload for web editing), and just do it yourself without this bloated piece of thing.
Now would you rather rely on something that one person made? Or would you rely on a huge group of amazing folks, which would GLADLY help you with your project, such as the folks from Discord channel or ExponentJS on Slack.
Look, you're clearly passionate about React-Native, but surely there has to be a better way to channel it than this?
How about an article explaining why it's better not to rely on on something like this, and why your way is better. Complete with samples to git clone. Then you can present it with your own thread. I am sure if you think about it, you'll realise it's a better approach.
I mean you don't need to trash someones project like a total klabnik. It's not a good way to live, trust me.
125 comments
[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 191 ms ] thread* Background noise in your video is annoying.
* Why are you showing your face? I'd rather see your code bigger.
* Using require instead of module imports shows me that this product is going to have trouble keeping pace with FB, Babel, ECMA speeds.
* I'm not in love with adding another IDE
* hello http://getqwikly.com/ all over again
Sorry, but I'm not betting on this horse.
What does that mean?
The example project doesn't use the import syntax, it's using require, and feels like it's coming from ECMA5 in a brand new video. I just worry, can they keep up? Facebook releases breaking changes often so it's a valid concern.
[1] https://twitter.com/sebmck/status/692443162804092928
What about pricing? Will the editor be free with premium paid services like push to deploy?
Do you plan on supporting imports instead of require?
Will I need to submit my React Native libraries to a new registry? Or are you working with something like http://js.coach (formerly react.parts)?
1. I'd be interested to see the Android emulator and live reload in Deco. I'm using Genymotion and the live reload seems to work about half the time (as in I usually have to save the file twice to see my changes). It also sometimes can't connect to Chrome devtools. At some point I'll dive into webpack, genymotion, watchman, and devtools to see if I can fix these things but it'd be nice to have everything work smoothly out of the box.
2. Speaking of devtools, devtools! I could imagine some really nice UI that wraps devtools directly into Deco but I didn't see that in the video (admittedly I skipped around a little).
3. I love the built in styling bar. Right now styling for me involves having a color palette tab, a CSS reference, and an HTML/React native UI components reference tab open.
4. I have one more problem that could probably be solved with a 10 minute investment on my part: react with electron and react native require different nodejs versions. React native needs at least v4.0 and I believe electron only works with 0.12.9 and below. Currently I switch between them using "n". I suppose this problem is unique to my situation but this is also the kind of thing an IDE could handle with project settings.
Well this kind of devolved into me listing my pain points with React but I'm excited to try this editor and I just signed up for the waitlist!
EDIT: clarification on point #4
[1] https://github.com/riywo/ndenv
No, it's not. Prototyping.
npm install -g react-native
react-native init myproject
cd myproject
# open xcode simulator or android emulator
# make changes to index.ios.js and read the damn docs
# otherwise you end up dragging slides and dragging drop
# having no idea what actually goes on behind the scenes
# when if you learned what went on behind the scenes
# you could code so so much faster and have so much more control
People go on tilt sometimes, so it's not the end of the world, but we've banned your account for now. If you don't want it to stay banned, email hn@ycombinator.com.
We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11075389 and marked it off-topic.
This is like selling candy to kids, when the candy is actually bad for you.
https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started...
FYI: I'm not a friend of OP but are down voting most of your posts here. If something, you look like the fanboy here.
I now see elsewhere that you are an active react native developer. You should be happy for people building a community around the platform, shouldn't you?
Look how beautiful these docs are:
https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started...
Now would you rather rely on something that one person made? Or would you rely on a huge group of amazing folks, which would GLADLY help you with your project, such as the folks from Discord channel or ExponentJS on Slack.
http://slack.exponentjs.com/
I mean you don't need to trash someones project like a total klabnik. It's not a good way to live, trust me.