Ink VS react-native

I've always wanted to build a CLI tool, and when I realized that you can build one using React with Ink, I converted my Python script into a CLI tool.

⚠️ Git for Windows Terminal is currently not supported, and the tool is limited to ink. We will look for alternatives later. Please use CMD, Vscode terminal's Git... terminal

There is a good solution for some of those cases - ink. With ink, I can implement text-based UI with knowledge of React, which is neat but there are still some caveats for my usages:

Looks cool, right? Building a similar UI in the terminal without any library would be quite hard, though, thanks to Ink it's almost as easy as building any frontend UI with React.

ink?

I'm writing a CLI with ink. Writing async code is important as to not block the rendering and respond to user input. I have a few loading animations that update every 100ms. Synchronous operations can make the animation hang for >500ms, making the animation choppy.

You get the comfort of using react components instead of fighting with HTML tables to make your emails look nice. I think it's awesome! It's analog to what ink[0] does with CLI outputs. Sure, you could write fancy CLI outputs in bash, but ink takes the pain out of it and makes it easy.

[0] https://github.com/vadimdemedes/ink

Due to Node's asynchronous behavior, it makes Node great for long-running processes that make a lot of HTTP requests, database calls, and other async ops, like a web server or a REST API. However, if I am making a CLI tool for pretty much personal use only, with very minimal async operations, then blocking the event loop with a synchronous function that will resolve almost immediately will make no difference perceivable to a human brain or have any speed benefits that someone can actually observe (think `fs.readFileSync` or `require('dotenv') of 10 line config file, or a quick embedded db (sqlite) query with only ~100 records. I'm wondering what the best way to implement the database part of the app synchronous. I can read/write to JSON files but it would be tricky because the data is relational, and some complex joins and other data wrangling operations are required (complex to perform in JS but are easy to implement in a SQL statement). It's not important what the operations are, that's not the point of this post. This is mostly a personal project of interest: making this CLI tool completely avoiding any async operations/using no promises. I would like to use node tho, as I said this is just out of interest and I also want to experiment with several CLI libraries such as Ink or Cliffy.

There was always a tiny sparkle in me telling me that I want to develop mobile apps but I never pursued it. It always felt a bit complicated for me to learn development processes in a completely different industry. I did try developing mobile apps using React Native but it never felt right for me. Also, I already tried to write some Kotlin code and so far I like it, but the whole Android ecosystem is still pretty new to me and I feel there will be a lot to learn. Nevertheless, I will try to learn it in parallel with Elixir but Elixir will be my primary goal, and Kotlin / Android will go along depending on how much time I will have.

This is a modified version of the file from the react native cli template

Recently, there has been a notable shift in mobile application development practices. Rather than creating separate applications for each native platform, many developers are opting for hybrid mobile frameworks like React Native.

React Native [ https://reactnative.dev/ ]

Versatility: JavaScript is not limited to web browsers. It's used in a variety of environments, including mobile app development (using frameworks like React Native), game development (using libraries like Phaser), and even serverless computing (using platforms like AWS Lambda).

In the competitive landscape of mobile app development, user experience (UX) has emerged as a critical differentiator. React Native, with its robust framework and versatile capabilities, offers developers a powerful toolkit to create seamless and engaging user experiences. This blog post delves into the design principles and best practices in React Native app development, uncovering how developers can elevate user experience to new heights and drive success in the digital realm.

You can find the React Native documentation here and Flutter Documentation here.

Additionally, React Native, an extension of React.js, enables developers to create hybrid mobile applications with ease.

You don’t know what to do with your time while applying the 5th rule? Start small, tiny steps. If you can’t read much, start small, 15 minutes a day reading a technical article or even a book like Effective Java, by Joshua Bloch. You don’t like to read? Create small projects by using a framework you want to learn. Check for example: React framework.