EXPO vs CLI, Which is preferrable for building ReactNative Mobile Apps

#reactnative #javascript #react #expo

*Background :: *

I am a FullStack javascript developer and i'm trying to maximise the application of javascript to every area of interest, from web(frontend & Backend), desktop and mobile application development and also TV apps in the future.

I Currently build web applications frontend and backend using Javascript, but i need to extend it to mobile devices because of this one issue. i used ionic in the past, but my love for react has made me adapt all my applications to the react-application structure.

*Problem *
I need your opinions on which is better with reasons, i tried Expo a while ago, and it had tons of advantages, but a lot of issues while building and running the application.

Even when i ran into certain issues i went online and most developers couldn't provide resources for all the issues mentioned, so i resorted to not using it except it had been fully proven.

I also saw opinions of other developers saying CLI is a bit cumbersome with its processes but most of the issues are based on the advantages when using Expo.

I need opinions from other developers on the WHY's if there's any of whether EXPO is better and if i should resort to it, or if CLI is better and if i should remain there.

Top comments (3)

Anas Nabil • Jul 28 '22

Expo Go comes with a pre-configured set of libraries, known as the Expo SDK. This makes development much faster, and essentially makes the mobile development experience much closer to the web development experience. However, additional native code cannot be added to Expo Go on the fly, so this means you are limited in terms of what dependencies you can add.

In the bare workflow, we have full access to the underlying native projects and any native code. It's a "bare" native project with React Native and one or more packages from the Expo SDK installed. Anything that you can do in a native project is possible here.

Why not expo?

Ande Caleb • Jul 28 '22

true, it does come with its advantages, but a lot of issues in development, and i try as much as possible to avoid issues on production, as to what customers may run into.
now the issue is, isn't there a way one could build react native using CLI and still harness the power of Expo while utilizing other libraries.
i loved expo while using it, but the issues i ran into, made my experience terrible, i've been trying to delve into flutter development, and i still would, but at the moment, it wouldnt be bad to see how best to master react native CLI.

Ande Caleb • Jul 28 '22

a lot of those issues still unresolved. here's a list and it just keeps increasing..
github.com/expo/expo-cli/issues

its just not good for a while in development process... this gives me concern... as to what happens if an issue is unresolved, and more keeps piling up each day.

DEV Community

EXPO vs CLI, Which is preferrable for building ReactNative Mobile Apps

Top comments (3)

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