Parse Server and React Native

React Native and Parse Server are two of the most popular frameworks used by app developers. Both the frameworks boast a powerful and strong community, along with exceptional features. Below, you’ll find details of the features and advantages of each of the frameworks. 

What is Parse Server?

Initially developed by Facebook, Parse Server is an open-source BaaS (backend as a service) framework. The platform has a robust and active community of passionate developers who constantly strive and innovate to enhance the already modular and impressive platform.

Parse Server Features

• GraphQL / REST APIs– Parse Server enables you to develop dynamic end-to-end REST APIs with very little or no coding. 

• Push notifications – Push notifications are an automatic communication that is sent by an application to a user when the app is not open. Pushes are an amazing marketing vehicle and can assist you in keeping in touch with your app users. Parse allows sending pushes to both iOS and Android devices. 

• Email notifications – Parse Server offers automation to email verification. Users’ email addresses can be verified and their passwords can be reset. 

• Live queries – Sending real-time notifications or live queries is a common feature of Parse. Live queries enable several users to update the same record at once. 

• Social login – Third-party authentication or social login simplifies the authentication process with Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, etc.

• File system – Parse adapters allow you to store data and host files with various providers. The list includes Google Cloud, AWS, and Back4app.

• Data modeling – This is Parse’s most-used feature. It enables developers to organize data straightforwardly and simply. The dashboard looks similar to a spreadsheet, and it allows you to create classes, and the properties can be arranged in a row or column structure. You can also import, export, or filter data in a breeze. 

• Geo queries – Parse enables you to associate real-world longitude and latitude coordinates with an object. This means you can easily find out what user is closest to another. 

• Multiple SDKs – Parse Server has multiple SDKs, and therefore, you don’t have to worry about the platform that you are building for. Whether you are creating for the web and the desktop, the SDKs will help you move faster than you imagined. Ideal for standalone products or experiences that complement mobile apps. 

Parse Server Benefits

The advantages of Parse Server are primarily related to productivity gains during the application development stage. The development of repetitive tasks like developing and exposing APIs, data modeling, sending push and real-time notifications, integrating the backend to mobile SDKs, logs, and so on, are automated by Parse. The platform allows developers to avoid investing their time in boilerplate coding code and focus on high-value tasks.

The main benefits of Parse Server are: 

• Accelerates the app development process 
• Allows the developers to emphasize high-value coding activities
• The overall cost of a software project is reduced 

What is React Native?

React Native is a framework with components for both Android and iOS platforms to build mobile apps with native compatibilities. The framework builds a hierarchy of UI components to build the JavaScript code.

The framework helps developers create exciting and real mobile apps with the help of JavaScript. It is an open-source mobile app framework created by Facebook, Inc.

React Native Features

• Code written in React Native works on almost every mobile platform, including Windows, Android, and iOS

• JavaScript is the programming language used, and this is an easy to learn simple language 

• Focused on UI design, and therefore, greatly responsive and the rendering abilities are one of the best 

• A strong and helpful community in the cross-platform app development world

• Quick and short development time 

• Huge support for third-party libraries 

• Uses NPM or Node Package Manager for installation, which is user-friendly and not difficult to learn 

• Ensures high performance for GPU-oriented apps 

• Live reload feature which provides two screens so that developers can modify code in one and see the modification in the other screen 

React Native Benefits 

• Work is parallelized – Facebook developed a framework known as the Async display kit. This framework enables developers to get rendering off the main thread, and this allows super smooth animations. The same can be accomplished by utilizing Web workers, but there might be some limitations. While Web workers have a complex image decoding process, layouts are difficult, and text measurement isn’t allowed, React Native simplifies these.

• Declarative coding style – This style of coding is one of the main reasons why React Native is so popular. Developers can write codes that are flexible, readable, and not manipulative. The codes help to create amazing UIs that can be understood easily by simply looking at the code. 

• High-end gesture handling – React Native provides access to native gestures, which allows developers to build a gesture system that is sophisticated and advanced. 

• Access to native capabilities – React Native provides access to platform-specific components and capabilities, including native widgets. Without Native, the widgets are not going to work well, and they’ll be laggy. 

• Cross-platform – React Native is not limited to a single platform. The framework can be used to design, code, and release applications for multiple platforms, including Android and iOS. This helps to significantly reduce the hours needed to set up resources and code for individual platforms. 

• Iterations are faster – React Native allows Live Reloading and Hot Reloading options where you get to decide how you will reload your application to view the modifications. The feedback loop also decreases, allowing developers to issue over-the-air code updates with instant rendering. 

• Simplified readability – The coding process and paradigms are simplified due to the declarative style of coding. This results in a code that is easier to read by the developer and the system. The developer can understand what the code will do by simply looking at it instead of rendering it to find out. 

Conclusion

Parse Server and React Native can be used by developers to launch a feature-rich app for Android, iOS, Windows, Unity, and more. They work great together to build best-in-class applications.

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