React Native vs Flutter

React Native is a framework for building mobile applications using JavaScript or TypeScript and React concepts.

It provides components and APIs that allow developers to create applications for mobile platforms.

Flutter is a UI toolkit for building applications using the Dart programming language.

Flutter provides its own collection of widgets for creating application interfaces.

React Native applications can be developed using JavaScript or TypeScript.

function App() {
    return (
        <View>
            <Text>Hello React Native</Text>
        </View>
    );
}

Flutter applications are primarily written using Dart.

void main() {
    runApp(
        const MyApp()
    );
}

Therefore, students learning Flutter need to learn Dart as part of their Flutter development path.

React Native follows the React programming model.

Developers work with concepts such as:

• Components
• Props
• State
• Hooks
• JSX

Flutter uses widgets as the basic building blocks of its user interfaces.

Text, buttons, layouts and many other interface elements are represented using widgets.

Text(
    "Hello Flutter"
)

React Native provides components such as:

• View
• Text
• Image
• TextInput
• ScrollView
• Pressable
• FlatList

Flutter provides widgets for building interfaces.

Common examples include:

• Container
• Text
• Image
• TextField
• Column
• Row
• ListView

React Native commonly uses JSX to describe the structure of a component.

function Welcome() {
    return (
        <View>
            <Text>Welcome</Text>
        </View>
    );
}

Flutter uses Dart code to construct widget trees.

Column(
    children: [
        Text("Welcome"),
        Text("Flutter")
    ],
)

React Native commonly uses JavaScript objects and StyleSheet for styling.

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
    title: {
        fontSize: 24,
        color: "blue"
    }
});

Flutter styling is generally configured through widget properties.

Text(
    "Hello",
    style: TextStyle(
        fontSize: 24
    ),
)

React Native commonly uses Flexbox for arranging components.

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
    container: {
        flex: 1,
        justifyContent: "center",
        alignItems: "center"
    }
});

Flutter provides widgets such as Row, Column, Container and Stack for creating layouts.

Column(
    children: [
        Text("Name"),
        Text("Email")
    ],
)

Both technologies provide different approaches for managing application state.

React Native can use React Hooks such as useState and useReducer.

Flutter commonly uses approaches such as StatefulWidget and various state-management packages.

React Native developers can use React's useState Hook for local component state.

const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

Flutter provides StatefulWidget for widgets whose data can change during their lifetime.

Flutter applications can also use other state-management approaches depending on project requirements.

Both React Native and Flutter provide ways to navigate between application screens.

React Native applications commonly use navigation libraries such as React Navigation.

Flutter provides its own navigation APIs and routing mechanisms.

Both technologies can communicate with REST APIs and backend servers.

React Native can use fetch() or Axios. Flutter can use Dart networking libraries and packages.

React Native
      ↓
   REST API
      ↓
 Backend Server
      ↓
   Database

Both React Native and Flutter can connect to backends such as PHP, Node.js, Python or other server technologies through APIs.

For example, a PHP backend can provide JSON data to a mobile application.

React Native development commonly uses JavaScript or TypeScript tooling, Node.js and editors such as VS Code.

Flutter development commonly uses the Flutter SDK, Dart tooling and editors such as VS Code or Android Studio.

Students who already know React can transfer many concepts to React Native.

• JavaScript
• JSX
• Components
• Props
• State
• Hooks
• Event handling

Students who choose Flutter need to learn Dart because Flutter applications are written primarily in Dart.

Dart fundamentals include variables, functions, classes, collections, null safety and asynchronous programming.

React Native is part of the broader JavaScript and React ecosystem.

Developers can use JavaScript or TypeScript packages and React-based development patterns alongside React Native.

Flutter has its own ecosystem built around Dart and Flutter packages.

The Flutter ecosystem provides packages for navigation, networking, state management, storage and other application features.

Both React Native and Flutter are designed for cross-platform development and can share application logic across supported platforms.

The amount of shared code depends on the application's features and platform-specific requirements.

The appropriate technology depends on your existing skills, project requirements, team preferences and the ecosystem you want to work in.

For a student who already knows JavaScript and React, React Native provides a direct path into mobile application development because many React concepts can be reused.

Students who prefer Dart and the Flutter ecosystem can choose Flutter and learn its widget-based development approach.

The two learning paths can be summarized as follows:

React Native
JavaScript / TypeScript
        ↓
      React
        ↓
  React Native
        ↓
Components & Hooks
        ↓
Navigation
        ↓
APIs & Storage
        ↓
Mobile Projects


Flutter
Dart
 ↓
Flutter
 ↓
Widgets
 ↓
Layouts & State
 ↓
Navigation
 ↓
APIs & Storage
 ↓
Mobile Projects

For this tutorial, we will focus on React Native and build the required mobile development skills step by step.