The Ionic team has released Ionic React Release Candidate recently, a progress that is sure to excite the entire developer’s fraternity. The team had come up with Ionic React beta version earlier this year. After seeking contributions and feedback from the community, they have now rolled out Ionic React RC last week.
According to the team, it was Ionic 4.0 that helped them to release the new version. In the past, Angular components were used to develop Ionic. However, in order to incorporate Web Components, Ionic 4.0 had to be rewritten.
In the process, the Ionic framework came into existence. The developers can now use the Ionic framework with not only Angular, but any other front-end framework.
The Ionic team believes that Ionic React RC is among the first prominent releases, which will make Ionic development available to a greater number of developers, working on other frameworks.
Using Ionic 4.0, they have been able to target several frameworks, while a single code base is being used in their core components. This code has been shared across all the necessary frameworks.
Why do Developers Need Ionic React?
Presently, developers are able to get the core components of Ionic imported into React projects. However, they do not enjoy a good experience in the process.
Besides, when the developers work with React’s web components, some boilerplate codes need to be written down. This enables them to communicate properly with the components on the web.
This is where Ionic React becomes necessary. It serves as a thin wrapper, surrounding the core Ionic components. Then they export these components as native React components. Besides, Ionic React eases up the operation for the developers, handling the boilerplate code.
However, the developers still have to write some of the features like lifecycle methods and lifetime management in the native framework. Developers who are interested to do this need to extend the package, using the @ionic/react-router.
What Changes are Likely to Happen?
The Ionic team considers React RC as a Release Candidate. Hence, no major change is expected to occur. Ely Lucas, one of the Software Engineers and Dev Advocates at Ionic stated that they were presently examining certain issues, which showed up whole developing RC.
At present, they are working on stabilizing some codes. Certain minor fixes of bugs are also being carried out. The team is planning to come up with some additional guides and content in the documents. This will help the developers get a clear idea about the best practices. This will help them use Ionic React RC optimally.
The Ionic team is also getting feedback from the developers. After they get an idea about the reaction of the developers, they are likely to come up with the final product.
In case the developers come across any issue, they can report the same on GitHub repo. They need to use the ‘package react’ tag along with it.
Developers who are interested to know further about Ionic React can chat with the Ionic team. The members will be present between August 22 and 23 at React Rally at Salt Lake City, UT.
Developers from all backgrounds will be present in this community. They have been using related tools like React Native and React.js in different projects over the years.
Getting Started with Ionic React RC
Here’s some generic information. The presence of Node is required to support the installation of Ionic. Once you have Node in place, you can use npm to install Ionic in this way:
sudo npm install -g ionicOnce this is one, you can navigate to a preferred folder and place the Iconic application there. To start working on a new app, you can use this command:
ionic start [appName] [option]Replace appName with your preferred name for the application and option with any of these:
tabs – for tab-based layouts
sidemenu – for side menu-based layouts
blank – for single-page projects
Once this is set up, you can change directory to the preferred folder for Ionic and run the app using this command: ionic serve
For the new Ionic React RC, developers can get the v5 release, the latest version of Ionic CLI and create a project. They need to be specific about the type of react. They can find all the standard templates of Ionic and choose the one that they need.
The project will be created for the developer by the Ionic CLI and the dependencies will be installed. CLI initiates the React bits using CRA (Create React App). Developers, who are well-versed with CRA, can avail the various functionalities that the scripts offer, when they work on Ionic React.
A new folder is created (MyReactApp), and the developers need to run ionic serve from this folder. The app will be launched after compilation in a new window of the browser.
Developers who are interested to get further knowledge about getting started can study the tutorial provided by Ionic on their website.
Things to Look Forward to
So, Ionic React RC has been released and the team wants developers to send them a feedback after testing it out. In case you encounter any issue, you can tag the issue at GitHub repo, as stated. One may also visit the forums and start a discussion or ask any relevant question.
Presently, the Ionic team is focusing on releasing the final Ionic React. They will closely monitor any possible issue, which shows up during the upcoming days.
Besides, they will work on stabilizing the final code and fixing bugs. Apart from this, no significant change is likely to occur in the APIs.
