Being a JavaScript developer gives you an edge over others in a project that needs mobile development in the React Native framework.

1. React Native is based on React.js which is written in JavaScript

The number one reason why React Native is so appealing is that you code your entire app in JavaScript. Hence, for a JS developer, the React Native framework isn’t that unfamiliar. Unlike native apps, you don’t need to learn Swift, Objective-C, or Java to code in React Native. The entire app is completely written in JavaScript. If you know JavaScript or you have a JavaScript developer, React Native is very easy to learn. 

2. React Native’s learning curve is negligible for a JS developer

In React Native, native modules are wrapped as components and you write them in JavaScript, so the learning curve is quite small for JavaScript developers to get on board with React Native. This means that web developers can leverage their existing knowledge in JavaScript to write mobile apps. This is great because React Native has generated a lot of excitement among web developers to get on board with mobile development. 

3. JavaScript: Most popular programming language

Finally, JavaScript is the most popular programming language in the world today. According to Stack Overflow’s Annual Survey of 2018, for the sixth year in a row, JavaScript has ranked as the most commonly used programming language. 

This doesn’t surprise me at all, because over the years JavaScript has only gotten better. Here are the results from the Stack Overflow survey of 2019. You can see JavaScript ranks number 1 with 69. 7% of the responders voted that it is their most commonly used programming language. Impressive, isn’t it? Followed by HTML/CSS with 63. 1%. 

You can notice here that all three top commonly used languages are related to web development. That speaks a lot. It makes sense now why React Native chose JavaScript as their programming language. It’s a wise choice, indeed, and I’m sure it’ll attract a lot of web developers into the mobile development space purely because of the popularity of JavaScript.