
Deco Software – React Native IDE - uptown
https://www.decosoftware.com/
======
reustle
This looks really interesting and I'd love to try it, but these "refer your
friend to jump ahead in line" tactics are pretty annoying. Stop pushing people
to share it before they've even tried it, and let them share it after they
actually enjoy using it.

~~~
cprayingmantis
And by the time they email me an say that I can download I'll have forgotten
what this project was and what all the hype was about making me less likely to
use it and even less likely to spread the news.

------
epberry
So I just started developing a react native Android app and a react desktop
app in electron and it's actually been a very rewarding experience so far.
Some thoughts I have on this:

1\. I'd be interested to see the Android emulator and live reload in Deco. I'm
using Genymotion and the live reload seems to work about half the time (as in
I usually have to save the file twice to see my changes). It also sometimes
can't connect to Chrome devtools. At some point I'll dive into webpack,
genymotion, watchman, and devtools to see if I can fix these things but it'd
be nice to have everything work smoothly out of the box.

2\. Speaking of devtools, devtools! I could imagine some really nice UI that
wraps devtools directly into Deco but I didn't see that in the video
(admittedly I skipped around a little).

3\. I love the built in styling bar. Right now styling for me involves having
a color palette tab, a CSS reference, and an HTML/React native UI components
reference tab open.

4\. I have one more problem that could probably be solved with a 10 minute
investment on my part: react with electron and react native require different
nodejs versions. React native needs at least v4.0 and I believe electron only
works with 0.12.9 and below. Currently I switch between them using "n". I
suppose this problem is unique to my situation but this is also the kind of
thing an IDE could handle with project settings.

Well this kind of devolved into me listing my pain points with React but I'm
excited to try this editor and I just signed up for the waitlist!

EDIT: clarification on point #4

~~~
saidajigumi
To point #4, _if_ your toplevel react+electron vs. react native projects are
in distinct working directories, then you can use tools like ndenv[1] to
manage node/npm versions using a .node-version file at the root of each
project directory, as well as a configurable 'global' default setting. ndenv
is great for this, since it uses PATH to do its work, and is therefore far
more widely compatible with tooling than nvm. (nvm unfortunately requires
executing within a bash w/ a mess of shell functions injected into it.)

[1] [https://github.com/riywo/ndenv](https://github.com/riywo/ndenv)

------
iLoch
This is interesting, definitely. One thing people should be aware of if
they're new to the React Native environment is that this technology comes
built in. It is a big reason why React Native is such a huge success so far.
You don't need an IDE and switching to one instead of using your own tools
seems like a pretty big negative to me.

Tools such as rnpm allow for automated installation of new extensions (all of
which are available on npm).

Extension installation is as simple as:

rnpm install react-native-video

Deployment is now as simple as:

react-native run-android react-native run-ios

No XCode, no Android Studio, etc. and you get live reloading, Chrome
debugging, etc.

To me this is an ideal workflow, but others may disagree. Some may choose to
build IDEs such as this on top of the existing architecture, that's cool too.
I just want people who are starting out to be aware that there isn't much new
here in terms of work flow efficiency.

~~~
narrowrail
>It is a big reason why React Native is such a huge success so far. You don't
need an IDE...

Sorry if this a stupid question, but is this true if one is also targeting
electron for the 'big 3' desktops for the HN crowd (rather than just mobile
OSs)?

Edit: Clarifications made.

~~~
madeofpalk
React Native is a platform for building _native_ iOS and Android apps (with no
DOM (HTML or CSS)). Electron is about web apps for the desktop. Different
things.

------
petrbela
Guys, this is amazing! I've been looking for something like this for a while
and almost ended up building it myself.

What about pricing? Will the editor be free with premium paid services like
push to deploy?

~~~
daverecycles
The IDE will always be free for developers. We may add premium services in the
future.

------
mrspeaker
Very nifty! One question I have is that many React Native components that
expose native functionality tend to have an extra step in the install process
that looks like this: [https://github.com/ProjectSeptemberInc/gl-react-
native/raw/m...](https://github.com/ProjectSeptemberInc/gl-react-
native/raw/master/docs/install-steps.png) \- where you have to drag in and
link the library in xcode. Are these types of components handled automagically
too?

~~~
armandososa
I recently worked on a RN project, after months of not touching it, and found
out that there's a new thing called rnpm
([https://github.com/rnpm/rnpm](https://github.com/rnpm/rnpm)) that solves
this issue.

~~~
amk_
RNPM is pretty good, but it doesn't work with some libraries that require
slightly unique initialization steps or paths. I imagine this will eventually
lead to some kind of postinstall hook in the module packages, which will be
picked up by RNPM.

------
cbrevik
What exactly constitutes the Deco package registry?

Will I need to submit my React Native libraries to a new registry? Or are you
working with something like [http://js.coach](http://js.coach) (formerly
react.parts)?

~~~
daverecycles
For the beta, we currently have our own registry, but we are looking into ways
to integrate with others.

~~~
cbrevik
Okay! And presumably for the code scaffolding you will eventually let library
authors customize that themselves?

~~~
daverecycles
Yep, that's right.

------
whatever_dude
Any info on platforms supported (Mac, Windows, Linux)? I know React Native's
toolset is mostly built for OSX with some native tool dependencies (e.g.
Homebrew) and am afraid this will be repeated here.

~~~
daverecycles
Though the current beta builds are for OS X, we built Deco with Windows and
Linux in mind. So keep an eye out for those!

~~~
cprayingmantis
Are you sure there's an app to download? No offense but this seems like some
shady promotion to just build an email list. Not one person here has said
they've used the application or that they've got an invite.

------
JamesLefrere
This is one of the most useful-looking things I've seen on HN for some time,
going by the video. It's a step closer to being able to live art-direct (as it
were) sitting with a developer.

------
gorkemyurt
This is great! Helps a ton for someone new to react native, lowers the already
low barrier to entry. Integration with microsoft code push
([https://github.com/Microsoft/react-native-code-
push](https://github.com/Microsoft/react-native-code-push)) could be cool.

~~~
lostintangent
We (the CodePush team) would love to discuss what that kind of integration
might look like :)

------
cridenour
My wife is a designer who has been getting into react-native with me. She
would absolutely love this UI. Looking forward to trying it!

------
skrowl
The screenshots seem to indicate full Apple walled garden. Will this work on
Windows?

~~~
daverecycles
Currently OS X only, but we built it to be cross platform so keep an eye out
for Windows version.

~~~
mamcx
What?, Wait... React Native have windows support? or is comming? And linux?

------
leesalminen
I'm very excited to try this out. We've built one (very simple) React Native
application so far and felt like the build chain could use some improvements.

Do you plan on supporting imports instead of require?

~~~
daverecycles
Absolutely! Everyone has their own preferred style for the new ES6 syntax, and
we want to support it all.

------
api
You should add support for desktop too, like:

[https://github.com/ptmt/react-native-desktop](https://github.com/ptmt/react-
native-desktop)

~~~
mwcampbell
Why not just use browser-based React inside a wrapper like Electron to build
desktop apps? Is performance much better when using a desktop implementation
of React Native?

~~~
api
That's not native, and is much bulkier and slower.

------
phantom_package
This looks like a really cool piece of software, but I think a lot of it's
best features should be unbundled or made available in the IDE you already
use.

Namely:

* Simple package search + install _without_ opening a web browser * React-native hot-reloading * Scaffolding of added components, with required props filled in

I really don't want to use a different IDE, and lose everything I've got in my
current IDE - I use webstorm, so this would be Live Templates, key bindings,
etc.

That said, I'm really excited to see people building software that makes
building react-native apps easier. It's not that it's too difficult right now
- rather, it's awesome that the development workflow is so hackable, and that
the react-native (and react) ecosystems seem to be evolving so rapidly, and
are so willing to try out new ideas.

Anyways, nice work Deco Software, keep it up :-)

------
idle_zealot
I couldn't find anything about supported platforms on the site. Will this
target Linux, or just OSX?

~~~
daverecycles
We built Deco to be cross platform so we will be able to support Linux in the
future. Currently OS X only.

------
marknutter
I apologize that this comment is slightly off topic but does it worry anybody
else that people are putting so many of their eggs in the React basket?
Considering how fickle the world of front-end libraries can be..

------
rafael-rinaldi
This looks way better than things like Framer. Not only the code is more
flexible (not a DSL nor their own API) but it's actually a React component
that you can use anywhere. The IDE looks rad too.

------
joeblau
This looks pretty awesome. I really like the import package feature with the
scaffolding. That looks like it saves a ton of time on whatever you're
building.

------
petrbela
The left sidebar with Actions, Constants etc suggests use of some specific
Flux library. Which one is that? Could others be used, too?

------
grav
Looks nice. Here's hoping you'll do support for ClojureScript and Reagent. Or
open source it and let me do it :-)

------
lucidrains
Released an app with react native recently and had an extremely pleasant
experience throughout! Two thumbs way way up!

------
AngeloAnolin
Are beta testing only focused on select group of users? Signed up for beta and
told there is a waiting line for it.

~~~
daverecycles
We are adding users to the beta in batches as quickly as the team can support.
We're working very closely with our beta group.

------
ranyefet
Looks awesome! We just released our React Native iOS app (
[https://yes.no](https://yes.no) ) and I will definitely try it out!

Good luck!

------
vhiremath4
This is incredible.

------
rco8786
Wow this is pretty impressive. Good job OP

------
paste0x78
The beta signup form (#download) is broken in FF. The lower text is cut off.
OSX: 10.10.5 FF: 43.0.4

~~~
daverecycles
Please send me an email at dchen@decosoftware.com and I'll look into it. We're
having trouble reproducing the issue in Firefox. Thanks!

~~~
daverecycles
We figured it out and it should work on Firefox now. Thanks for reporting the
issue! :)

~~~
paste0x78
Yep I can confirm that its working. No problem :)

------
ioab
fascinating video. love the IDE and the great convenient it offers.

------
esaym
Looks good, definitely going to try it out.

------
dheera
Here's hoping for a Linux version ...

------
al_chemist
Closed beta and a lot of marketing. Nothing to see here.

------
googletron
we have been building a few react native apps at gyrosco.pe/apps we have been
loving it. Interested to see if we could add this to our flow easily.

------
sebbean
can i use it?

------
niftylettuce
OR you could just install react native CLI tools, then use the BUILT IN hot
module reloading (which is basically like LiveReload for web editing), and
just do it yourself without this bloated piece of thing.

Look how beautiful these docs are:

[https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-
started...](https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started.html)

Now would you rather rely on something that one person made? Or would you rely
on a huge group of amazing folks, which would GLADLY help you with your
project, such as the folks from Discord channel or ExponentJS on Slack.

[http://slack.exponentjs.com/](http://slack.exponentjs.com/)

~~~
dang
We detached this subthread from
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11075830](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11075830)
and marked it off-topic.

------
niftylettuce
Haha not really, it's bloated. You end up wasting time dragging a slider when
you could just put in a number and enable HMR hot module reloading which is
BUILT INTO REACT NATIVE. Lol.

~~~
dang
You've inundated this thread with uncivil and dismissive comments. I'm sure
you do know a lot about this space, but the way you've chosen to express it
here is not at all ok.

People go on tilt sometimes, so it's not the end of the world, but we're
banning your account for now. If you don't want it to stay banned, email
hn@ycombinator.com.

We detached this comment from
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11075389](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11075389)
and marked it off-topic.

------
frozenport
Android is over 70% of the market.

~~~
imaginenore
But Apple is over 60% of the market, which a more important metric for most
developers.

[https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/2015-q1...](https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/2015-q1-market-
index-charts_barchart.png)

(I'm an Android guy myself, just trying to be realistic)

~~~
frozenport
But React apps aren't the kind you sell (like games), instead they are
typically used to display data from a server - rather than process it.

Take a look at the showcase, all these apps are free!
[https://facebook.github.io/react-
native/showcase.html](https://facebook.github.io/react-native/showcase.html)

------
jorgecurio
So the commoditization of mobile development begins...

~~~
iampims
isn't it what technology is about? Commoditizing what was exclusive before.

I'm personally glad to see tools simplyfying building a mobile app. The end
goal rarely being producing the app, and more along the lines of producing
value through the app.

I hope it has as big of an impact as what WP did for custom CMS…

------
GantMan
Things I have to say:

* Background noise in your video is annoying.

* Why are you showing your face? I'd rather see your code bigger.

* Using require instead of module imports shows me that this product is going to have trouble keeping pace with FB, Babel, ECMA speeds.

* I'm not in love with adding another IDE

* hello [http://getqwikly.com/](http://getqwikly.com/) all over again

Sorry, but I'm not betting on this horse.

~~~
s986s
This product may die, however I believe competition and the fire to get what
you want is more valuable than king making through bad reviews (whether
intentional or unintentional). Tbh, Im not going to look at the product
because Im more interested in terminal editors at the moment. But criticism
should be used to enhamce a product, not degrade the blood sweat and tears
that went into it

~~~
GantMan
I applaud effort. I just feel there's some glaring gaps that make alarms go
off. I'm sharing those. I know this looks fantastic, but that's when I start
checking for a venire. And when I do, those smells popped up.

