My React/React-Native Learning Journal: Day #0

1. Before getting started

Setting the expectations:

I'm a Software Engineer - iOS (Objective-C, Swift) and I have programming background since I started high-school (1997)
• I wrote my first programs in Pascal, then C, then Java, Php, C++, C#, Haskel, Lisp, Prolog, etc - part of my studies
• I was hired as C++ developer (back in 2005)
• I fall in love with Mobile/iOS development ~4 years later
• Since then I mainly developed native applications, but I kept learning basic stuff related to Php (backend), CSS/Html/JS (frontend) - just to be able to choose the best solutions when it was about designing the architecture for a mobile (iOS) application.
• I gave a try to Appcelerator and a little to Phonegap - just enough to understand the PROs and CONs. This way I got in touch with JS again. Due to the nature of the projects I worked on, I'd never used such cross-platform approaches. I continued pure native development.

Given these, I expect to be able to use some of my background to have an easier introduction to React/ReactNative world.

2. Why am I doing this?

Because:
• It's not about debating if "native" or "web" is the future on mobile development.
• It's all about knowledge and the journey of achieving it.
• I do believe in continuous learning and personal growth.
• I’m a self learner. I like to learn new things and I learn fast.
• I always give all my best for all what I'm doing. No matter what I'm doing, when I'm doing it - I put myself in it.
• I think that mastering one skill means also to have basic knowledge of all it's related aspects.
• I do believe also that you cannot master multiple skills (technologies, programming languages, etc) in the same time, but you can master one or more "incrementally", as career phases. You can be very good in doing many things (in different or related domains) if you know to combine the skills you had learn over time and to take the best from each, at the right time.
• In software development, the best decision you can take when it comes to choose one approach or another - is to know the PROs and CONs of each approach.
• I want to thrive my technical skills and to become better in all what Software Development means to me and/or people involved.

3. What's next?
I will start with a basic introduction to React/ReactNative and I will setup the working environment.

Note: The title might be misleading, but I won't really keep a "daily" journal. I have a full time job so I want to learn React/ReactNative in my spare time. Even so, I want to share my steps in the process of learning React/React-Native.