We’ve looked at the benefits of the React JavaScript library and looked at some great PWA React examples. Now we come to the heart of the matter, the most interesting and practical part of our article. The following part is a PWA development tutorial to clarify how to build a React progressive web application.
Let’s jump into the deep:
Step 1: Set up a simple React app
Use the above tool, Create-react App (or CRA). It’s a very useful environment for those who don’t know how to create PWAs using React. The latest JavaScript features are available through the built-in Babel and the web pack. That’s why you don’t have to worry about the bundles and translations needed to deliver your app to the browser.
Where npx is the command-line tool for running npm packages. The create-react-appear-PWA command builds an application called “cra-PWA”. It will create a basic React app in your cra-PWA directory in seconds. CRA 4 and later do not provide a built-in service worker. To create an application using a service worker by adding the parameter –template cra-template-PWA.
Step 2: Register a service workers
- CRA, therefore, provides all the tools to solve the problem of creating a PWA using React. But how do I run my React progressive web app in offline mode? You must configure the automatically generated ServiceWorker file.
- Here you can see that the Worker service is not yet registered. You must replace the unregister () call with register ().
- Next, we solve the problem of creating a PWA in ServiceWorker using React. Navigate to the following content related to the web application manifesto.
Step 3: Configure the web application manifest
The next step is to configure the web application manifest for your progressive web application in the manifest.json file in your public directory. Here we need to modify the metadata responsible for the appearance of the app.
Let’s take a look at the meaning of these key inventory attributes.
Short_name: Application name used for icons such as the user’s home screen or launcher.
Name: The name of the app that appears on the Home screen and prompts in the App Store or browser. If the name attribute is not set, short_name is displayed.
Icons: A set (or only one) of icons for the user’s home screen, launcher, task switcher, home screen, etc.
Start_url: URL of the application page to display when the user starts it.
Display: this property is responsible for the view of the browser. Apps can hide the address bar, launch in a new window, or display full screen. Find out what properties are available.
Full Screen: This option opens an application without a browser UI and occupies the entire user’s screen.
Standalone: This option allows the application to run in a new window like a native application. It also hides browser user interface elements such as the address bar.
Minimum-UI: This option is very similar to the previous option, but comes with a minimal set of browser user interfaces such as a back button and a reload button.
Browser: This option allows the normal browsing experience.
Theme_color: The color of the application toolbar.
Background_color: The color of the first screen is displayed when the user clicks the application icon on the main screen.
What is the point of a web application manifesto?
A web application manifest is a JSON file used to define a PWA interface. Determines how progressive web apps are downloaded and presented to users as native apps in the app store.
The web application manifest contains the name, description, style, and list of required resources for the application. Unlike traditional web apps, which are simple bookmarks, PWAs can be installed on a device’s home screen using a generic web API.
Browsers that support web application manifests at the time of writing include mobile versions of Opera, Firefox, UC Browser, and Samsung Internet. The Safari mobile browser also offers partial support. Know more about the best react native app development company.
Why choose React to build progressive web apps?
React is an open-source JavaScript library created in 2013 by Jordan Walke of Facebook. The Facebook team manages the library and is implemented in products like Facebook and Instagram.
React is the clear leader in JavaScript package downloads reaching 8,227,335 downloads per week. Here is a comparison of the download frequency between the React, Vue, Angular, and Ember frameworks.
React helps you develop scalable, large-scale web applications that support hot reloading. This means that the application will continue to run while modifying the application at run time. This feature is particularly useful for fine-tuning user interface functionality. Another popular feature of building user interfaces using React is the high code reusability provided by the “learn once, write anywhere” principle.
Let’s take a look at the main advantages of React in developing progressive web apps.
High-power
React is great for building fast, scalable web apps and avoiding performance issues. JavaScript applications often experience performance issues related to Document Object Model (DOM) operations. The DOM is the structural representation of a web page and allows programming languages to interact with it.
React uses the virtual DOM to make changes to the UI without redrawing the entire page or causing rendering issues. React lets you switch pages in virtual memory instead of using a solid bootstrap library like JQuery. Additionally, React’s fast rendering speed reduces page load times.
Easy to learn
Compared to Angular or EmberJS frameworks, React is not hard to learn. If you want to know how to build React progressive web apps, don’t think of it as science fiction.
React supports JSX, a syntax extension that allows you to write HTML-like syntax as JavaScript code. But you don’t have to use JSX in React. JSX is a convenient and easy way. So you can build powerful PWAs with React using pure JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
Many Facilities are available
React has many developer tools, trade declarations, and libraries that make debugging, testing, and design easy. A variety of options are available, so you can choose the one that best suits your particular job. The best-known examples are React Developer Tools, Create React App with Facebook, Semantic UI React, and design.
Do you want to promote web development with React? Read in-depth articles to better understand React’s proven tools and procedures.
SEO friendly
A common problem with SEO is the failure of the web rendering service when handling heavy web applications. This means that some parts of your website may not appear in Google search results. The content of React-based web pages is indexed correctly thanks to the virtual DOM.
Community support
As of this writing, React is the fifth most frequently followed open-source repository on Github. And the React developer community is strong and responsible. Their slogan says it all: “Help us move the web forward and get involved”.
The development of PWAs depends on a huge ecosystem of tools and web frameworks that Android or iOS developers dream of. Of course, that’s not the only reason developers prefer PWAs. Progressive web apps simplify deployment and maintenance. You can quickly build and deliver a single version of your app that needs support.
End Words
I hope this article will help you to build a react progressive web application. If you have any questions you can comment in the box.
Related Articles
Author’s Bio
Hermit Chawla is an MD at AIS Technolabs which is a Web/App design and Development Company, helping global businesses to grow by Global Clients. He loves to share his thoughts on Web & App Development, Clone App Development, and Game Development.
Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/aistechnolabs
Twitter:- https://twitter.com/aistechnolabs
Linkedin:- https://www.linkedin.com/in/hermit-chawla-lion-82b6513b
