Question 1

Is Opal Native production ready?

Accepted Answer

No, Opal Native is explicitly in proof-of-concept stage with known issues like broken source maps, so it's not suitable for production applications and should only be used for experimentation or prototyping.

Question 2

How does Opal Native compare to standard React Native with JavaScript?

Accepted Answer

Opal Native allows Ruby development without JavaScript, but it may introduce performance overhead from transpilation and has limited access to the npm ecosystem, whereas standard React Native offers more stability and library support.

Question 3

Can I use npm packages with Opal Native?

Accepted Answer

Not directly; Opal Native transpiles Ruby to JavaScript and uses react.rb, so integrating npm packages would likely require custom wrappers or modifications, which isn't documented or supported out-of-the-box.

Question 4

How to debug an Opal Native application?

Accepted Answer

Enable debugging via Ctrl+Command+Z for the dev menu, then open http://localhost:8081/ in a browser inspector, as per the README's debugging section, though source maps are currently broken.

Question 5

What are the performance costs of using Opal Native?

Accepted Answer

Transpiling Ruby to JavaScript adds an extra layer that could increase bundle size and runtime overhead, though specific benchmarks aren't provided, and it's a trade-off for Ruby syntax convenience.

Question 6

Is Opal Native compatible with new React Native versions?

Accepted Answer

Compatibility is uncertain since the project isn't actively maintained as a gem and is experimental; users might need to manually update or fork it to work with newer React Native releases.

Ruby React Native (via Opal)

What is Ruby React Native (via Opal)?

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