Exploring Redux in React Native: Building a Test App with Example Code

React Native Redux is a popular library used for state management in React Native applications. Redux allows for centralized management of state, making it easier to manage application data and reducing the complexity of passing data between components. In this article, we'll explore how to use React Native Redux with example code and explanations. We'll also create a test app to demonstrate how Redux works.

Getting Started with React Native Redux

To get started with React Native Redux, you'll need to install the required dependencies. The main dependencies are Redux and React Redux. You can install them using npm or yarn.

npm install redux react-redux
or
yarn add redux react-redux
  

Creating the Redux Store

The first step in using Redux is to create the Redux store. The store is where your application data is stored. To create the store, you'll need to import the createStore function from the Redux library.

import { createStore } from 'redux';
  

Next, you'll need to define the initial state of your application. The initial state is an object that contains all of the data that you want to store in the Redux store.

const initialState = {
  count: 0
};
  

Once you've defined the initial state, you can create the Redux store using the createStore function.

const store = createStore(reducer, initialState);
  

In the above code, we're passing in a reducer function as the first argument. We'll discuss the reducer function in more detail later.

Creating the Reducer

The reducer is a function that takes the current state and an action as arguments and returns the new state. The reducer is responsible for handling all state changes in the application.

const reducer = (state = initialState, action) => {
  switch (action.type) {
    case 'INCREMENT':
      return {
        ...state,
        count: state.count + 1
      };
    case 'DECREMENT':
      return {
        ...state,
        count: state.count - 1
      };
    default:
      return state;
  }
};
  

In the above code, we're defining a reducer function that takes in the current state and an action. The switch statement checks the action type and updates the state accordingly.

Creating Actions

Actions are payloads of information that send data from your application to your Redux store. Actions are the only source of information for the store.

const increment = () => ({
  type: 'INCREMENT'
});

const decrement = () => ({
  type: 'DECREMENT'
});
  

In the above code, we're defining two actions: increment and decrement. The actions are simple objects that contain a type property.

Connecting React Native Components to the Redux Store

To connect React Native components to the Redux store, you'll need to use the connect function from the react-redux library.