Project Structure Guidelines for Your New React Native Expo Project

Starting a new React Native Expo project can be both exciting and overwhelming, especially when it comes to organizing your codebase. A well-structured project layout is essential for maintaining an efficient, scalable, and easy-to-navigate application. In this guide, we'll walk you through the best practices for structuring your React Native Expo project. From automatic routing and asset management to state handling and styling, these guidelines will help you create a robust foundation for your app, ensuring consistency and maintainability as your project grows. Let's dive in and explore how to set up your project for success!

The Magic: App Router

This predefined folder, which Expo automatically creates when you set up a new project, includes various screen and layout files essential for the app's navigation. The folder is specifically designed to handle automatic routing within the application, making it easier for developers to manage and organize different screens and layouts. With this structure, you can ensure that your app's navigation is efficient and follows a consistent structure, which is crucial for maintaining a well-organized codebase. The automatic routing feature simplifies the linking of different parts of your app, allowing you to focus more on building features rather than worrying about the intricacies of navigation.

Images, icons, and more...

This directory stores all asset files needed for the application, including images, fonts, and SVGs.

fonts: This subfolder within the assets directory contains all custom font files used in the application.
svgs: This subfolder is for SVG files, typically used for icons and other scalable vector graphics.
img: This subfolder holds all image files used in the application, such as PNGs and JPEGs.

Our Savior Angels: Utilities

helpers: This directory contains all utility files and wrappers for third-party integrations, such as socket connections, notifications, or permission handling.

State, state, state: Redux Store

This folder is for the Redux store, crucial for the application's state management. It contains all the necessary files and configurations to set up and maintain the global state of the application. Within this folder, you will find actions, reducers, and middleware that help in handling the state changes and ensuring that the application behaves consistently across different components and screens. You can separate your redux store into subfolders like the one listed below.

actions: All the actions, and thunk functions that return action objects. These actions are dispatched to the Redux store to trigger state changes.
reducers: All the reducer functions, which specify how the application's state changes in response to actions. Each reducer manages a specific part of the state, making it easier to maintain and update.
middleware: All middleware functions that intercept actions before they reach the reducers. Middleware can be used for logging, handling asynchronous actions, or integrating with third-party services.

By organizing the Redux store in this manner, developers can maintain a clean and scalable codebase, making it easier to manage the application's state as it grows in complexity.

Makeup of the UI: Styles

This directory holds theme parameters and custom style files, which are used to maintain consistent styling throughout the application. Within this directory, you will find several key components that contribute to the overall look and feel of the application:

Theme Parameters: These are the foundational settings that define the color schemes, font sizes, spacing, and other design elements. By centralizing these parameters, you can ensure that any changes to the theme are applied uniformly across all components.
Global Styles: These files contain CSS or preprocessor code that applies to the entire application. They include base styles for HTML elements, reset styles to ensure cross-browser consistency, and utility classes for common styling patterns.
Component Styles: Each UI component may have its own style file, which defines its specific appearance. By keeping these styles modular, you can easily update or replace individual components without affecting the rest of the application.
Platform-Specific Design: Some UI components may have different designs for each platform to create a more native experience such as Spinner, and Switch.
Custom Animations: If your application includes animations or transitions, this is where you would define them. Custom animations can enhance the user experience by providing visual feedback and making interactions feel more fluid.

By organizing the styles directory in this detailed manner, developers can achieve a high level of consistency and maintainability in their application's design. This approach not only makes it easier to implement new features but also ensures that the application remains visually cohesive as it evolves.

TypeScript

types: This folder contains all type definition files for TypeScript, ensuring type safety and consistency across the codebase.

Platform-Specific

android: This folder contains all the files specific to the Android platform, including configuration and build files.
ios: This folder holds all the files specific to the iOS platform, such as configuration and build files.

Conclusion

In conclusion, establishing a well-structured project layout for your React Native Expo project is crucial for maintaining an organized and scalable codebase. By adhering to these guidelines, you can ensure that your application remains efficient, easy to navigate, and consistent in design. From the automatic routing capabilities of the App Router to the meticulous organization of assets, utilities, state management, styles, and platform-specific files, each aspect of the project structure plays a vital role in the overall development process. Embracing these best practices will not only streamline your workflow but also enhance the maintainability and quality of your application as it evolves.