This document provides an overview of React Native, including what it is, how it works, why it is useful, and who uses it. Specifically:
- React Native allows building native mobile apps using JavaScript and React by using a "bridge" to connect JS code to native platform components. This allows one codebase to work on both Android and iOS.
- It works by having a "main thread bridge" that connects JavaScript running in a separate thread to native platform UI components like TextViews on Android and UILabels on iOS.
- Benefits include building apps that look and feel native, using web development patterns, enabling fast reloading and responsive UIs with React's component and state model.