Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

React Native Desktop VS Day.js

Compare React Native Desktop VS Day.js and see what are their differences

React Native Desktop logo React Native Desktop

Build OS X desktop apps using React Native

Day.js logo Day.js

2kB JavaScript date utility library
  • React Native Desktop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30
  • Day.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-11

React Native Desktop features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Code Sharing
    React Native Desktop allows for code sharing between mobile and desktop platforms, reducing development time and effort. This promotes a unified codebase across iOS, Android, and macOS platforms.
  • React Ecosystem
    Developers can leverage the extensive ecosystem of React and React Native, including libraries, tools, and community support, thus simplifying development and benefiting from existing solutions.
  • Hot Reloading
    React Native Desktop supports hot reloading, which allows developers to see changes immediately without rebuilding the whole application. This greatly enhances development speed and productivity.
  • Native Performance
    React Native Desktop aims to deliver a performance close to native applications on macOS, allowing for smooth user experience and efficient utilization of the system's resources.

Possible disadvantages of React Native Desktop

  • Immature Project
    React Native Desktop is still a relatively young project compared to its mobile counterpart. It may lack some stability, advanced features, and support that are available in more mature frameworks.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers familiar with only web development might find it challenging to adapt to React Native's paradigms and native coding patterns required for desktop applications.
  • Limited macOS-Specific Components
    There might be fewer out-of-the-box components and libraries tailored for macOS when compared to those available for mobile, requiring more custom implementation work.
  • No Official Support
    As an open-source project, React Native Desktop doesn't have official support from Facebook or a large organization, which might lead to slower updates and a greater reliance on community contributions.

Day.js features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Day.js is a small library, approximately 2KB in size, which makes it ideal for projects that require minimal impact on load times and performance.
  • Immutable API
    Day.js uses an immutable API which avoids modifying the original date objects. This helps in preventing unexpected side effects and makes the code more reliable.
  • Familiar API
    Day.js has an API similar to Moment.js, which makes it easier for developers who have used Moment.js to transition or use alongside Day.js.
  • Plugin System
    Day.js offers a flexible plugin system, allowing developers to add only the functionalities they need, keeping the library lightweight and customizable.
  • No Dependencies
    Day.js does not rely on any external dependencies, reducing potential vulnerabilities and keeping the code base clean.

Possible disadvantages of Day.js

  • Limited Out-of-the-box Features
    Day.js, being lightweight, offers fewer built-in features than some larger libraries like Moment.js. Developers often need to use plugins to access additional functionalities.
  • Edge Case Handling
    Day.js may not cover as many edge cases as some other more comprehensive date libraries, particularly those that deal with internationalization and timezone complexities.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    While growing, Day.js might have a smaller community and fewer third-party integrations compared to older libraries like Moment.js.
  • Time Zone Support
    Day.js has basic timezone support through plugins, but it may not be as intuitive or comprehensive as libraries specifically designed for timezone handling.

Analysis of React Native Desktop

Overall verdict

  • React Native Desktop can be a good choice if you are already invested in the React Native ecosystem and are looking for a way to expand your application's reach to desktop platforms without starting from scratch. It benefits from the familiar JavaScript and React syntax, as well as a large community of developers who contribute to its growth. However, depending on the project's specific needs and the level of maturity expected, it might lack some features or optimizations available in native desktop application frameworks.

Why this product is good

  • React Native Desktop is designed to allow developers to use React Native for creating desktop applications. It leverages the existing React Native ecosystem, which means that developers familiar with React Native can transition to desktop app development more easily. By allowing code sharing between mobile and desktop platforms, it can significantly reduce the development time and effort required to maintain consistency across platforms.

Recommended for

    This framework is recommended for JavaScript developers who are already comfortable with React Native and want to leverage their existing skills to develop cross-platform applications that include desktop environments. It is suitable for projects that require rapid prototyping and consistent user experiences across mobile and desktop devices.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to React Native Desktop and Day.js)
Developer Tools
87 87%
13% 13
Javascript UI Libraries
0 0%
100% 100
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0
JS Library
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Day.js seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 40 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

React Native Desktop mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of React Native Desktop yet. Tracking of React Native Desktop recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Day.js mentions (40)

  • Getting started with Zustand state management for React
    In keeping with our functional style of programming, we create a new array with the added or removed bookmark each time we add or remove one. Note I have added a third key/value pair to the bookmarks array, dateAdded, but you can disregard that. If you do want this same functionality don't forget to install and import Day.js. Next I will add the partial persistence code:. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Say Goodbye to JavaScript’s DST Date Confusion
    These issues can also occur in date-time libraries such as moment.js, date-fns, Day.js, and luxon. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • JavaScript Temporal Is Coming
    The author spells out a few pitfalls of Moment's design and why they're not addressing these as well as alternatives (Luxon, Day.js, date-fns, js-Joda) I've switched to Day.js instead[1] [0] https://momentjs.com/docs/#/-project-status/ [1] https://day.js.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • React Custom Hooks vs. Helper Functions - When To Use Both
    In this code snippet, we use the Javascript date library Day.js to parse and format the date, which gives us a more powerful method for formatting our dates. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • You're parsing URLs wrong.
    The fact that moment.js or day.js needs to exist in 2024 bothers me a lot. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing React Native Desktop and Day.js, you can also consider the following products

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

date-fns - date-fns provides the most comprehensive yet simple and consistent toolset for manipulating JavaScript dates in a browser & Node.js.

Deco IDE - Best IDE for building React Native apps

Moment.js - Parse, validate, manipulate, and display dates in JavaScript

React Boilerplate - Offline-first, highly scalable foundation for your next app

Luxon - Application and Data, Libraries, and Javascript Utilities & Libraries