Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

React Native Starter VS Blockly

Compare React Native Starter VS Blockly and see what are their differences

React Native Starter logo React Native Starter

React Native Starter is mobile application template built with React Native that contains essential components for all mobile apps.

Blockly logo Blockly

Blockly is a library for building visual programming editors.
  • React Native Starter Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-12
  • Blockly Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-18

React Native Starter features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    React Native Starter allows developers to build mobile applications for both iOS and Android with a single codebase, saving time and resources.
  • Faster Development
    By using pre-built components and templates in React Native Starter, developers can accelerate the app development process and reduce time-to-market.
  • Community Support
    React Native and its associated tools, like React Native Starter, benefit from a large community, providing abundant resources, tutorials, and third-party libraries.
  • Cost Efficiency
    Using a starter kit like React Native Starter can reduce development costs due to its reusable components and lower maintenance requirements.

Possible disadvantages of React Native Starter

  • Performance Limitations
    While React Native offers near-native performance, there might still be limitations for highly demanding applications compared to purely native development.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers new to React Native or coming from other development backgrounds might experience a learning curve when adapting to React Native Starter.
  • Dependency Management
    React Native Starter relies on third-party libraries, which can lead to compatibility and dependency management challenges over time.
  • Limited Customization
    While starter kits provide useful templates and components, they may impose limitations on custom designs and features unique to specific business needs.

Blockly features and specs

  • User-Friendly
    Blockly offers a highly intuitive and visual interface. Users, especially beginners and non-programmers, can easily drag and drop blocks to create programs without needing to write code manually.
  • Educational Value
    Blockly is excellent for educational purposes. It simplifies the learning curve for programming by abstracting the complexities of syntax, allowing learners to focus on understanding logic and computational thinking.
  • Cross-Language Support
    Blockly can generate code for multiple programming languages (JavaScript, Python, PHP, Lua, Dart). This makes it versatile and useful for teaching and transitioning to various languages.
  • Customizability
    Blockly is highly customizable. Developers can create custom blocks and define their own rules, making it adaptable to various projects and domain-specific needs.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, Blockly provides the flexibility to modify and extend the toolkit to fit specific requirements. This open nature encourages community contributions and improvements.

Possible disadvantages of Blockly

  • Limited Complexity
    Blockly is designed for simplicity and may not handle very complex programming tasks efficiently. Advanced users might find it insufficient for sophisticated or large-scale projects.
  • Performance Overhead
    The visual programming model can introduce performance overhead. Converting blocks to executable code and running it can be less efficient compared to hand-written code, especially for performance-critical applications.
  • Learning Transition
    While Blockly is great for beginners, transitioning from block-based programming to traditional text-based coding can be challenging. Users may need additional guidance to adapt to the intricacies of syntax and coding best practices.
  • Limited Debugging Tools
    Blockly does not offer advanced debugging tools. Debugging issues can be more challenging compared to traditional IDEs that provide sophisticated debugging capabilities.
  • Scalability Issues
    For large projects, the block-based approach can become unwieldy and harder to manage compared to traditional text-based code which can be more neatly structured and maintained.

Analysis of Blockly

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Blockly is a good tool, especially for educational environments and projects that benefit from visual programming. It's well-supported by Google and the community, making it a reliable choice for developers.

Why this product is good

  • Blockly is a powerful library for creating visual programming editors. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface allows both beginners and advanced programmers to create code blocks that can be converted into various text-based programming languages like JavaScript, Python, and more. This ease of use makes it an excellent tool for educational purposes and rapid prototyping.

Recommended for

  • Educators looking to introduce programming concepts to students.
  • Developers seeking to build applications with a visual programming interface.
  • Hobbyists interested in creating projects without extensive coding knowledge.
  • Organizations aiming to develop interactive tutorials and learning platforms.

React Native Starter videos

No React Native Starter videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Blockly videos

Blockly: Using Block Based Coding in your App

More videos:

  • Review - Fable Blockly Review
  • Review - Trying Out Blockly, Google's New Programming Language [DiceTV]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to React Native Starter and Blockly)
Developer Tools
43 43%
57% 57
Web Frameworks
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Web App
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare React Native Starter and Blockly

React Native Starter Reviews

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Blockly Reviews

Top 20 Javascript Libraries
Blockly, a creation of Google, is a web-based visual programming editor. When added to the code, the library adds an editor to the app that represents code snippets like loops, expressions, variables, and more as blocks. The best part is that you can create custom code, and the output is syntactically correct in your choice of the programming language. Blockly has no...
Source: hackr.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Blockly seems to be a lot more popular than React Native Starter. While we know about 31 links to Blockly, we've tracked only 1 mention of React Native Starter. 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 Starter mentions (1)

  • 12+ React Boilerplates & Starter Kits For Developers In 2021
    React Native Starter is a fancy starter kit available in bright colors, built with React Native like a project template for mobile application. React Native Starter got modular architecture, tons of inner components like sidebar, navigation, form elements to aid you in coding. Flatlogic provides full support and updates in the premium version of the starter kit. - Source: dev.to / about 5 years ago

Blockly mentions (31)

  • Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
    Scratch is fantastic. There are also a number of similar (block-based) tools that let you create your own custom blocks and see the code behind them - e.g. Blockly (https://developers.google.com/blockly). - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Modern Day Equivalent to HyperCard?
    If your kid is already doing Scratch, Blockly is a really easy next step. https://developers.google.com/blockly Critically, Blockly can emit JavaScript and Python, plus it supports plugins for extended functionality. So the kid can stay inside the blockly universe for as long as they like, but easily peer under the hood and get into Python or JavaScript as soon as they like. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • A shortage of teachers for computer science classes in California
    The issue with Alice is that graphical, block based coding is not at all an ergonomic way to code. Sure, C++ probably isn't the best for an intro CS courses, either, but even just Python with some wrappers over SDL to draw sprites is not only a better teaching tool it's also forms a more useful springboard to build other projects. Graphical, block based coding seems to be a common attempt to make coding more... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • โšง๏ธŽ Super Smash Siblings Trans
    Unless it would contradict canon, every stage is very bright, highly interactive, full of pre-placed items, and so huge that you can usually run from your NPC opponents and enjoy exploring the stage in peace while they catch up to you. All buildings have Linux computers with actual internet access that allow you to program and print out your own projectiles/books/flags/UNO reverse cards/shinigami eyes/soupcans/cis... Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Scratch is the worldโ€™s largest coding community for children
    If your kids tinker with Scratch, try out TurboWarp[1], a Scratch mod that compiles projects to JavaScript. Other alternatives to tinker with are Blocky[2] and Snap[3]. 1. https://turbowarp.org 2. https://developers.google.com/blockly/ 3. https://snap.berkeley.edu. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing React Native Starter and Blockly, you can also consider the following products

React Native Desktop - Build OS X desktop apps using React Native

Spring Framework - The Spring Framework provides a comprehensive programming and configuration model for modern Java-based enterprise applications - on any kind of deployment platform.

NativeBase - Experience the awesomeness of React Native without the pain

Spark Mail - Spark helps you take your inbox under control. Instantly see whatโ€™s important and quickly clean up the rest. Spark for Teams allows you to create, discuss, and share email with your colleagues

React Native Paper - React Native Paper is a high-quality, standard-compliant Material Design library that has you covered in all major use-cases.

Grails - An Open Source, full stack, web application framework for the JVM