---
id: props
title: Props
layout: docs
category: The Basics
permalink: docs/props.html
next: state
previous: tutorial
---

Most components can be customized when they are created, with different parameters. These creation parameters are called `props`.

For example, one basic React Native component is the `Image`. When you
create an image, you can use a prop named `source` to control what image it shows.

```ReactNativeWebPlayer
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { AppRegistry, Image } from 'react-native';

export default class Bananas extends Component {
  render() {
    let pic = {
      uri: 'https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Bananavarieties.jpg'
    };
    return (
      <Image source={pic} style={{width: 193, height: 110}}/>
    );
  }
}

// skip this line if using Create React Native App
AppRegistry.registerComponent('Bananas', () => Bananas);
```

Notice that `{pic}` is surrounded by braces, to embed the variable `pic` into JSX. You can put any JavaScript expression inside braces in JSX.

Your own components can also use `props`. This lets you make a single component
that is used in many different places in your app, with slightly different
properties in each place. Just refer to `this.props` in your `render` function. Here's an example:

```ReactNativeWebPlayer
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { AppRegistry, Text, View } from 'react-native';

class Greeting extends Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <Text>Hello {this.props.name}!</Text>
    );
  }
}

export default class LotsOfGreetings extends Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <View style={{alignItems: 'center'}}>
        <Greeting name='Rexxar' />
        <Greeting name='Jaina' />
        <Greeting name='Valeera' />
      </View>
    );
  }
}

// skip this line if using Create React Native App
AppRegistry.registerComponent('LotsOfGreetings', () => LotsOfGreetings);
```

Using `name` as a prop lets us customize the `Greeting` component, so we can reuse that component for each of our greetings. This example also uses the `Greeting` component in JSX, just like the built-in components. The power to do this is what makes React so cool - if you find yourself wishing that you had a different set of UI primitives to work with, you just invent new ones.

The other new thing going on here is the [`View`](docs/view.html) component. A [`View`](docs/view.html) is useful
as a container for other components, to help control style and layout.

With `props` and the basic [`Text`](docs/text.html), [`Image`](docs/image.html), and [`View`](docs/view.html) components, you can
build a wide variety of static screens. To learn how to make your app change over time, you need to [learn about State](docs/state.html).