225 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
225 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
**Warning: This is currently a private repo to accompany the ReactJS conference
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talk, and is not accessible outside the official conference attendees - please
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do not share this code.**
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This is also a very early alpha release. There are certainly bugs and missing
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features. Some things may even be well-documented in JS, but missing from the
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native implementation. We are committed to improving and expanding the
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capabilities of this project as fast as we can, and look forward to working with
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the community.
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# React Native
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Our first React Native implementation is `ReactKit`, targeting iOS. We are also
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working on an Android implementation which we will release later. `ReactKit`
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apps are built using the [React JS](https://github.com/facebook/react) framework, and render directly to
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native UIKit elements using a fully asynchronous architecture. There is no
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browser and no HTML. We have picked what we think is the best set of features
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from these and other technologies to build what we hope to become the best
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product development framework available, with an emphasis on iteration speed,
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developer delight, continuity of technology, and absolutely beautiful and fast
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products with no compromises in quality or capability.
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## Requirements
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1. OS X - This repo only contains the iOS implementation right now, and Xcode only runs on Mac.
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2. New to Xcode? [Download it](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/downloads/) from the Mac App Store.
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3. [Homebrew](http://brew.sh/) is the recommended way to install node, watchman, and flow.
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4. New to node or npm? `brew install node`
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5. We recommend installing [watchman](https://facebook.github.io/watchman/docs/install.html), otherwise you might hit a node file watching bug. `brew install watchman`
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6. If you want to use [flow](http://www.flowtype.org), `brew install flow`
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## Quick start
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Get up and running with our Movies sample app:
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1. Once you have the repo cloned and met all the requirements above, start the
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packager that will transform your JS code on-the-fly:
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```
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npm install
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npm start
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```
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2. Open the `Examples/Movies/Movies.xcodeproj` project in Xcode.
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3. Make sure the target is set to `Movies` and that you have an iOS simulator
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selected to run the app.
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4. Build and run the project with the Xcode run button.
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You should now see the Movies app running on your iOS simulator.
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Congratulations! You've just successfully run your first React Native app.
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Now try editing a JavaScript file and viewing your changes. Let's change the
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movie search placeholder text:
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1. Open the `Examples/Movies/SearchScreen.js` file in your favorite JavaScript
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editor.
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2. Look for the current search placeholder text and change it to "Search for an
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awesome movie...".
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3. Hit cmd+R ([twice](http://openradar.appspot.com/19613391)) in your iOS simulator to reload the app and see your change.
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If you don't immediately see your changes, try restarting your app within Xcode.
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Feel free to browse the Movies sample files and customize various properties to
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get familiar with the codebase and React Native.
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Also check out the UI Component Explorer for more sample code:
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`Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorer.xcodeproj`. **Make sure to close the Movies
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project first - Xcode will break if you have two projects open that reference
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the same library.**
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## Troubleshooting
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+ Xcode will break if you have two examples open at the same time.
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+ If `npm start` fails with log spew like:
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```
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2015-02-02 10:56 node[24294] (FSEvents.framework) FSEventStreamStart: register_with_server: ERROR: f2d_register_rpc() => (null) (-21)
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```
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then you've hit the node file watching bug - `brew install watchman` should fix the issue.
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+ Jest testing does not yet work on node versions after 0.10.x.
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+ You can verify the packager is working by loading the [bundle](http://localhost:8081/Examples/Movies/MoviesApp.includeRequire.runModule.bundle) in your browser and
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inspecting the contents.
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Please report any other issues you encounter so we can fix them ASAP.
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## Basics
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`<View>` is a container that behaves similar to a `<div>` element on web, but
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renders to a `UIView`. `<Text>`, `<Image>`, and `<ScrollView>` are other basic
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components and there are several more. You can compose these elements into
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component trees just like normal react or HTML elements, and they can be styled
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with the `style` property, which supports a subset of flexbox layout. Check out
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the UIExplorer examples for more [sample code](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/master/Examples/UIExplorer/ScrollViewExample.js).
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Native events come in as you would expect via `onChange`, `onScroll`, `onTouch`
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and other props. `TouchableHighlight` makes it really easy to build nice buttons
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via `onPress`, which plays nicely with scroll views and other interactions via
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the responder system.
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# FAQ
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##### Q. How does debugging work? Can I set breakpoints in my JS?
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A. We are going to add the ability to use the Chrome developer tools soon. We
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are very passionate about building the best possible developer experience.
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##### Q. When is this coming to Android/Windows/OS X/etc?
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A. We're working on Android, and we are excited to release it as soon as we can.
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We are looking forward to the community helping us target other platforms as
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well :)
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##### Q. How do I create my own app?
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A. Copy the entire `Examples/TicTacToe` folder, rename stuff in Xcode, and
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replace the `TicTacToeApp.js` with your own. Then, in `AppDelegate.m`, update
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`moduleName` to match your call to
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`AppRegistry.registerComponent(<moduleName>, <componentName>)` at the bottom of your
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JS file, and update `jsCodeLocation` to match your JS file name and location.
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##### Q. Can I submit my own React Native app to the App Store?
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A. Not yet, but you will be able to soon. If you build something you want to
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submit to the App Store, come talk to us ASAP.
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##### Q. How do I deploy to my device?
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A. You can change `localhost` in `AppDelegate.m` to your laptop's IP address and
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grab the bundle over the same Wi-Fi network. You can also download the bundle
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that the React packager generates, save it to the file `main.jsbundle`, and add it
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as a static resource in your Xcode project. Then set the `jsCodeLocation` in
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`AppDelegate.m` to point to that file and deploy to your device like you would
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any other app.
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##### Q. What's up with this private repo? Why aren't you just open sourcing it now?
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A. We want input from the React community before we open the floodgates so we
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can incorporate your feedback, and we also have a bunch more features we want to
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add to make a more complete offering before we open source.
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##### Q. Do you have to ship a JS runtime with your apps?
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A. No, we just use the JavaScriptCore public API that is part of iOS 7 and
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later.
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##### Q. How do I add more native capabilities?
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A. React Native is designed to be extensible - come talk to us, we would love to
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work with you.
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##### Q. Can I reuse existing iOS code?
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A. Yes, React Native is designed to be extensible and allow integration of all
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sorts of native components, such as `UINavigationController` (available as
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`<NavigatorIOS>`), `MKMapView` (not available yet), or your own custom
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component. Check out `RCTUIActivityIndicatorViewManager.m` for a simple
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example.
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# In Depth
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React renders these component trees as normal, but instead of applying the
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result to the DOM, it sends a batch of create, update, and delete commands for
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native views. Everything in the React tree ultimately composes down to core
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components that are mapped to their native counterpart. The diff is first
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applied to the shadow tree where layout is calculated in a background thread,
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then the minimal changeset is applied to the native views on the main thread.
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There are two key elements to making these apps feel great. The first is the
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100% asynchronous communication between the native engine and JS application
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code. This means that slow JS operations never block the main thread, so the
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app can always be responsive to scrolling, image loading, and the like. Second
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is the powerful bridging API that let's us wrap any native components and APIs
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we want, allowing us to use the native navigation system, tab bar, maps, blurs,
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or any other existing native components standard on the platform, from another
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open source project, or custom built. These deep hooks also allow us to do very
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high fidelity touch processing, capable of driving continuous gesture feedback
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and animations at 60 fps.
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Beyond performance, there are some exciting new concepts that make the
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development experience a delight:
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+ React JS - React is a unique and powerful way to structure apps that makes
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them easier to reason about, and thus develop more quickly with fewer bugs.
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React Native takes the same core React engine with JSX and ES6 and plugs
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straight into the native view layer. Some React components and most JS
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libraries can easily be reused.
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+ Instant reload - See the effect of your changes right away without compiling.
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the React packager efficiently transforms, bundles, caches, and serves your
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source code seamlessly.
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+ `StyleSheet` - A simplifying evolution of CSS. `padding`, `margin`,
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`position: 'absolute'`, `left`, `right`...the list of support attributes goes on,
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but no more selectors or complex precedence rules - `StyleSheet`s [are just JS](https://speakerdeck.com/vjeux/react-css-in-js),
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and can be merged, shared, and manipulated just like any other JS object.
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+ Flexbox layout - Views stack up based on the flex direction of their parent,
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and can be configured to wrap tightly around their children, expand to fill
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their parent container, or something more custom. The layout algorithm runs
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asynchronously as well, so scrolling and other animations can stay buttery
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smooth, even while computing complex layout.
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+ Responder events - Get that perfect touch interaction, even with extremely
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complex, hierarchical trees of components.
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+ Component Library - `TouchableHighlight`, `ListView`, `TextInput`, and more
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provide a powerful library of pre-built, high quality components you can easily
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drop into your apps. Check out `Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorer.xcodeproj` to
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see example usage.
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React Native is not in any way the first step to building a write-once, run-
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anywhere solution. One goal is simply to unify the developer experience, so
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that a developer does not need to become a deep expert in every different
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platform they want to deploy to - the future vision is for the development
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tools, concepts, frameworks, programming language, and many of the APIs to be as
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similar as possible across the web, iOS, Android, and maybe more, without
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compromising app quality on any platform.
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## Testing
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Run example app tests with:
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```
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npm test
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```
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Note: Jest testing does not yet work on node versions after 0.10.x.
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## Static Analysis
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Lint the example apps with:
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```
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npm run lint
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```
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If you have [flow](http://flowtype.org) (version 0.1.6+) installed, you can do type analysis by running:
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```
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flow
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```
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