I'm a Junior Frontend Dev Building a Real Product with React Native
Who I Am
I'm a frontend developer from Taiwan, currently working with Vue 3 and TypeScript at my day job. I've been a frontend developer for a few months. Most of my experience is in web development — I'd call myself a junior who's still figuring things out every day. I also built this blog with Nuxt Content, which has been another learning adventure on its own.
What I'm Building (and Why)
I noticed that industries heavily dependent on human interaction still rely on phone calls and LINE messages for booking appointments. It's messy for both the business owners and their customers. I'm also a lazy person who doesn't like unnecessary friction that makes me reluctant to deal with these things. So I decided to build a booking app designed specifically for this kind of business.
Why React Native (Coming from Vue)
My day-to-day stack is Vue 3 + TypeScript, so picking up React Native was a big leap. I chose RN because I wanted to build a mobile app without learning Swift and Kotlin separately, and I figured the React ecosystem would be worth investing in long-term. The mental model shift from Vue's reactivity to React's useState was harder than I expected.
Why Build in Public
I'm doing this half as practice, half as a real product. Being public about it forces me to keep going even when progress is slow.
As a junior, I run into problems that senior devs have forgotten about. Documenting these struggles might help someone going through the same thing.
I don't want to pretend I have it all figured out. I'm learning as I go, and I think there's value in showing that process honestly.
Where I Am Right Now
Here's where things stand:
- Tech stack: React Native with Expo Router
- Current progress: I've just scaffolded the project and am about to build the first feature.
- Biggest challenge so far: The architecture and React concepts that always make me research for a long time before I can start.
- Next step: Building the time slot selection logic and talking to a few local shop owners
What to Expect from This Series
I'll be sharing my progress regularly — the technical wins, the dumb mistakes, and everything in between. Some posts will be dev tutorials (like how I set up MSW), and some will be about the product side (like what I learned from talking to potential users). But this blog isn't just about the booking app. I'm also still strengthening my JavaScript fundamentals and learning Nuxt as I build this site, so expect posts about those topics too — like revisiting async/await, or how I added a new feature to this blog. It's all part of the same learning journey.
If you're also a junior dev trying to build something real, I hope this series makes you feel less alone in the process.