What is the advantage of RNEF in which situations?

[edoko]

Hello, I'm currently working on a project at the company that uses React Native for some screens in an Android/iOS native application(brownfield).

I proceeded by referring to the official RN docs, and the current structure is organized as follows.

.
└── RN/
    ├── android // import an existing project as a submodule
    ├── ios // import an existing project as a submodule
    ├── src // RN codes(api, screens, ...)
    └── ...

Then I found RNEF and tried to use it and I have a few questions here.

1. To easily add to the existing project, it seems to create and use .aar/.xcframework modules.
   If we import in the project as a submodule, what advantages would there be?
2. .aar/.xcframework are only needed when building for distribution, and can the development environment proceed without using the above modules?
3. When creating .aar/.xcframework, I'm curious whether RN's Native Modules should be located within rnbrownfield, as described in the RNEF docs, or how it can be integrated with the existing project's native codes for use.

I'm inquiring about the potential benefits of RNEF integration for our project. Thank you.

[thymikee]

To easily add to the existing project, it seems to create and use .aar/.xcframework modules.
If we import in the project as a submodule, what advantages would there be?

That's totally up to you. Using a submodule may make it easier for your native project to consume specific version of react-native app, but it's not a requirement. For example, you could expose built .aar/.xcframework files through artifactory or some other package system.

.aar/.xcframework are only needed when building for distribution, and can the development environment proceed without using the above modules?

You can build targets for distribution and debug purposes too, up to you. At Callstack we often set up both, but that's your team's preference.

When creating .aar/.xcframework, I'm curious whether RN's Native Modules should be located within rnbrownfield, as described in the RNEF docs, or how it can be integrated with the existing project's native codes for use.

The idea is to abstract all the React Native related code in a framework, so you don't have to integrate it within your native project code (tight coupling, hard to maintain, requires some RN knowledge from native devs). Otherwise, you're doing a, let's say, "classic" way of integrating RN into your project, with all the setup downsides, that will likely force some folders structure changes upon your native project too.