chore(deps): update dependencies and code structure for improved readability and maintainability

Author: marcocesarato

.github/copilot-instructions.md

@@ -122,8 +122,6 @@ yarn test --coverage
 cd example/
 
 # Install dependencies
-yarn install
-# or
 npm install
 
 # Start Expo development server
@@ -140,15 +138,15 @@ expo start --web
 <commands>
 ```bash
 # Build package for distribution
-yarn prepare
+npm run prepare
 
 # This runs:
 # 1. bob build (creates dist files)
 # 2. node scripts/dist.js (finalizes distribution)
 
 # Lint and format code
-yarn prettify  # Prettier formatting
-yarn lint      # ESLint checking
+npm run prettify  # Prettier formatting
+npm run lint      # ESLint checking
 
 # Pre-commit hooks run lint-staged automatically
 ```

.gitignore

@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 #
 .DS_Store
 
-package-lock.json
-
 node_modules
 
 # Xcode

example/metro.config.js

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+const { getDefaultConfig } = require('expo/metro-config');
+// Use the exported private path so Node respects the package "exports" map
+// (requiring `metro-config/src/...` can fail under newer Node/npm due to exports restrictions).
+const exclusionList = require('metro-config/private/defaults/exclusionList');
+const path = require('path');
+
+/**
+ * Custom Metro configuration for the example app.
+ *
+ * Important: We intentionally DO NOT include the parent (repo root) node_modules
+ * path in nodeModulesPaths anymore because the root devDependencies use a newer
+ * React / React Native (0.81.x) version than the example (Expo SDK 51 with
+ * React Native 0.74.x). Allowing Metro to resolve modules from the root caused
+ * it to pick up the newer react-native implementation which currently ships
+ * TypeScript-only syntax (e.g. `} as ReactNativePublicAPI;`) that the example
+ * Babel preset (SDK 51) was not configured to parse, triggering a syntax error.
+ *
+ * By constraining resolution to the example's own node_modules we guarantee the
+ * correct (0.74.x) React Native code path is bundled. We still alias the
+ * library source so changes to the `lib` folder are reflected live.
+ */
+const config = getDefaultConfig(__dirname);
+
+// Only watch the library source for live development to avoid pulling in root node_modules versions.
+config.watchFolders = [path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'lib')];
+
+// Allow dependencies from both local and root node_modules (library dev deps) while we block root RN.
+config.resolver.nodeModulesPaths = [
+  path.resolve(__dirname, 'node_modules'),
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'node_modules'),
+];
+
+// Alias the library to its source entry to ensure it resolves correctly without needing the root node_modules.
+config.resolver.alias = {
+  'react-native-big-list': path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'lib', 'index.js'),
+  // Force React Native to resolve to the example's version
+  'react-native': path.resolve(__dirname, 'node_modules', 'react-native'),
+};
+
+// Block the root react-native (0.81.x) to avoid TS-only syntax errors
+const rootReactNativePath = path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'node_modules', 'react-native');
+config.resolver.blockList = exclusionList([
+  new RegExp(`${rootReactNativePath.replace(/[-/\\^$*+?.()|[\]{}]/g, r => `\\${r}`)}.*`),
+]);
+
+// Remove any explicit extraNodeModules overrides (not needed with isolated resolution).
+delete config.resolver.extraNodeModules;
+
+module.exports = config;