Optimizing Project Structure for React Native: Scalability and Maintainability

As our projects grow larger and more complex, maintaining a clear and manageable codebase becomes crucial. After facing challenges with deciphering numerous hooks and components in a multi-year enterprise project, we refined our approach for newer projects. Here’s a structure that has significantly improved our workflow, making it easier for developers to understand and contribute to the codebase.

Organized Project Structure

src
|
|_ 📁components
|  |_ 📁UI
|  |  |_ 📄PrimaryButton.js
|  |  |_ 📄SecondaryButton.js
|  |_ 📁Layout
|     |_ 📄Header.js
|     |_ 📄Footer.js
|_ 📁features
|  |_ 📁Auth
|  |  |_ 📄LoginScreen.js
|  |  |_ 📄AuthContext.js
|  |  |_ 📄useAuth.js
|  |  |_ 📄AuthApi.js
|  |_ 📁Event
|     |_ 📄EventScreen.js
|     |_ 📄EventContext.js
|     |_ 📄useEvent.js
|     |_ 📄EventApi.js
|  |_ 📁Cards
|     |_ 📄MainCards.js
|_ 📁assets
|  |_ 📁images
|  |  |_ 📄logo.png
|  |  |_ 📄background.jpg
|  |_ 📁styles
|     |_ 📄global.js
|     |_ 📄theme.js
|_ 📁utils
|  |_ 📄helperFunctions.js
|  |_ 📄date.js
|_ 📁hooks
|  |_ 📄useWindowDimensions.js
|  |_ 📄useLocalStorage.js
|_ 📄App.js
|_ 📄index.js

Key Principles

1. Group by Feature: Organize files by features or modules. This helps in keeping related files together, making it easier to navigate and manage the project.
2. Shared Components: Maintain separate folders for reusable UI components and layout components. These can even be moved to a separate repository or package in a monorepo for large projects.
3. Utility Hooks: Keep a top-level folder for utility hooks that are used across multiple modules. This centralizes common logic and promotes reusability.

Benefits

• Ease of Understanding: New developers can quickly grasp the structure and start contributing. By focusing on a single module, they can understand the responsibilities and make changes without getting overwhelmed.
• Scalability: Logical separations between modules allow for better manageability as the project grows. It’s easier to break down changes required at a higher cognitive level when you can see the different logical separations of responsibility between modules.
• Maintainability: Clear organization reduces the time spent deciphering the purpose of different hooks and components. This leads to more ef ficient debugging and feature additions.

This approach has significantly improved our development workflow and can be adapted to fit the specific needs of your React Native project. Give it a try and see how it enhances your team’s productivity and code quality!

Feel free to tweak the text to better fit your style or add any additional insights you might have!

-- ChatGPT helped me complete this post.