I disagree. This seems to strike a good balance between ease of use and power. It offers a visual tool for layout while still placing the code front and center.

>It's pointless

No, it's not. Prototyping.

Here's how you prototype:

npm install -g react-native

react-native init myproject

cd myproject

# open xcode simulator or android emulator

# make changes to index.ios.js and read the damn docs

# otherwise you end up dragging slides and dragging drop

# having no idea what actually goes on behind the scenes

# when if you learned what went on behind the scenes

# you could code so so much faster and have so much more control

so i need to learn IOS and Android development to learn what's going on behind the scenes as well? Ideally right? But that's definitely not a prerequisite of building RN apps. Abstractions are great if its done well..

Why the bad karma? Look, there are people that like Emacs (like me) and there are people, especially designers, that like drag-and-drop. Even if all it accomplishes is rapid prototyping, there is great value in closing the gap between UXPin and Emacs.

Do you also tell Photoshop users that they should be using HTML/CSS for their website mockups?

Upvoted as this comment at least attempts to be informative.