Bridge (React Native)

ELI5 — The Vibe Check

The Bridge is React Native's translator between JavaScript and native code. Every time your JS wants to talk to the camera or a native view, the bridge serializes the message, sends it across, and waits for a reply. It works, but it's like communicating by passing notes in class.

Real Talk

The communication layer in React Native's legacy architecture that serializes data between the JavaScript thread and native modules using JSON over an asynchronous message queue. The bridge introduces serialization overhead and is being replaced by JSI (JavaScript Interface) in the New Architecture for synchronous, direct native access.

When You'll Hear This

"The bridge was the bottleneck — every JS-to-native call had to serialize through JSON." / "React Native's new architecture replaces the bridge with JSI for direct, synchronous native calls."