What are the core components in React Native?
Why Interviewers Ask This
This is a classic screening question for React Native roles. Hiring managers ask it early in interviews to gauge your baseline understanding and determine if you can communicate technical concepts clearly.
Answer
React Native provides a set of Core Components that map to native UI elements on each platform: View: the most fundamental container component — equivalent to a div. Used for layout, styling, grouping: <View style={{ flex: 1, backgroundColor: "white" }}>. Maps to UIView (iOS) and View (Android). Text: the ONLY way to display text — all text must be inside Text: <Text style={{ fontSize: 16, color: "#333" }}>Hello!</Text>. Image: display local or remote images: <Image source={require("./logo.png")} /> or <Image source={{ uri: "https://example.com/img.jpg" }} style={{ width: 100, height: 100 }} />. TextInput: text input field: <TextInput value={text} onChangeText={setText} placeholder="Type here" />. ScrollView: scrollable container (loads all children at once — avoid for long lists). FlatList: performant list for large datasets (lazy renders only visible items). SectionList: FlatList with section headers. TouchableOpacity: tappable wrapper with opacity feedback. TouchableHighlight: highlights on press. Pressable: modern, flexible press handler with states. Button: simple platform-native button. Switch: toggle switch. ActivityIndicator: loading spinner. Modal: overlay screen. KeyboardAvoidingView: adjusts layout when keyboard appears. SafeAreaView: avoids notch/home indicator areas.
Pro Tip
Back up your answer with a specific project or situation. Saying 'In my last React Native project, I used this when...' immediately makes your answer more credible and memorable.
Previous
What is the difference between React Native and React?
Next
What is the StyleSheet API in React Native?