Mobile Development

Device Considerations

Platform

Will you be developing for multiple platforms?

• Android
• iOS
• Windows 10 Mobile
• Blackberry 10
• Firefox OS
• Sailfish OS
• Tizen
• Ubuntu Touch
• CynaogenOS

Hardware

• Depending on the device, the specifications of hardware can be very different
• Some devices may not have certain components
• Vintage of components, such as processors and busses will make a difference to the chosen route

Language

• What programming languages are supported natively by the device?
• What language suits what you want to do best?
• Do you need a combination of languages for collaborative tasks?

Form factor

• Most platforms/OSes run on multiple devices, some more than others
• Can your application be utilised on all form factors regardless of screen/size?

Native vs Hybrid Frameworks

Native Application Frameworks

Native application frameworks allow developers to access the native platform/OS API directly through code and develop their applications directly to the platform standards and practices

• Pros:

• Without other intermediate layers, this provides the best application per device in terms of performance
• There is no third-party dependence on access to updates and bug fixes

• Cons:

• As a native application is written and compiled for a specific platform/OS, deployment on another platform typically requires the maintenance of a totally separate project for each of the supported platforms.
• How the application is distributed can be different for each platform, requiring the maintenance of a separate distribution channel per platform

Hybrid Frameworks

Web-based frameworks are essentially tools/processes/procedures that allow us to write an application as a website rather than using any native code (e.g. PhoneGap/Cordova)

• Pros:

• Anyone with basic web-development skills (HTML, CSS, JS) can write a decent application.
• There are several frameworks to choose from.
• It is possible to wrap the content in an application or just access it with the built-in browser.
• Applications can be accessible across multiple platforms.

• Cons:

• Going through so many higher-level languages and interpreters makes run-time much slower than a native application
• Each platform has a unique style and mode of operation. This gets lost in a web-based application or, at least, requires a lot of work to make it seem intuitive for each platform.

PhoneGap/Cordova

https://phonegap.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Cordova

Apache Cordova (formerly PhoneGap) is a mobile application development framework originally created by Nitobi. Adobe Systems purchased Nitobi in 2011, rebranded it as PhoneGap, and later released an open source version of the software called Apache Cordova.[8] Apache Cordova enables software programmers to build applications for mobile devices using CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript instead of relying on platform-specific APIs like those in Android, iOS, or Windows Phone.[9] It enables wrapping up of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript code depending upon the platform of the device. It extends the features of HTML and JavaScript to work with the device. The resulting applications are hybrid, meaning that they are neither truly native mobile application (because all layout rendering is done via Web views instead of the platform's native UI framework) nor purely Web-based (because they are not just Web apps, but are packaged as apps for distribution and have access to native device APIs).

Installing Cordova on Ubuntu

Installation on Ubuntu 18.04: https://tecadmin.net/install-cordova-on-ubuntu/ :

• Step 1 – Install Node.js and NPM: See HTTP REST APIs with Node.js - Express.js