by Jeffrey Walker | Dec 20, 2013
In Part 2 of this series we kicked off a discussion on the PhoneGap environment and how it uses the UIWebview (or Webview) environment to communicate with the Native code of the device through a set of JavaScript calls. Understanding how this web to native abstraction works helps us to better appreciate the main value proposition behind MADPs and what it means to “write once, run everywhere.” So now let’s continue from where we left off in our discussion on PhoneGap.
PhoneGap Continued
If you stop to think about it for a moment, there are quite a number of potential benefits to accessing a device’s camera or accelerometer through a JavaScript call rather than relying exclusively on native code like Objective C (iOS) or Java (Android). For instance:
Creating your mobile applications in PhoneGap is fairly straightforward. There are two primary development options. The first is a command line interface (CLI), which involves downloading SDKs for each environment you wish to development applications in, whether iOS, Android, Windows, ect. PhoneGap provides full documentation here on how to setup the CLI and get started with writing and customizing your native applications.
An alternative to approach to setting up the CLI and downloading SDKs is to use PhoneGap Build. This is a cloud-based service that allows uploads of the project files and automates the packaging and compilation process so that you can push out a mobile app in a matter of minutes. PhoneGap Build offers several development options:
There you have it in a nutshell; PhoneGap provide developers with a bundled set of JavaScript APIs that give direct access to the various Native features of a device (accelerometer, GPS, camera). The real value proposition of this platform is the “write once, run everywhere” capability – you just write the code once and deploy to your device of choice.
The Takeaways on PhoneGap
PhoneGap has been called the Swiss Army Knife for Mobile App Development. The designation is not without warrant. As mobility continues to grow exponentially there are solid reasons why businesses need to develop and deploy applications in as agile and efficient manner as possible. Here are some important takeaways for why PhoneGap can add strong value to your organization’s mobile application development strategy:
We’ve discussed PhoneGap at some length so let’s move on to the next major MADP on the market, Appcelerator. We again want to learn what it is, how it works, and what value proposition it offers for today’s business leaders.
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