Apache Cordova vs. Ionic vs. Red Hat Application Foundations

It is suitable for making portable applications, with almost the same code for several platforms. You can access native features of the device or use an open source plug-in from the repository to create a local database and access the internal storage of the device. It is wonderful for the construction of a native application, through the use of standard web code. It is not recommended for enterprise applications.

Incentivized

- Inexpensively and rapidly creating multi-device (Android, iPhone) native apps. - Quick ramp-up time allows for rapid development. - Open source tools can be used to develop. - Lightweight code-based can be easily shared and developed in a team environment. - Use of React, Vue, and angular leverages well-known coding and application design frameworks that are transportable.

Incentivized

• Adobe Phone Gap has an extremely simple user interface that allows for easy learning to occur.
• Adobe Phone Gap provides support for web languages and allows you to write in three of the main languages and transfer them to another language for use. This solves a common programming issue and is the greatest strength of the software.
• Their desktop application allows for easy installation and programming.
• Adobe provides quick support with questions about how to use the software.
• The build interface notifies you of errors extremely quickly and helps identify the issue in your programming. You get an easy idea of what needs to be updated and adjusted.

Incentivized

• Nice command line interface for repetitive development and deployment tasks.
• Realtime preview (in web browser) during development.
• Easy to update and keep current (open source) via command line.
• Provides nice set of mobile widgets for consistency across devices.

Incentivized

• Cordova app code runs inside a webview component. So, expect the performance to be a little slower as compared to the native apps. This is more noticeable on older devices though. It is hardly noticeable when it comes to newer mobile devices.
• Crashes can be hard to debug since the crash logs will not point you to the culprit javascript code. This is not a limitation of Cordova alone. Any other hybrid mobile app development platform suffers the same problem.
• Even with tools like Safari debugger and Chrome debugger, it can be tricky to measure graphics and animation performance. Achieving smooth animations can be a bit of a challenge sometimes with hybrid mobile apps in general.

Incentivized

• Slightly better documentation when it comes to command line build troubleshooting.
• Increased widget library (even though it's much improved today).
• Native chart/graphing widgets.

Incentivized

Apache Cordova is the mother of all other frameworks. The Ionic developed framework is well suited for development but most of their features are offered by paid services. As Apache Cordova is open source and has a license to modify it, it has no legal problems to work with it. Also, most well-known IDEs recognize the Apache Cordova snippets.

Incentivized

Android Studio

• Busy
• Confusing
• Marginal IDE
• Large footprint
• Single device development

IonicFramework

• Lean, no IDE needed
• Web browser preview
• Multi-device development
• Scripting of build packages for deployment

Incentivized

• Very economic for ROI purposes
• Scalable for code reusability down the road
• Convertible, easily switch platforms if Apache Cordova doesn't suit your needs

Incentivized

• The ability to create a mobile app quickly by a single developer (saving $20K).
• Increased customer satisfaction.
• Avoids outsourcing costs of $10k-$20k.

Incentivized