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Android SDK vs NativeScript: What are the differences?
Key Differences: Android SDK vs NativeScript
Android SDK and NativeScript are two popular platforms for developing mobile applications. While both offer ways to build native mobile apps, there are several key differences between them. Here are the top six differences:
Language: Android SDK uses Java as the primary programming language, while NativeScript supports JavaScript/TypeScript. This means that developers familiar with Java will find it easier to work with Android SDK, while those with experience in JavaScript/TypeScript may prefer NativeScript.
Development Approach: Android SDK follows a traditional native development approach, where apps are built using the Android framework and APIs. On the other hand, NativeScript enables cross-platform development, allowing developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms.
UI Framework: Android SDK uses XML-based layout files for designing the user interface. NativeScript, on the other hand, utilizes a declarative UI framework, where the UI is described using XML for Android and XML-like syntax for iOS. This allows for code reuse and a more unified development experience.
Performance: Android SDK offers better performance as the apps are built with native code specifically optimized for Android devices. NativeScript also provides good performance by using a native bridge to access device APIs, but it may not be as fast as Android SDK in certain scenarios.
Development Tools: Android SDK has a comprehensive set of development tools provided by Google, including Android Studio, a powerful IDE for Android development. NativeScript also has its own set of development tools, such as NativeScript CLI and plugins for popular text editors. Developers may prefer one set of tools over the other based on their familiarity and personal preferences.
Community and Ecosystem: Android SDK has a larger and more mature community, as it has been around for a longer time and is backed by Google. This means that there are more resources, tutorials, and libraries available for Android development. NativeScript, although newer, has a growing community and a wide range of plugins and extensions to enhance the development experience.
In summary, the key differences between Android SDK and NativeScript lie in the programming language used, development approach, UI framework, performance, development tools, and community support.
We actually initially wrote a lot of networking code in Kotlin but the complexities involved prompted us to try and compile NodeJS for Android and port over all the networking logic to Node and communicate with node over the Java Native Interface.
This turned out to be a great decision considering our battery usage fell by 40% and rate of development increased by a factor of 2.
Pros of Android SDK
- Android development289
- Necessary for android155
- Android studio128
- Mobile framework86
- Backed by google82
- Platform-tools27
- Eclipse + adt plugin21
- Powerful, simple, one stop environment5
- Free3
- Больно3
Pros of NativeScript
- Access to the entire native api75
- Support for native ios and android libraries47
- Support for javascript libraries46
- Angular 2.0 support46
- Native ux and performance44
- Typescript support37
- Backed up by google and telerik35
- Css support29
- Cross-platform declarative ui and code27
- Fully open source under apache 2.0 license25
- Vuejs support11
- 60fps performance9
- Powerful data visualization with native UI6
- VS Code integration5
- Angular, typescript and javascript support5
- No need for Mac to build iOS apps in Telerik Platform5
- Extended CLI support4
- Cloud builds as part of Telerik PLatform4
- Truly Object-Oriented with Typescript4
- On-device debugging4
- Extensibility4
- Access to entire native api3
- Live reload3
- Easiest of all other frameworks3
- Easy to learn3
- Backed by google3
- 0 day support for new OS updates3
- Publishing modules to NPM3
- Vue.js support out of the box2
- VueJS support2
- Svelte support2
- Powerfull mobile services as part of Telerik Platform2
- Native ui with angular2
- Vue support2
- Playground1
- Hot Reload1
- HMR via webpack1
- Very small app size1
- Write once, use anywhere1
- Easy to use, support for almost all npm packages1
- Rich ecosystem1
- Compile to Apple/Google Stores via CloudCompiler1
- Has CSS ;-)1
- It works with Angular1
- Code reuse with your website1
- Dart0
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Cons of Android SDK
Cons of NativeScript
- Lack of promotion5
- Slower Performance compared to competitors1
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