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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Frameworks
  4. Cross Platform Mobile Development
  5. Apache Cordova vs JUniversal

Apache Cordova vs JUniversal

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Apache Cordova
Apache Cordova
Stacks686
Followers892
Votes218
GitHub Stars955
Forks345
JUniversal
JUniversal
Stacks1
Followers10
Votes0
GitHub Stars126
Forks15

Apache Cordova vs JUniversal: What are the differences?

Introduction

Apache Cordova and JUniversal are two popular frameworks used for mobile app development. While they serve a similar purpose, there are key differences between them that developers need to consider when choosing the right framework for their projects.

  1. Platform Support: Apache Cordova is primarily focused on developing hybrid mobile apps that can run on multiple platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows. On the other hand, JUniversal is designed specifically for creating Java-based mobile applications, limiting its platform support to platforms that can run Java applications, such as Android and J2ME.

  2. Languages Used: Apache Cordova allows developers to build mobile apps using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it easy for web developers to transition to mobile app development. In contrast, JUniversal uses Java as its main programming language, making it suitable for developers who are familiar with Java development.

  3. Code Reusability: While both frameworks offer code reusability, Apache Cordova emphasizes code sharing across different platforms through plugins and APIs. JUniversal, on the other hand, focuses on reusing Java codebase for various mobile platforms, promoting a consistent codebase across different devices.

  4. Performance: Apache Cordova apps are known to have performance issues due to their reliance on web technologies and APIs for executing native functions. JUniversal, being Java-based, offers better performance as it directly compiles Java code to native code, resulting in faster and more efficient mobile apps.

  5. Community Support: Apache Cordova has a large and active community of developers contributing plugins, tools, and support resources, making it easier for developers to find help and resources online. JUniversal, being a relatively newer framework, has a smaller community, which may limit the availability of resources and support for developers.

  6. Deployment Flexibility: Apache Cordova allows developers to deploy their apps through app stores or web servers, providing flexibility in distributing mobile apps. JUniversal, being Java-based, offers limited deployment options, mostly through app stores that support Java applications.

In Summary, Apache Cordova and JUniversal differ in platform support, programming languages, code reusability, performance, community support, and deployment flexibility. Each framework has its strengths and weaknesses, and developers should consider these differences when choosing the right framework for their mobile app projects.

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Advice on Apache Cordova, JUniversal

Gabor
Gabor

CTO at momento.

Aug 23, 2021

Decided

As a startup, we need the maximum flexibility and the ability to reach our customers in a more suitable way. So a hybrid application approach is the best because it allows you to develop a cross-platform application in a unique codebase. The choice behind Ionic is Angular, I think that angular is the best framework to develop a complex application that needs a lot of service interaction, its modularity forces you (the developer) to write the code in the correct way, so it can be maintainable and reusable.

209k views209k
Comments
Jan
Jan

Jan 24, 2022

Decided

I wanted to develop a student app that possibly could be used by many teams (students from other schools)

I chose Ionic, because:

  • single codebase: previously, we used React Native for Android and Angular for web/PWA, which was troublesome

  • portability: runs on PWA (which is important, because iOS license is too expensive for school app), web, Android iOS (+ others, if needed)

  • full use of web technologies: Next.js, Tailwind, React in this example (in oppose to Flutter/Java/Kotlin)

  • stability and maintainability: low-entry level due to basic web technologies without new syntax (in oppose to React Native and Flutter), web is really stable and won't lose support (which doesn't have to be true with Flutter/Dart)

106k views106k
Comments
Jesús
Jesús

Nov 29, 2022

Needs adviceonWordPressWordPressReact NativeReact Native

I would like to evaluate a good option to migrate an existing WordPress portal, where the customer can continue to access the news and also have a private area where they can receive personalised information and can demand or interact with the company and also have mobile support on both iOS and Android.

Currently the whole back system is in SAP and my main doubts are;

  • Best solution for the web portal that can generate content and can render well in the mobile solution.
  • Best option for the mobile implementation of the same portal and its private area ( @{React Native}|tool:2699|?)
20.1k views20.1k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Apache Cordova
Apache Cordova
JUniversal
JUniversal

Apache Cordova is a set of device APIs that allow a mobile app developer to access native device function such as the camera or accelerometer from JavaScript. Combined with a UI framework such as jQuery Mobile or Dojo Mobile or Sencha Touch, this allows a smartphone app to be developed with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

The vision of JUniversal came from some guys at Nokia who possess considerable expertise both in Java and in building cross-platform apps. They built this tool to provide an elegant way to translate source code and make it useful across multiple platforms. JUniversal offers you the freedom to write your shared code in Java and then translate it to C# (available now) or to C++/Objective C++ (coming soon). You can also combine JUniversal with Google’s j2objc translator to translate Java to Objective-C for iOS.

Cross-platform (CLI) workflow;Platform-centered workflow;Hundreds of plugins
OAuth (based on Scribe);JSON;Unit testing (JUnit);File & network I/O platform wrappers;Collections—HashMap, ArrayList, etc. (based on JDK/Harmony);Logging (based of SLF4J/Logback);About 20K lines currently
Statistics
GitHub Stars
955
GitHub Stars
126
GitHub Forks
345
GitHub Forks
15
Stacks
686
Stacks
1
Followers
892
Followers
10
Votes
218
Votes
0
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 48
    Lots of plugins
  • 35
    JavaScript
  • 26
    Great community
  • 25
    Easy Development
  • 18
    Easy to learn
Cons
  • 2
    No native performance
  • 1
    Hard to install
  • 0
    Hard to install
No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available
Java
Java
C#
C#

What are some alternatives to Apache Cordova, JUniversal?

Ionic

Ionic

Free and open source, Ionic offers a library of mobile and desktop-optimized HTML, CSS and JS components for building highly interactive apps. Use with Angular, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript.

Flutter

Flutter

Flutter is a mobile app SDK to help developers and designers build modern mobile apps for iOS and Android.

React Native

React Native

React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about - learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.

Xamarin

Xamarin

Xamarin’s Mono-based products enable .NET developers to use their existing code, libraries and tools (including Visual Studio*), as well as skills in .NET and the C# programming language, to create mobile applications for the industry’s most widely-used mobile devices, including Android-based smartphones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

NativeScript

NativeScript

NativeScript enables developers to build native apps for iOS, Android and Windows Universal while sharing the application code across the platforms. When building the application UI, developers use our libraries, which abstract the differences between the native platforms.

Framework7

Framework7

It is a free and open source mobile HTML framework to develop hybrid mobile apps or web apps with iOS native look and feel. All you need to make it work is a simple HTML layout and attached framework's CSS and JS files.

Qt

Qt

Qt, a leading cross-platform application and UI framework. With Qt, you can develop applications once and deploy to leading desktop, embedded & mobile targets.

PhoneGap

PhoneGap

PhoneGap is a web platform that exposes native mobile device apis and data to JavaScript. PhoneGap is a distribution of Apache Cordova. PhoneGap allows you to use standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development, avoiding each mobile platforms' native development language. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's sensors, data, and network status.

Expo

Expo

It is a framework and a platform for universal React applications. It is a set of tools and services built around React Native and native platforms that help you develop, build, deploy, and quickly iterate on iOS, Android, and web apps.

Vue Native

Vue Native

Vue Native is a mobile framework to build truly native mobile app using Vue.js. Its is designed to connect React Native and Vue.js. Vue Native is a wrapper around React Native APIs, which allows you to use Vue.js and compose rich mobile User Interface.

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