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Apache Cordova vs Materialize

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Apache Cordova
705
893
+ 1
218
Materialize
690
1.2K
+ 1
557
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Apache Cordova vs Materialize: What are the differences?

Introduction: Apache Cordova and Materialize are two popular tools used in web development, but they serve different purposes.

  1. Platform Compatibility: Apache Cordova is a framework that allows developers to build mobile applications using web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) and deploy them across multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, and Windows. On the other hand, Materialize is a front-end framework that focuses on creating responsive and modern websites with a Material Design aesthetic.

  2. Functionality: Apache Cordova enables developers to access device-specific features like camera, accelerometer, and GPS using plugins, making it suitable for building native-like mobile applications. In contrast, Materialize provides a set of CSS and JavaScript components to facilitate the creation of visually appealing and consistent user interfaces for websites.

  3. Customization: While Apache Cordova allows developers to customize the appearance and behavior of their mobile applications through plugins and native components, Materialize offers a wide range of pre-designed components and themes that can be easily customized to match the desired look and feel of a website.

  4. Community Support: Apache Cordova has a robust community of developers contributing plugins, documentation, and support forums, making it easier for developers to find solutions to common issues and stay updated on the latest features. Materialize also has a supportive community that offers resources and tutorials for using the framework effectively in web development projects.

In Summary, Apache Cordova focuses on building cross-platform mobile applications with access to native features, while Materialize is used for creating responsive websites with a modern design aesthetic.

Decisions about Apache Cordova and Materialize
Aleksandr Filatov
Contract Software Engineer - Microsoft · | 2 upvotes · 420.4K views
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Apache CordovaApache CordovaProGuardProGuardReact NativeReact Native
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()

I've done some Hybrid Mobile apps with both technologies Apache Cordova and React Native and described my experience in my blog.

In a few words, I would suggest to use each technology in accordance what what is your current code base and what do you want to achieve.

React Native is a great option if you need that extra edge in performance with multi-threading and native UI rendering. Or you already have a web app based on React which you want to port to mobile.

On the other hand, if you have an existing web application code and you want to reuse some or all, including the ability to use web third-party libraries, then Cordova is the best option.

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Aleksandr Filatov
Contract Software Engineer - Microsoft · | 2 upvotes · 115.8K views
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Apache CordovaApache CordovaPhoneGapPhoneGapProGuardProGuard
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()
What is Proguard?

ProGuard is the most popular optimizer for Java bytecode. It makes your Java and Android applications up to 90% smaller and up to 20% faster. ProGuard also provides minimal protection against reverse engineering by obfuscating the names of classes, fields and methods.

How to use it in Cordova app?

I didn't find any plugins for it. So I've implemented it by myself and shared it on GitHub.

Feel free to use!

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Pros of Apache Cordova
Pros of Materialize
  • 48
    Lots of plugins
  • 35
    JavaScript
  • 26
    Great community
  • 25
    Easy Development
  • 18
    Easy to learn
  • 15
    Cross platform
  • 7
    Open Source
  • 6
    Easy, fast, not buggy in my experience with my code
  • 6
    Lots of descendants; PhoneGap, Ionic, Intel XDA etc
  • 4
    Can use CSS3
  • 4
    Rich HTML 5
  • 4
    Easy debugging
  • 3
    HTML, CSS and JS
  • 3
    Fast and hot reload
  • 3
    Rich css ui
  • 3
    Use what you code in your browser
  • 2
    Need a light system
  • 2
    Native Web Technologies
  • 2
    Without extra tooling needed
  • 2
    One code base everywhere
  • 102
    Google material design
  • 74
    Easy to use
  • 74
    Responsive
  • 54
    Modern looks
  • 48
    Open source
  • 42
    Good documentation
  • 37
    Code examples
  • 29
    Extremely light - 29kb
  • 28
    Flexible
  • 15
    Great Support
  • 10
    It looks beautiful
  • 8
    Very nice looking components to quickly build out
  • 7
    Smooth animation
  • 6
    Great Grid System
  • 4
    Great
  • 4
    Ruby gem to integrate in 2 seconds flat
  • 3
    Angular2 Support
  • 2
    MIT Lisence
  • 2
    Friendly api, easy setup, good documentation
  • 2
    Easy setup
  • 1
    React
  • 1
    Grid system
  • 1
    Because of the easy to use and very editable library
  • 1
    Responsivness
  • 1
    Jibberish
  • 1
    Friendly Api
  • 0
    Better class name
  • 0
    Rtl support

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Cons of Apache Cordova
Cons of Materialize
  • 2
    No native performance
  • 1
    Hard to install
  • 0
    Hard to install
  • 7
    Mobile errors
  • 6
    Poor Grid System
  • 2
    Unmaintained

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What is Apache Cordova?

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.

What is Materialize?

A CSS Framework based on material design.

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What companies use Apache Cordova?
What companies use Materialize?
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What tools integrate with Apache Cordova?
What tools integrate with Materialize?

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What are some alternatives to Apache Cordova and Materialize?
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.
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.
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.
Electron
With Electron, creating a desktop application for your company or idea is easy. Initially developed for GitHub's Atom editor, Electron has since been used to create applications by companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Slack, and Docker. The Electron framework lets you write cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. It is based on io.js and Chromium and is used in the Atom editor.
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.
See all alternatives

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