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Appcelerator

54
70
+ 1
27
Xamarin

1.3K
1.5K
+ 1
785
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Appcelerator vs Xamarin: What are the differences?

  1. Development Language: Appcelerator uses JavaScript for development, while Xamarin allows developers to use C# for building applications. This difference in programming languages can impact the choice of developers based on their skillset and familiarity.
  2. Target Platforms: Appcelerator primarily targets iOS and Android platforms, whereas Xamarin supports a wider range of platforms including iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. This broader platform support can be beneficial for developers looking to develop cross-platform applications across different devices.
  3. UI Components: Appcelerator provides a set of pre-built UI components for faster development, while Xamarin offers a more extensive set of native UI components to create a more customized and platform-specific user interface. The choice between convenience and customization needs to be considered while selecting the platform.
  4. Community Support: Xamarin has a larger community and support system compared to Appcelerator, which can be advantageous for developers seeking help, resources, and updates for their development projects. The availability of a strong community can contribute to faster issue resolution and overall development efficiency.
  5. IDE Integration: Xamarin seamlessly integrates with Visual Studio, a popular development environment, providing developers with familiar tools and features. On the other hand, Appcelerator's integration with IDEs may not be as robust as Xamarin's, potentially impacting the development workflow and efficiency for developers using different development environments.
  6. Licensing Model: Appcelerator follows an open-source licensing model, offering a free version of the platform with additional paid features, while Xamarin was acquired by Microsoft and is now included in Visual Studio subscriptions. This difference in licensing model can influence the cost and accessibility of the platforms for developers and organizations.

In Summary, the key differences between Appcelerator and Xamarin lie in the development language, target platforms, UI components, community support, IDE integration, and licensing model.

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Pros of Appcelerator
Pros of Xamarin
  • 5
    Android
  • 4
    Open Source
  • 4
    Easy to learn
  • 2
    Great community
  • 2
    Javascript
  • 2
    IOS
  • 1
    Angular.js beta
  • 1
    Vue.js beta
  • 1
    Native UI
  • 1
    Lots of native modules, components, libraries
  • 1
    MVC-based
  • 1
    Paid plans available
  • 1
    Free
  • 1
    Write directly to iOS and Android SDK with JavaScript
  • 121
    Power of c# on mobile devices
  • 81
    Native performance
  • 79
    Native apps with native ui controls
  • 73
    No javascript - truely compiled code
  • 67
    Sharing more than 90% of code over all platforms
  • 45
    Ability to leverage visual studio
  • 44
    Mvvm pattern
  • 44
    Many great c# libraries
  • 36
    Amazing support
  • 34
    Powerful platform for .net developers
  • 19
    GUI Native look and Feel
  • 16
    Nuget package manager
  • 12
    Free
  • 9
    Backed by Microsoft
  • 9
    Enables code reuse on server
  • 8
    Faster Development
  • 7
    Use of third-party .NET libraries
  • 7
    It's free since Apr 2016
  • 7
    Best performance than other cross-platform
  • 7
    Easy Debug and Trace
  • 7
    Open Source
  • 6
    Mac IDE (Xamarin Studio)
  • 6
    Xamarin.forms is the best, it's amazing
  • 5
    That just work for every scenario
  • 5
    C# mult paradigm language
  • 5
    Power of C#, no javascript, visual studio
  • 4
    Great docs
  • 4
    Compatible to develop Hybrid apps
  • 4
    Microsoft stack
  • 4
    Microsoft backed
  • 3
    Well Designed
  • 3
    Small learning curve for Mobile developers
  • 2
    Ionic
  • 2
    Ability to leverage legacy C and C++

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Cons of Appcelerator
Cons of Xamarin
  • 1
    No online IDE
  • 9
    Build times
  • 5
    Visual Studio
  • 4
    Price
  • 3
    Complexity
  • 3
    Scalability
  • 2
    Nuget
  • 2
    Maturity
  • 2
    Build Tools
  • 2
    Support
  • 0
    Maturidade
  • 0
    Performance

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What is Appcelerator?

Appcelerator is the first mobile platform to combine the flexibility of open source development technologies with the power of cloud services.

What is 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.

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What companies use Appcelerator?
What companies use Xamarin?
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What tools integrate with Appcelerator?
What tools integrate with Xamarin?

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What are some alternatives to Appcelerator and Xamarin?
Android Studio
Android Studio is a new Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. It provides new features and improvements over Eclipse ADT and will be the official Android IDE once it's ready.
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.
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.
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.
Flutter
Flutter is a mobile app SDK to help developers and designers build modern mobile apps for iOS and Android.
See all alternatives