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Apache Cordova vs Material Design for Bootstrap: What are the differences?
Introduction
Apache Cordova and Material Design for Bootstrap are two popular technologies used in web development. While Apache Cordova is a platform for building mobile applications using web technologies, Material Design for Bootstrap is a front-end framework that allows developers to easily create responsive web designs.
Key Differences between Apache Cordova and Material Design for Bootstrap:
Type of Development: Apache Cordova is primarily used for mobile app development, allowing developers to build cross-platform applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Material Design for Bootstrap, on the other hand, is focused on front-end web development, offering ready-to-use components and templates for building responsive web designs.
Target Platforms: Apache Cordova enables developers to create mobile apps that can be deployed on various platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows. Material Design for Bootstrap, however, is mainly used for web development and does not support native app development. It provides a design framework for creating visually appealing and responsive web applications.
Functionality: Apache Cordova provides access to native device features and APIs, allowing developers to create mobile applications with native-like capabilities. Material Design for Bootstrap, on the other hand, focuses on providing a visually consistent and user-friendly design system, with ready-made components and layouts that can be easily customized.
Development Workflow: When working with Apache Cordova, developers typically need to set up and configure platform-specific development environments, such as Android Studio and Xcode, for building and testing their mobile apps. Material Design for Bootstrap simplifies the development workflow by providing a pre-built front-end framework that can be easily integrated into a web project, allowing developers to focus on design and functionality rather than setting up complex development environments.
Community and Ecosystem: Apache Cordova has a large and active community of developers, with extensive documentation, forums, and plugins available for developers to enhance the functionality of their mobile apps. Material Design for Bootstrap also has a supportive community, but it is primarily focused on providing design-related resources and support for web developers.
Learning Curve: Apache Cordova requires developers to have a good understanding of web technologies, as well as some familiarity with native app development concepts. Material Design for Bootstrap, on the other hand, is relatively easier to learn, especially for developers with a background in web development, as it provides pre-designed and ready-to-use components that can be easily customized.
In summary, Apache Cordova is a platform for building cross-platform mobile applications using web technologies, while Material Design for Bootstrap is a front-end framework focused on creating responsive web designs. Apache Cordova offers native app capabilities and supports multiple platforms, while Material Design for Bootstrap provides pre-built design components and layouts for web development.
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.
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 inCordova 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!
Pros of Apache Cordova
- Lots of plugins48
- JavaScript35
- Great community26
- Easy Development25
- Easy to learn18
- Cross platform15
- Open Source7
- Easy, fast, not buggy in my experience with my code6
- Lots of descendants; PhoneGap, Ionic, Intel XDA etc6
- Can use CSS34
- Rich HTML 54
- Easy debugging4
- HTML, CSS and JS3
- Fast and hot reload3
- Rich css ui3
- Use what you code in your browser3
- Need a light system2
- Native Web Technologies2
- Without extra tooling needed2
- One code base everywhere2
Pros of Material Design for Bootstrap
- Bootstrap16
- Light weight6
- Awesome and simple to use6
- Modern Looks4
- Google Material Design4
- Responsive4
- Open Source3
- Great angular compatibility3
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Cons of Apache Cordova
- No native performance2
- Hard to install1
- Hard to install0
Cons of Material Design for Bootstrap
- Not free for premo stuff2
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