Last week, Telerik announced the first preview version of NativeScript, a cross-platform framework for building native mobile applications using JavaScript.
Targeting more than one platform is now a usual requirement for professional apps. Independent developers as well as app development companies are adopting ways of cross-platform development which offer cost and time saving. Currently there are three different ways in which one can approach cross-platform app development namely: Native, Mobile Web and Hybird. You can compare these app development models with the Infographics provided by Telerik.
Valentin Stoychev from Telerik, while announcing NativeScript, wrote:
“NativeScript framework enables developers to use pure JavaScript language to build native mobile applications running on all major mobile platforms – Apple iOS, Google Android and Windows Universal. The application’s UI stack is built on the native platform rendering and layout engine, using native UI components and because of that no compromises with the User Experience of the applications are done. It is also worth mentioning that a full native API access is provided by using JavaScript.”
This adds a whole new paradigm to the way apps get developed and is sure to attract a lot many web developers who are looking forward to build native apps for different platforms using the technologies they already know.
Hybrid-apps are also developed using web technologies and with the help of bridging frameworks like Apache Cordova. However, with NativeScript, Telerik has taken one further step in bringing web technologies closer to the native app development. Developers will be able to produce native user interface and access native platform API’s using NativeScript class libraries. With full abstraction of UI layer, developers won’t need to have prior Android, iOS or Windows knowledge.
You may have also heard about Xamarin, which allows developers to create native iOS, Android, Mac and Windows apps in C#. While Xamarin is bringing Native cross-app development ease for C# (.NET) developers, NativeScript on the other hand is offering the same for Web developers. Both offer Visual Studio integration.
Telerik has decided to make the NativeScript core framework as Open Source. The source code will be available under the Apache License Version 2 at http://github.com/NativeScript.
With the announcement of preview version, Telerik has also made available a roadmap of NativeScript. The preview version currently includes support for iOS and Android app development, while Windows Phone support will join hands in version 1.0 which is scheduled to release in Jan 2015.
Read the Technical Overview of NativeScript to understand how it enables interaction with the native Platform, and what advantages it offers over Hybrid apps. In order to get access to the preview release and get involved, you can join the NativeScript Insiders Group.