A long list of reports has highlighted the rapidly growing popularity of mobile apps, and a steady decline in the popularity of mobile web. Most enterprises nowadays prefer launching both websites and mobile apps to reach more customers and prospects. But the frequent fluctuations in the worldwide market share of mobile operating systems have made it essential for enterprises to build mobile apps by targeting multiple mobile operating systems including iOS, Android and Windows Phone. As a dynamic web technology, HTML5 makes it easier for programmers to build mobile-friendly websites and hybrid mobile apps.
The updated version of HTML comes with new tags and semantics that help developers build modern applications without writing lengthy and complex code. Further, it enables programmers to boost the application’s feature and functionality without using third-party tools. Many programmers nowadays use HTML5, CSS and JavaScript to create a variety of web-based mobile apps using the same code base. They also take advantage of a number of JavaScript frameworks to speed up and effectuate development of HTML5 web apps. If you are looking for the right HTML5 framework, it is time to have a look as some of the popular JavaScript frameworks that can be used for HTML5 web application development.
JavaScript Frameworks that help enhance HTML5 Web Application Development
Ionic
The open source framework enables developers to build hybrid mobile apps using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. Ionic offers a robust library of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript components optimized for mobile app development. It is also designed with features to perform seamlessly and quickly on the latest mobile devices. Further, it uses AngularJS to simplify development of powerful SDKs. As Ionic is designed based on native mobile development SDKs, it can push iOS and Android apps to other mobile platforms through Cordova. The developer can further create, test and deploy the Ionic apps to various platforms simply using a single command.
Onsen UI
It is one of the high-performing open source JavaScript and CSS frameworks for HTML5. Onsen UI allows programmers to choose from a large collection of web-based user interface (UI) components. At the same time, the programmers can simply use the tag to adjust the view according to the screen size of the device. They can create a single-column view for smartphones and double-column view for tablets without putting any extra effort. Onsen UI can be further integrated with popular cross-platform mobile app development frameworks like Cordova and PhoneGap to effectuate development of hybrid mobile apps.
Intel XDK
The framework comes with features to reduce the HTML5 web application development time significantly. Intel XDK can be used by developers to create both HTML5 app and games. In addition to helping programmers to design, build and test apps quickly, XDK further makes it easier for them to deliver the application to multiple app stores. At the same time, it allows developers to get higher returns through in-app purchase options and third-party plug-ins for advertising. The emulator and JavaScript debugging tools provided by XDK allow developers to preview the application on a separate window while making changes to the code.
Framework7
The tool makes it easier for developers to create iOS and Android apps using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. Framework7 further enables developers to create apps just like developing a website. They have to write a simple HTML5 layout, and customize it by adding the JavaScript and CSS files provided by Framework7. However, they have option to write the entire content in HTML5 instead of JSON or JavaScript. They can further use custom UI elements for iOS and Android to make the app look and feel like native applications. Framework7 further reduces the coding time significantly by providing a variety of UI elements and widgets including popup, popover, tabs, views, side panels, modals, layout grid, form elements and media lists.
JQuery Mobile
Unlike other JavaScript frameworks, jQuery Mobile is designed as a user interface system based on HTML5. It enables developers to create responsive websites and apps that work with multiple devices and platforms. JQuery Mobile further provides tools that allow users to download themes and customize them by dragging and dropping colors. The users also have option to use tools to create custom bundles that include a single JavaScript file and structure-only stylesheets required in production environment. However, the framework does not come with specialized features to make the apps look and feel like native mobile apps.
Kendo UI
It is designed with features to help developers to create both web applications and mobile apps using HTML5 and JavaScript. In addition to relying heavily on jQuery, Kendo UI further allows users to take advantage of more than 70 jQuery widgets. It further provides tools to help programmers in building customized themes. The users also have option to integrate Kendo UI with Twitter Bootstrap, AngularJS and other commonly used JavaScript frameworks. The popularity and credibility of Kendo UI can also be determined from the fact that it is currently being used by Microsoft, Sony and NASA.
CreateJS
CreateJS is designed with a set of modular JavaScript tools and libraries for HTML5 application development. The programmers can take advantage of these libraries to embed rich and interactive content into the app through HTML5. For instance, they can use EASELJS to work with HTML5 canvas elements easily, SOUNDJS to work with HTML5 audio efficiently, and PRELOADJS to manage loading of assets effectively. So CreateJS enables developers to optimize and enhance commonly used HTML5 elements.
Sencha Touch
The framework allows developers to use JavaScript for creating HTML5 applications that look and fell just like native mobile apps. Sencha Touch is also one of the most popular JavaScript MVC framework for building cross-platform web and mobile apps. It provides a variety of native-looking themes and built-in UI components for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry. The developer can avoid writing additional code using UI widgets like forms, menus, toolbars, carousals and lists. Likewise, the layout engine makes it easier for users to customize and make the apps work with a wide variety of mobile devices. At the same time, the backend agnostic data model provided by Sencha Touch comes with useful features like sorting and filtering. The users can further take advantage of the charting package provided by the framework to represent data in bar, pie or line charts.
On the whole, you have option to choose from several JavaScript frameworks to build HTML5 web applications quickly and easily. Most of these frameworks support HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. Essential JavaScript features and performance of the frameworks differ from each other. So it becomes essential to focus on the features and performance of various frameworks, and pick the one that complements the requirements of your project perfectly.
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