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There are a lot of tools out there for mobile app developers looking to maximize their time and skills while building an application, but the sheer number of them can be overwhelming. Our six favorite tools are PhoneGap, jQuery Mobile, AngularJS, Bootstrap, MongoDB, and V8 JavaScript Engine. Here’s how each tool can assist you in the development process.

PhoneGap

Apache Cordova, often referred to as PhoneGap, is a near-necessary tool for today’s developers. With it, you can build applications for mobile devices using JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3, instead of having to use platform-specific APIs for iOS, Windows Phone, or Android.

It works by wrapping HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code tailored for each device type, and expands the features of HTML and JavaScript to work with the device. In the Appery.io App Builder, each new app includes the Apache Cordova Library, that means you can use any of the JavaScript APIs provided by Apache Cordova, as well as access native device features such as camera, contacts and more.

jQuery Mobile

jQuery Mobile is a mobile framework – a JavaScript library – that’s compatible with a wide variety of smartphones and tablet computers. It’s compatible with all major desktop browsers, as well as Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

It’s built on a jQuery core, so its learning curve is short for people who have experience with jQuery syntax. Its theming framework allows for the creation of custom themes, and its limited dependencies and lightweight nature optimize speed. It’s especially useful because the same underlying codebase will automatically scale to any screen, while it’s HTML5-driven configuration allows you to lay out pages with minimal scripting.

The Appery.io App Builder uses jQuery Mobile in building the UI. It also supports the integration of the jQuery Mobile ThemeRoller, allowing you to create and use as many custom themes as you want, as well as components such as the jQuery Mobile Panel component.

AngularJS

AngularJS is an open-source web app framework designed to combat the challenges encountered in developing single-page applications. Its goal is to simplify both the development and testing of single-page applications by providing a framework for a client-side model–view–controller (MVC) architecture.

In Appery.io’s new AngularJS Visual Builder, this means that you can get almost all the benefits of the framework. For AngularJS, this includes data binding, controllers, directives, filters, and UI components such as AngularJS Google Maps.

Bootstrap

Twitter’s Bootstrap is the ultimate responsive UI framework – you can go from laptop to tablet to smartphone with ease. Bootstrap adapts to the change in platforms quickly and efficiently.

Mark Otto, one of the creators of Bootstrap, has said that the framework was originally created with “one core concept: pairing designers with developers.”

Illustrating this core concept, Bootstrap contains HTML- and CSS-based design templates for typography, forms, buttons, navigation and other interface components, as well as optional JavaScript extensions.

In Appery.io’s new Angular JS and Bootstrap Visual Editor, this means you can use the Bootstrap Grid System, responsive utilities for showing and hiding content depending on screen size, and, of course, UI components like dropdowns, button groups, alerts, and more.

MongoDB

Classified as a NoSQL database, MongoDB is an open-source, cross-platform document-oriented database that replaces the traditional table-based relational database structure in favor of JSON-like documents with dynamic schemas. This makes data integration in certain types of applications easier and faster.

With the Appery.io App Builder, you can instantly add a cloud database and backend to your app, enabling developers to store app data and manage users. And because it’s based on MongoDB, Appery.io’s MBaaS is powerful, scalable, and easy to use.

V8 JavaScript Engine

The V8 JavaScript Engine is an open-source JavaScript engine developed by Google.

V8 compiles and executes JavaScript source code, handles memory allocation for objects, and garbage collects objects it no longer needs. It compiles JavaScript to native machine code before executing it, rather than using the traditional methods such as interpreting bytecode or compiling the whole program to machine code and executing it from a filesystem. The compiled code is then optimized dynamically at runtime.

JavaScript is most commonly used for client-side scripting in a browser and enables any C++ application to expose its own objects and functions to JavaScript code.

The Appery.io server code is based on the V8 JavaScript Engine, enabling developers to create and host their server-side business logic without having to manage their own server infrastructure.

Conclusion

All of these tools are designed to make the developer’s life easier. When you use Appery.io, each of these tools is automatically at your disposal, allowing you to work more efficiently. This saves you and your team time, money, and stress. Moreover, because they are all already integrated, our platform makes it very easy for developers to enjoy the benefits of all these great tools without having to integrate them one at a time on their own.

Check out our documentation to learn more about these tools and start building your app today!