#codingwoes

*gets stuck*

*looks at someones elses screen*- wat that

*looks back at my screen* - wat dis

Is the future of the mobile web in native applications?

The advent of the mobile web has completely redirected how we developers design and program for the user experience. Devices and programs are quickly becoming completely interconnected; even today, phones, televisions, cars, computers and even refrigerators can exchange data. This is in part thanks to JavaScript (js), the closest global programming language we have.

Even so, js has its limitations. First, js is run client side, so its execution is completely reliant on the device and their API. Second, it is a single threaded synchronous programming language, and as such execution of an operation can easily be blocked while js waits for a callback.

Thankfully, many of these issues are resolved when js moves from the browser and is programmed within a native application. Frameworks such as Electron, NativeScript, and React Native can create native applications using a combination of css, html, xml, and js. They resolve issues web applications have with js, such as blocking, cross platform user experience uniformity, and access to native modules. In other words, you can get the best of js by programming within a native interface.

To expand this further, the frameworks are asynchronous programming languages that prevent blocking whilst an operation is awaiting completion. Js is prone to blocking due to it being single threaded, limited by input/output (I/O) functions and callbacks. By taking advantage of the multi-threaded language of the framework, js execution can continue while a block of code is waiting for a callback.

Furthermore, cross platform user experience is essential to good coding and design. When js is in a web application, the execution is determined by the client side browser. Thus, the browser’s execution is determinant on the device, i.e. if the device a computer or a smartphone they may execute the js differently. In a native application, the device will run the js consistently, for it is the framework that is executing the js code. By using the aforementioned frameworks the code is going to be cross platform, functional and identical on every device, ensuring a smooth and seamless user experience.

Last, despite js supporting mobile devices, mobile applications have poor gesture recognition and limited native module access. This has more to do with frameworks keeping up to date and the web browser applications not. Because of this, js programmed within these frameworks has superior gesture recognition, such as tapping and swiping the screen. The frameworks offer full access to native modules such as camera and calendar applications. This allows your code to read inputs from other native applications as well as output data to them.

So the question becomes, is it better to program a web application or a native application? Although the argument strongly favors native applications, it is important to recognize that native applications have their own limits; such as client side data storage, lack of control due to the framework submitting to the user’s device, and all major updates requiring permission from the user before changes to the interface can be made.