Developing Cordova applications

To develop cross-platform MobileFirst applications, you use the open-source Apache Cordova tooling and framework. Certain MobileFirst features specifically support integration with Cordova apps.

Apache Cordova provides a web-based platform for developing apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript within the application WebView interface. The WebView is started by the native SDK. MobileFirst SDKs provide functionality for both stages of the runtime, with a minimal number of necessary functions built on the native MobileFirst SDK. In Cordova apps, you can write JavaScript code by using standard web technologies such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, without requiring recoding in each native mobile platform's development language. Instead, applications execute within native wrappers targeted to each native platform. The Crosswalk WebView, which can replace the native Cordova WebView, is newly supported by the MobileFirst SDK in V8.0.0. . For more information, see Crosswalk WebView (Android).

To create Cordova apps that are enabled for MobileFirst features, you use your preferred development tools that support Cordova such as the Apache Cordova CLI, Ionic, or IntelliJ. You obtain some software, such as plug-ins, code to support various target platforms, command-line tools, or an IDE directly from the supplier of your development tools. Then, to use MobileFirst capabilities, such as back-end services of MobileFirst Server, you add Cordova plug-ins that support MobileFirst features to your app. These plug-ins are included in the IBM MobileFirst™ Platform Foundation Developer Kit. You can also download these plug-ins from npm or JazzHub. For information about creating the Cordova app and adding MobileFirst Server functionality, see Creating Cordova apps that include MobileFirst features.

Important: Cordova development tools are not provided with IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation.

After installing all necessary plug-ins, register your app on the server. For more information, see Registering Cordova applications to MobileFirst Server.

Develop your own application code in your chosen IDE and view it by using built-in emulators in Xcode, Android Studio, and Cordova (cordova emulate).

For information about development issues specific to the native environment, changes made to the startup code by the MobileFirst plug-in, details on starting the Cordova WebView, see Developing Cordova apps for Android, Developing Cordova apps for iOS, and Developing Cordova apps for Windows.
For information about developing the WebView and IDE editors providing autocomplete for the JavaScript API, see Cordova WebView.

The following topics provide details for each stage of development.