Many developers will choose Hybrid when entering the field of mobile application development App is the entry point, because it is between web-app and native-app, and it has both “the advantage of a good user interaction experience with Native App” and “the advantage of cross-platform development of Web App”. Such a model can lower the development threshold and achieve the goal of cross-platform development of mobile applications with less cost.
Today when mobile application development is prevalent, the advent of HTML5 has given more people high hopes, and this has given birth to mobile applications like PhoneGap Application development Hybrid framework, which completely adopts HTML5 interface layout, and local capabilities are called in HTML5 pages through Native bridging as JS functions to achieve the effect of Hybrid App.
However, the essence of Hybrid App is Hybrid, that is, mixing. Since it is mixing, it is necessary to consider the mixing ratio, like steel Concrete, if the mixing ratio is not correct, it will make a building fall apart.
Generally, Hybrid App’s mix mainly consists of two parts, one part is Native and the other part is Web. But both Native and Web have their own UI and layout capabilities, data interaction capabilities, and script calling capabilities. Therefore, Hybrid App is more of a development model, and how to effectively mix and use it is a great skill. After using a variety of Hybrid development frameworks, the author has made some conclusions, and hopes to discuss and understand Hybrid with developers.
According to the degree of mixing, Hybrid App is usually divided into three types: Web-based, multi-View hybrid, and single-View hybrid.
Web main body type:
mobile application The main body is Web View, which is a Hybrid App development type that is mainly written in web language and interspersed with Native functions. Both appMobi and PhoneGap belong to Web-based mobile application middleware.
HTML5 as an upgraded version of HTML 4.0.1 and XHTML 1.0, based on the old version has more powerful performance features, and added Local Storage and other technologies indeed provide greater imagination and more possibilities for Web pages. However, HTML 5 is in the current stage of development, and is affected by browser compatibility and mobile phone hardware performance. There is still a big gap between the functions it can provide and Native.
Because this method is too heavy on HTML5, the user experience is relatively poor, and it may even be trapped in browser disputes.
Multi-View hybrid type:
is Native View and Web View are displayed independently and appear alternately. Both AppCan and Rexsee are multi-View hybrids, and they can be supplemented by Native View when HTML5 is not adequate. Although this method has made some compensation for HTML5, the only part of HTML5 that may not be competent in an interface is only part of it, but the entire interface has to be overthrown, and the implementation of Native is re-used. The development cost is extremely high, so In actual use, many developers may compromise the shortcomings of HTML5 due to various factors, especially cost considerations. This results in the fact that the multi-View hybrid framework is not much different from the Web-based framework in practical applications. This is why some developers are willing to choose other frameworks instead of multi-View hybrid frameworks. Its Native View exists like a chicken rib, leaving developers powerless.
Single View Hybrid:
is In the same View, both Native View and Web View are included. The relationship between each other is covering (stacking). This mode can make Native View and Web View coexist harmoniously, give full play to the advantages of Native and HTML5, and can achieve a control-level Native interface interactive experience at least. Fiberstar’s ExMobi and Titanium are frameworks with this feature. They allow developers to make choices more flexibly without considering too many cost factors.
In addition, regardless of the type of Hybrid framework, the practice of using HTML5 as the main body of development may cause various browser compatibility issues As well as user experience and interface performance issues, developers need to think about the role of Native in Hybrid and how Native is used.
In Hybrid App, Native is also exquisitely used, mainly including: pure native program call, JS bridge class call and tag library Called by plug-in.
pure native program method call:
That is, completely write pure native programs to achieve Native effects, such as AppCan, PhoneGap, etc. Although this method can fully call all native capabilities, because the structure is not strong, developers need to independently write native programs for different platforms, and the threshold is high. So it is not suitable for most developers.
JS bridge class call:
this This way, by encapsulating the capabilities of Native as a JS bridge class, you can draw the native interface by writing JS to achieve the Native effect. However, due to its closure and grammatical particularity, many developers find it difficult to adapt to this writing method, not only JS The light-weight feature of is not well played, and it adds to the developer’s development difficulty for no reason. Just like using basketball to play football, not only can it not be flexible, but it also reduces the fun of the activity.
Therefore, the JS bridge class is generally more suitable for providing non-interface native capabilities, but it seems a little powerless for drawing interfaces.
tag library plug-in method call:
The tag library refers to a tag syntax similar to HTML5 tags. This tag is parsed and displayed through Native View instead of Web View. This greatly reduces the difficulty of the developer’s call. It can be achieved by writing simple tags. Complex Native effects, and the tags in this way can be fully extended, running in the Hybrid App framework through plug-ins, developers have more flexible choices, and it is easy to modularize, to achieve the reuse and expansion of the tag library . For example, the ExMobi of Feng Martian Sky calls the Native interface in this way. It not only does not need to write native programs, but also uses a simpler tag library method than writing JS to allow developers to call to achieve the Native effect.
I believe that the real Hybrid App framework is not limited to traditional development frameworks such as PhoneGap and Appcan. It is neither in HTML5 There is a shell under the appearance of HTML5 and Native is not separate. As a development model, the Hybrid App framework technology is also constantly changing. Just like Feng Martian’s ExMobi, it has powerful Native layout capabilities and HTML5 flexible display capabilities, allowing Native and HTML5 to coexist friendly and labelled. The method is more convenient for developers to call and extend at will. Choosing the Hybrid App framework with strong technical strength not only provides developers with convenience, but also an advanced development model and way of thinking.
In addition, the ExMobi framework provides convenience in development, including the ability to convert OFFICE documents, unified push processing, and data The compression and encryption of the application, the download and update of the application, the integration capability of different data and the unified conversion capability, as well as the continuous update of the local capability call.
Moreover, in the eyes of many CIOs, the Hybrid App framework not only provides development capabilities, it is just the overall enterprise mobile strategy Part of the application management, equipment management, application security requirements at different levels, and flexible deployment modes are also the core parts of the enterprise mobile strategy. If developers implement them all by themselves, it will be a lot of work, so choose A platform-based Hybrid App framework is necessary. Fiberstar’s ExMobi is such a mobile application platform based on Hybrid App. It includes development (IDE environment), integration (IT system docking, cloud services), packaging (application packaging for various operating systems), and publishing (application running) , Management (log management, update management) provides a complete set of mobile application solutions. Therefore, it is recommended that developers choose the appropriate Hybrid App framework according to their actual situation.