DEV Community

Cover image for Collapsing Walls: A Case of Cross-Platform Development and its Effects on the App Market
sharon oliva
sharon oliva

Posted on

Collapsing Walls: A Case of Cross-Platform Development and its Effects on the App Market

Definition:

Cross-platform development describes the ability to develop software applications and systems in such a way that users of the software can use them on more than one operating system rather than just one operating system. It is also the reverse of native development where one has to create separate codebase for each platform.

Key Components:

Frameworks and Tools: Some of the most admired frameworks like React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin allow developers to write code only once and deploy it on different platforms. These types of tools ease the development phase by providing composite plates of components and libraries designed for multiple platforms.

Shared Codebase: With a single application having several codes, developers are to face the hassle of having copies of the same application, thereby avoiding unnecessary duplication. This question helps in easing out the process of delivering product upgrades and corrections to bugs for the users' devices more efficiently.

Cost-Effectiveness: By harnessing this cross-platform model, the resource needs are optimized. For example, cut costs where instead of hiring different teams for different platforms, one team will be able to work on maximum number of platforms at the same time.

Faster Time to Market: Thanks to a common codebase and reusable parts strategy, cross-platform development speeds everything up as every part is worked on simultaneously and leads to timely launch of products to the market giving a company an edge over others.

evolution has continued:

The Impact on the App Landscape:

Greater Reach: The user base of any developer has become larger because of the cross-platform development. It is easier for businesses to multiply their customer base without having more teams or resources by concentrating on multiple platforms at once.

Better Usability: Such frameworks offer necessary components for ensuring the same user interface across all the supported platforms. This makes the end-users get the same satisfaction regardless of the type of device and operating system they use thus helping improve retention rates.

Creativity Expansion: Since cross-platform development utilization continues to grow, developers are motivated to work together and share resources blocking a resource wasting and time wasting tendency. Sometimes this means that the use of this approach contributes to the good end results.

Continuing Change: It is clear why cross platform application development is being embraced and why technologies are moving in various directions. There are several features included in a cross platform mobile application development format that users will hardly find in native apps.

Conclusion:

Implementation of cross-platform development flatly alters the app development and the distribution paradigm by opening up channels previously confined to single operating systems. Therefore, this development has also ended the idea of having only one way of designing.

Top comments (1)

Collapse
 
forthegeeks profile image
Manjunath Shenoy

excellent article...keep it going