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Codename One VS NativeScript

Compare Codename One VS NativeScript and see what are their differences

Codename One logo Codename One

iOS, Android, Windows Phone native app development in Java.

NativeScript logo NativeScript

Build truly native apps with JavaScript
  • Codename One Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-28
  • NativeScript Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21

Codename One features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Codename One allows developers to create applications that run on multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and more, using a single codebase. This reduces the need for platform-specific development and maintenance.
  • Java-Based
    It uses Java as its primary programming language, which is widely known and used, making it accessible for a large pool of developers and leveraging existing Java skills.
  • Cloud-Based Build
    Codename One offers a cloud-based build service, which simplifies the process of compiling and packaging apps for various platforms without the need for separate SDK installations on the developer's machine.
  • Rich UI Components
    The platform provides a wide array of customizable UI components, allowing developers to create modern and visually appealing interfaces that can be tailored to fit different platform styles.
  • Easy Portability and Testing
    Apps can be easily tested across different platforms using simulators, and Codename One provides tools to check platform-specific behavior, improving portability and reducing platform-specific issues.

Possible disadvantages of Codename One

  • Performance Limitations
    Due to the nature of cross-platform frameworks, Codename One may not match the performance of native applications, especially for more complex or resource-intensive applications.
  • Limited Access to Native Features
    While Codename One aims to abstract platform differences, access to some specific native features might be limited or require additional bridging via native interfaces.
  • Learning Curve for New Users
    Developers unfamiliar with the Codename One framework or its component model may face a learning curve before becoming proficient in using it effectively.
  • Community and Support
    While there is a community around Codename One, it may not be as large or active as communities for some other, more widely-used cross-platform frameworks, which might affect the availability of community-based support or resources.
  • Dependency on Cloud Services
    The reliance on cloud-based build services can be a limitation if developers prefer or require complete offline operations, or if there are any service downtimes impacting project timelines.

NativeScript features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    NativeScript allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android, which saves time and resources.
  • Native Performance
    Since NativeScript directly uses native components, it delivers high performance comparable to native applications, unlike some other cross-platform solutions.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    NativeScript offers a rich ecosystem of plugins and modules, making it easy to extend functionalities and integrate with various services.
  • Single Codebase
    Maintaining a single codebase for both iOS and Android reduces development and debugging efforts.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, NativeScript has strong community support and continuous improvements driven by developers around the world.
  • Access to Native APIs
    NativeScript allows direct access to native APIs, giving developers more flexibility and control over platform-specific features.

Possible disadvantages of NativeScript

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The framework requires an understanding of native development concepts, which can be complex for new developers or those not familiar with mobile development.
  • Lack of Third-Party Components
    Compared to more mature frameworks, NativeScript has a limited number of third-party libraries and UI components available.
  • Performance Overhead
    Despite high performance, there is still some overhead compared to fully native applications due to the abstraction layer.
  • Limited Community Support
    Although the community is growing, it is still smaller compared to mainstream frameworks like React Native or Flutter, which might result in slower issue resolution and fewer resources.
  • Maintenance and Updates
    Keeping the framework and its plugins up to date with the latest iOS and Android releases can be challenging and resource-intensive.

Codename One videos

Top Five New Features of Codename One 6.0 - Chat

NativeScript videos

NativeScript VS React Native 2019 | performance | community | plugins

More videos:

  • Review - Which one is best for you? Flutter, React Native, Ionic or NativeScript?
  • Review - 7 Things to Know When Learning NativeScript

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Codename One and NativeScript)
Developer Tools
23 23%
77% 77
Development Tools
12 12%
88% 88
JavaScript Framework
13 13%
87% 87
Javascript UI Libraries
12 12%
88% 88

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Codename One and NativeScript

Codename One Reviews

10 React Native Alternatives
Additionally, Codename one generates native OS binaries that developers can upload to Apple/Google/Microsoft, etc.
Top Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
Created in 2012, Codename One is a leading open-source, cross-platform framework for developing cross-platform apps for iOS, Android, web, or desktop. Using Codename One, developers can write code in Java or Kotlin and make it native to different platforms. And as Codename One is WORA (write once run anywhere) framework, a single codebase is required for different platforms....
Source: www.pangea.ai

NativeScript Reviews

Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
With the framework, developers get the option to craft a completely native experience even without interfering with the user interface. Those who are familiar with JavaScript can leverage NativeScript to its fullest.
Top 5 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform Development
NativeScript is a powerful framework that empowers developers to build Web, iOS, Android, and Vision Pro apps on a single codebase. If you’re comfortable with web development, especially Angular or VueJS, you’ll find NativeScript accessible.
Source: www.miquido.com
10 Best Open Source Firebase Alternatives
The native apps you develop use the richness of the mobile platform and offer the performance you need for mobile devices. NativeScript uses native APIs and controls to render, allowing you to create more sophisticated apps compared to using a hybrid approach.
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
NativeScript doesn’t require Angular or Vue.js but works better when used together for cross-platform app development. This runtime framework implements JavaScript, its superset TypeScript and Angular Native, and can render a variety of apps, be they gaming, streaming, geolocation, or chat apps. The user interface is in XML and CSS. A single, reusable codebase can be applied...
Top JavaScript Frameworks For Mobile App Development
NativeScript is an open-source, cross-platform, free mobile framework that assists in the creation of a truly native Android and iOS mobile apps. These apps can be built with JavaScript, Angular, Vue.js or TypeScript. Programming using NativeScript reduces the development time and lines of code, to a large extent. Many organizations globally have been implementing it because...
Source: medium.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NativeScript seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 20 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Codename One mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Codename One yet. Tracking of Codename One recommendations started around Mar 2021.

NativeScript mentions (20)

  • What are JavaScript Engines?
    NativeScript is a good example of a runtime built specifically for cross-platform native mobile application development built using JavaScript. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Gio UI – Cross-Platform GUI for Go
    A long time ago, nativescript[1] seemed to be a strong alternative to reactnative. Is that still the case? [1] https://nativescript.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Ask HN: Flutter or React Native?
    I'm curious about this topic as well. I would also add NativeScript[1] in the comparison. [1] https://nativescript.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Svelte Native: The Svelte Mobile Development Experience
    This is not so much the Svelte equivalent of React Native as it is just NativeScript (https://nativescript.org). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Mobile App Development for both iOS and Andriod
    There is also https://nativescript.org/ which would allow you to use Vue (or several other frameworks) to build a mobile app. Used it myself a while back for an iPad app using Vue 2 and it was pretty straightforward. It seems like there have been quite a few improvements since then so might be worth a look. Source: about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Codename One and NativeScript, you can also consider the following products

Flutter - Build beautiful native apps in record time 🚀

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Ionic Framework - A front-end SDK to develop applications with HTML5 , CSS3 and JavaScript.

Ionic - Ionic is a cross-platform mobile development stack for building performant apps on all platforms with open web technologies.

Apache Cordova - Platform for building native mobile applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript

PhoneGap - Easily create apps using the web technologies you know and love: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.