When it comes to mobile app development, the various frameworks and tools are overwhelming. There are many cross-platform solutions available for mobile app development. Among all the available cross-platform solutions, Cordova stands out as one of the best options for developing mobile apps. It is a software that helps developers build native applications with web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Cordova Interview Questions and Answers will help you crack any interview in no time. Knowing these answers will help you understand what the hiring manager is looking for.
Moreover, it will enable you to give appropriate responses to their queries so that they can understand your potential more clearly. With these interview tips, you will be able Check This Doc Out to ace your next interview and get the job offer.
1. What is Cordova?
Cordova is a framework to develop mobile applications using web technologies that are widely used by the developer community worldwide.
This framework allows developers to extend their applications beyond the device and make them available to all devices by converting their application into a cross-platform application such as Android, iOS, Windows, and more.
In addition, with Cordova, developers can use languages such as JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. Therefore, the application can be hosted with a web server, and it can be integrated with any database or accessed using REST or Web Services.
2. Explain the mechanism of Cordova?
The Cordova engine runs in the background, listens for events, and then triggers the JavaScript code to run. When a call is made to the native operating system (OS), the Cordova engine sends the request to the OS to perform a task.
After the OS is done with the task, it communicates back to the Cordova engine to update the user interface (UI) of the application. The communication between the Cordova engine and the OS is done using events. You can use the same event mechanism described above to plug into the OS.
3. How is Cordova different from Native Apps?
Native apps are developed in the language specific to each OS such as Objective-C for iOS and Java for Android.
Since Cordova uses web technologies, you can reuse your existing development skills to build your mobile applications. The architecture of a native app is different from a hybrid application. Therefore, it will take more time to design and build a native app with a good user experience. The performance of the application will be different when compared to a hybrid application.
4. Pros and Cons of Cordova
The major advantage of using Cordova is that you can build one application that works on all major operating systems, thereby saving time and money. You can also use the code written in one platform as a template to build another platform.
Some of the disadvantages of using Cordova are – Often, hybrid applications are slower than native applications. Therefore, you should use a hybrid application only when you need to support multiple platforms. You can use the same code to write plugins for multiple platforms. But, if you need to write the same functionality in the underlying OS, you need to write it separately for each platform.
5. Explain what are the limitations of Cordova?
Cordova has certain limitations that are important to understand for a smooth development of your application. Let’s take a closer look at some of the major limitations of Cordova.
- The first limitation is that as a hybrid application, the application is slower than native apps. Therefore, use hybrid apps only when you need to support multiple platforms and use the same code to write plugins for multiple platforms.
- Hybrid apps are not as secure as native apps. Therefore, use the platform security features to make your app more secure.
- The third limitation is that hybrid apps don’t get any operating system (OS) update. Therefore, if you want to use a new OS version, you need to rewrite the application.
6. Is Cordova Only for Extensions?
This is a common misconception. Cordova is not only for extensions; it is a framework that you can use to develop any mobile application. You can build your application using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and then deploy it on multiple platforms using Cordova. Cordova is a set of APIs that allow you to access native device functionality from within a web view. The core APIs allow you to access device sensors, storage, and the device camera.
7. What can you say about Phone Gap and Cordova?
The Phone Gap is just an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that is used to develop hybrid mobile applications. Likewise, you can use the Cordova command-line interface (CLI) to develop the hybrid app. As discussed above, the main difference between the two is that Cordova is the framework, whereas Phone Gap is the IDE only. You will use Cordova to develop mobile applications and Phone Gap to build mobile web applications.
8. What is Cordova plugman?
The Cordova plugman is a command-line utility that allows you to add platform-specific plug-ins to your application. It is a wrapper that enables you to use plug-ins that are not compatible with the Cordova CLI. With plugman, you can find plug-ins on the web, add them to your application, and customise them as required.
9. What does Operating Systems it support?
Cordova supports the following operating systems
- iOS: From version 4 and above
- Android: Version 2.3 and above
- Windows: From version 8 and above
- BlackBerry: From version 10 and above
10. What are the events used in Cordova projects?
There are certain events used in Cordova projects. The events include
- DeviceReady: This event is triggered when the device is ready for use.
- Exit: This event is triggered when the application is closed.
- Activate: This event is triggered when the application becomes active on a device.
- Deactivate: This event is triggered when the application is in the background.
Cordova is a framework used to build web-based applications that can be converted into native applications for multiple platforms. The framework uses the same language and tools used for web development. This makes the development process easier. However, the application will not be as efficient as native applications. Therefore, you should use it only when you need to support multiple platforms with the same codebase.