Top Reasons to use the Angular Framework for developing Applications!

It was in the year 2009 when Misko Hevery, an employee at Brat Tech LLC, started working on AngularJS and finally in 2012, released its first version- AngularJS 1.0 and later released multiple versions of Angular one after the other, Angular 9 being the latest. The project is officially supported by Google. Today, Angular has developed into one of the most popular frameworks in the software world. Several leading companies like PayPal, Freelancer, Netflix, The Guardian, and iStock have used it for their projects. Consequently, there is a high demand for an Angular app development company that develops world-class applications for its clients.

Let us also have a look at some statistics related to the Angular framework estimated by SimilarTech, a renowned platform for insights on sales related to technologies.

• Industrial domains using Angular:
  • Computer Electronics and Telecommunications- 6.60%
  • Entertainment and Arts- 4.90%
  • Education and Science- 3.43%
  • Media and News- 3.04%
  • Others- 82.02%
• Country-wise usage of Angular in the world:
  • United States- 75,809
  • Russia- 48,874
  • Taiwan- 18,397
  • United Kingdom- 10,668
  • India- 10, 467
  • Rest of the world- 160198

We can see how this Google-empowered front-end framework has, in a short time, become the winning choice for app development as compared to other frameworks. So, in this blog, we will outline the reasons why this framework is a good choice over other frameworks. Let’s get started.

Why Angular Framework is Highly preferred over other Frameworks?

Outstanding Productivity and Simplicity of Use

Angular is quite simple to use due to the availability of high-end features. Angular has a component-based model that facilitates the reusability of components inside the app. These features significantly reduce the efforts of an AngularJS app developer for coding the applications. Also, AngularJS has customized IDEs that help the developers to track any errors instantly. This framework has numerous templates for the faster development of the UI. Another feature- CLI i.e. Common Line Interface in this framework lets the developers attach the components and create applications faster.

Easy Integration with Other Libraries

This is one of the best benefits that this framework offers. Angular integrates easily with other libraries, especially when it comes to web development projects, thus making the development speedy. When Angular app developers use various object-oriented MVC frameworks for server-side development, the integration of AngularJS for client-side development becomes simpler.

Strong Support from Google’s Community

It is supported and maintained by the Tech giant- Google. It is one of the most active communities of talented developers who are capable of resolving any issues during the app development process. So, the community provides excellent support to anyone and everyone having any technical issues. This is indeed a boon for every front-end web developer working with Angular. Also, this community hosts conferences and invites global IT companies that introduce modifications and advancements in the framework.

Now let us have a glance at some technical goodies that Angular offers:

MVC Architecture:

Angular comes with an MVC i.e. Model View Controller architecture. Using the MVC, the AngularJS developers can create an application in three separate layers and then merge the codes together. Also, this architecture allows synchronizing the data automatically and reduces complexity while coding. Thus, it becomes a time and effort-saving process altogether.

Two-way Data Binding Potential:

This is an amazing feature that allows the modifications in the user interface to immediately reflect in the applications. Any module changes, user actions, browser events, etc. in the framework gets updated effectively across the app. The developers don’t need to save the links to DOM elements as they can be used immediately. Also, low-level constructions don’t need to be used.

Declarative Coding Style:

Angular’s Declarative coding paradigm is used for the creation of commonly accessible platforms. This includes only the code essential for producing necessary outcomes which makes reading and understanding the code easier and also makes the code lightweight.

POJO Model:

The Angular framework makes use of all objects that are POJO i.e. Plain Old JavaScript Object. This model provides all the standard JavaScript functionalities for manipulating objects. It offers spontaneous and well-planned objects, so, the developers don’t need any extra getter and setter functions.

Directives:

Angular uses HTML which is a pattern language and has the facility of directives. As a result, the AngularJS app developers can easily build new HTML custom directives and code more effectively. It also improves code readability.

Single Page Application (SPA) Features:

This framework is packed with a host of SPA features which gives more control to developers over form validation abilities. SPAs allow easy creation and control of online forms. This results in productive outcomes and gives developers the freedom to modify the behaviour of HTML elements in the UI.

The Facility of Using Filters:

AngularJS comes with a directory of filters consisting of filters like Currency, Number, Date, Uppercase, Order By, etc. Also, in case more filters are required, developers can quickly register a new filter factory. The filters are quite helpful while developing database search functionality or while presenting large data chunks to the users.

RESTful Functionality:

AngularJS supports REST functionality in the ngResource module which again contributes to the building of a quality application while saving the developer’s time.

Other Technical Benefits:

Along with the aforesaid benefits, Angular app development also provides a few other advantages. It allows the creation of a captivating, user-friendly, and lightweight user interface. Moreover, it enables the creation of several new modules for a single application to ease out the development process. Furthermore, it comes with an in-built unit testing module which reduces the unnecessary wastage of time. This enables the developers to get real-time information about the projects.

Final Words:

We have seen the significant reasons why Angular app development can be chosen for your next project. Although Angular may not be the best-suited option for every kind of requirement in the market, it is undoubtedly one of the best technologies for creating a wide range of feature-rich and high-quality applications for several industrial verticals.

With this, we have come to the end of this blog and would like to know your vital thoughts in the comment section.

To know more about our other core technologies, refer to links below:

Ionic App Development

.Net App Development

React Native App Development

Top 8 Tools for Debugging React Native Applications!

Debugging an application is the most essential part of the complete React Native development process before the application is pushed to the production phase. This is true for other technologies as well. Debugging involves thorough checking of the code and helps in the early detection of error conditions. Fixing these errors or bugs during the React Native app development process, instead of fixing them in the production stages can be highly economical for every company offering React Native app development services.

So, how does the debugging take place in React Native? Well, thanks to the availability of a wide range of React Native debugging tools that help the developers debug their code efficiently in a short time.

This post is a brief guide for you, where we will be exploring the most popular debugging tools used for React Native applications globally. So let’s quickly get started.

Most Efficient Debugging Tools for React Native Developers

React Chrome Developer Tools

‘Chrome DevTools’ is usually the first name that comes to the mind of a React Native developer for debugging the code of an app. Being powered by JavaScript, this tool enables the debugging of both web appsas well as mobile apps. The React Native framework supports this tool through its remote debugging abilities by default.

So how does this tool work?

When your React Native app is running on an Android Emulator and you have to access the in-app developer menu, press ‘Cmd+M’ on Mac or ‘Ctrl+M’ on Windows. When the app runs on a real device, simply shake the device. Now, a menu will appear and you need to click on “Debug JS Remotely” to open the Google Chrome debugger. Thereafter, press ‘Command+Option+I’ on Mac or ‘Ctrl+Shift+I’ on Windows to open Developer Tools. You can now use console statements and debug the app. You may view your code by clicking on the Developer Tools Sources tab and open-sourcing the files. From here, you can add breakpoints and easily debug the app using the ‘Chrome DevTools’.

The Developer Menu

The developer menu comes with a plethora of options for the developers to carry out various functions, as given below:

• Reloading option for reloading the app
• Enabling Hot Reloading for watching the changes accumulated in a changed file
• Debugging js remotely for opening a channel to a JS Debugger
• Enabling Live Reloading for allowing the app to automatically reload when the save button is clicked
• Toggle Inspector for toggling an inspector interface. It enables the developers to inspect a UI element present on the screen along with its properties. This interface has some other tabs too, which include a tab for performance and for networking that show us the HTTP calls

React Native Debugger

This React Native tool is a stand-alone desktop application that works on Linux, Mac, and Windows and is one of the most recommended debugging tools. It can be integrated with the other two tools- React’s Developer Tools and Redux DevTools, thus giving you the best of both tools. This combination doesn’t require any setup and can be installed quickly with ease. With this combination, react native developers can get some of the best features as below:

• Profiler: Identify performance issues by getting a flamegraph with components
• Elements: for examining the styles of the elements, editing them, and instantly viewing the results in the simulator
• Console: for examining different errors and warning messages
• Network: for checking and recording network requests
• Sources: for debugging JS, setting breakpoints, and walking through the code.
• Memory: for detecting any memory leaks

React Developer Tools

This tool is considered one of the best tools for debugging React Native due to the following reasons.

• This tool allows the debugging of React components.
• Its new version allows debugging styles in React Native and also works simultaneously in the developer menu with the inspector. In this version, the developers can debug and employ the style properties and without even reloading the app can instantly view the modifications implemented in the app.

So how do you get started with this tool?

You need to use the desktop app for debugging React Native with this tool. It can be installed locally as well as globally in the project by using the below command- “yarn add react-devtools” or npm- “npm install react-devtools –save”

Now you can start the application by running the command- “yarn react-devtools” which will launch your application.

Reactotron

This open-source desktop app was designed in 2016 by Infinite Red. This tool enables the inspecting of the apps quite effortlessly. It is available for various operating systems like Linux, Mac, and Windows. It offers amazing features like:

• state tab
• React Native tab
• timeline tab for tracking app events and Redux actions
• connections for running several devices simultaneously and quickly switching debugging

Redux DevTools

Redux DevTools is also a standalone tool and a state container for JS applications. It is meant for both- React Native and React JS. It is used for common state management and allows easy inspection between actions and their reflections on the data store. Redux DevTools allows using redux debug components directly into the applications. This tool comes with several useful features such as Chart, Slider, Inspector showing real-time actions, Dispatcher, State tab, Action tab, Diff tab, Log Monitor, Test tab, Export/import, etc. You can start using this tool by installing the Redux Devtools Extension to the firefox or chrome browser.

React Native CLI

This React native tool is majorly used for developing React Native apps and is also used as a debugging tool at times. React Native CLI helps to access some relevant information about the dependencies and libraries used in the app. This information can be then used for debugging some bugs that take place due to a mismatch of different versions of tools being used for your app development.

Nuclide

Nuclide is an open-source tool and enjoys the support of a strong community. It can be added as a plug-in on top of Atom- a renowned IDE built by Facebook. It offers some outstanding features like auto-complete, jump-to-definition, inline errors, etc. Also, it provides services like Hack development, Remote, and JavaScript development, working sets, built-in debugging, task runner, mercurial support, etc.

So, our blog comes to an end with this.

Final Verdict:

Apart from the tools mentioned above, there are several other React Native debugging tools like Flow, Expo, Ignite, Visual Studio Code, etc. that can be considered by the React Native development services for their projects. It depends on what tool seems right for your project requirement, what your budget and time considerations are, and what your developers are convenient with. You may even go with a combination of some of these tools. And last but not the least, hiring skilled and experienced React Native developers or React native app development company also impacts the debugging process.

We hope this read was insightful!

Do share your knowledge and experiences about other React Native Developer Tools in the comments section.

Here is a detailed list of the top-notch React Native developer tools widely used for serving various purposes like development, debugging, testing, etc. in the React Native development process.

Also, here are some of the UI component libraries used in React Native for building world-class apps.

To know more about our core technologies, refer to links below:

Ionic App Development

.Net App Development

Angular App Development

 

 

Online Grocery Stores promote a Greener Environment! How?

Gone are the days when weekend trips to the grocery store were an integral part of a family’s schedule. The practice of social distancing ushered in by the pandemic has transformed the grocery shopping process of consumers altogether. People have finally realized the advantages and experienced the convenience of making online purchases using an online grocery app.

Online grocery stores have become the order of the day and this trend is here to stay. Take a look at some interesting stats concerning online grocery shopping and delivery as researched and predicted by the U.S-based online portal SaveMyCent.

• 70% of the grocery shoppers in the U.S.A. will make online purchases by 2022
• Merchants who are linked with logistics firms will be able to reduce their fleet expenses by 30% approximately
• The grocery market share in the U.S. would witness an expansion by 35.6 billion dollars by the year 2023
• The global online grocery store market is expected to grow by 24% by the end of 2024
• eCommerce warehouses are predicted to be entirely automated by the end of the year 2029

Shopping for groceries via online grocery apps come with myriad benefits and is an environmental-friendly option as well. Let’s explore the reasons and take a look at its future prospects too!

Reasons why Online Grocery Store Promotes a Greener and Cleaner Environment

Reduces Air Pollution

Consumers rarely carpool or pick up friends while paying a visit to the grocery store; they prefer an individual trip instead. And, needless to say, every household requires frequent grocery shopping trips, as often as once or twice in a week resulting in humongous emissions. In this regard, online grocery shopping proves advantageous! Online grocery delivery involves delivering multiple customer orders on a single trip made by a truck/van/bus. This practice reduces greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints, thereby contributing to minimizing air pollution.

Minimizes the Usage of Plastic

These days eco-friendly packaging material is gradually replacing plastic shopping bags. Some online grocery delivery stores send the ordered goods in huge crates that can be emptied into the consumers’ home at the time of doorstep delivery. Some of the stores make use of reusable cloth tote bags that can be returned during the next delivery and some use recyclable/recyclable paper bags that decompose fast without adversely affecting the environment. These practices discourage the usage of cardboard boxes and plastic grocery bags that generate harmful waste and pollute the environment.

Promotes Conservation of Electricity

Proper and effective means of managing/conserving energy is a crucial step towards the sustainability of your business. However, physical stores consume a great deal of power through lighting up stores, maintaining expensive refrigerators, thermostats, and crafting elaborate displays. Nevertheless, eCommerce business models of online grocery delivery apps help entrepreneurs save on electrical energy and reduce electricity bills, thereby promoting a greener environment.

Reduces Shipping Expenses

When consumers opt for online grocery shopping and delivery via grocery apps, the goods are delivered to their doorstep directly from nearby farmers’ markets or warehouses. In this case, goods need not be transported from the warehouse or farm to be stored in sophisticated physical spaces/stores. This saves additional transportation expenses and reduces carbon footprints on account of vehicular emissions; while consumers receive fresher groceries.

The Future of Grocery Delivery Promises Lesser Carbon Footprints

Technological Innovations

Grocery app development is expected to get greener and more tech-friendly in the recent future. But, how? Well, delivering doorstep orders via drones is the next big thing in the realm of technological innovation. The utilization of drones for this purpose means lesser fuel consumption thereby lowering carbon emissions to a great extent. Besides, the usage of vehicles that run on solar power and electricity is also being proposed for reducing carbon emissions.

Environmentally Conscious Purchases

Modern-day consumers are becoming more conscious about the carbon footprints associated with the products they purchase. Hence, individuals search for natural products and prefer brands with minimal carbon impressions over the ones that possess heavier carbon impressions. Such purchases, termed environmentally conscious purchases, bring down the global pollution levels substantially.

Proposed Ways to Reduce GHG emissions from Grocery Delivery in The Coming Years

Avoiding Express Delivery

Express shipping/same-day delivery generates more carbon footprints than standard delivery practices. So, if consumers avoid express shipping options and opt for slower delivery options instead; delivery trucks can optimize their routes and avoid additional trips. Some grocery outlets offer discounts to customers who go for longer delivery windows.

Bulk Ordering/Grocery Pooling

Frequent grocery delivery trips can be avoided if consumers place bulk orders or practice “grocery pooling” - club up their orders with that of neighbours and receive the delivery at the same date and time.

The usage of alternative fuel for grocery delivery

Usage of hydrogen fuel for refrigerating trucks to keep the cargo cool or hydrogen-powered electricity for running delivery trucks are some of the alternative fuels for delivery purpose. As per the standards established by DOT and EPA, trucks need to reduce greenhouse emissions in the years to come and extra standards have also been suggested for the same.

Final Words:

Thus, online grocery shopping not only reduces carbon footprints but also proves beneficial for consumers and entrepreneurs. Planning to architect a future-friendly high-tech grocery ordering/delivery app that will steal the show? Contact Biz4Solutions, a proficient mobile app development agency offering top-notch Grocery Delivery services in India and USA. Our IT outsourcing services have helped numerous businesses around the globe to transform their dream into reality.

To know more about our core technologies, refer to links below:

Java App Development

PHP App Development

Flutter App Development

React Native App Development: Reasons to Adopt and Key Aspects to Consider!

 

React Native, based on the Facebook-developed JavaScript library called React, facilitates the creation of purely native apps for Android and iOS platforms. It happens to be one of the most preferred and trusted frameworks for architecting app solutions for diverse industrial and commercial requirements. Renowned app owners like Facebook, Instagram, Bloomberg, Walmart, Townske, etc. owe their success to the React Native framework.

However, entrepreneurs need to gain insights into the unique selling points of this framework and consider certain aspects, before investing in React Native development. This post provides all the aforementioned information and a quick read will help aspiring app creators to make meaningful decisions.

React Native App Development: Top Benefits

Lesser Resources/Smaller-sized Teams

React Native projects do not need a lot of resources or large teams. Entrepreneurs are able to build a React Native app with a small team comprising of a project manager, a technical lead, a business analyst, 1/2 UI/UX designers, one developer, and one QA specialist. This is indeed a huge business benefit.

App Performance

React Native development involves executing the entire project in short developmental cycles. React Native apps come with a quick loading speed due to the absence of heavy components that can adversely affect the speed. Furthermore, React Native’s hot reloading functionality accelerates the bundling process enabling developers to detect changes in the real-time application, even if that change is trivial. For these reasons, it speeds up app development to a great extent.

Third-party Integration Compatibility

Thanks to React Native’s high third-party integration capability, developers do not have to entirely depend on the web view for particular functions. For instance, for integrating Google Maps into your app, the React Native environment enables linking the plugin with a particular module. The map feature can be connected with certain functionalities of the mobile device such as rotate, zoom, etc. and the periphery can be maintained so that the app uses less device memory and loads quicker as well as effectively.

Flexibility across Multiple Platforms

React APIs are mostly cross-platform-oriented. Moreover, the file extensions offered by React Native support modules as well as platforms. And, these platforms are able to effortlessly determine the OS on which an app is running and also save this information for usage in more platform-oriented implementations. Since the file extension is platform-specific, developers can easily define specific files meant for executing particular functions.

Faster Deployment and Reduced Cost

React Native’s open-sourced nature makes several components readily available to app development teams. Furthermore, the same code is applicable for deploying the application on the iOS and Android platforms. Additionally, the usage of Redux, an innovative management tool, shortens the development time further. This results in a shorter app development cycle and reduced app development expenses without having to compromise on the originality, quality, and productivity of the application.

Dynamic Community

There exists a vibrant and dynamic community to help out React Native developers with doubts and queries. The offerings are manifold including handy information on React Native development, beneficial resources, and extended assistance.

React Native App Development: Key Considerations       

Picking the Correct Navigation Library

Picking the right navigation library is important. The React Native ecosystem offers two kinds of navigation libraries – JavaScript Navigators and Native navigators. JavaScript Navigators can be set up easily while Native navigators deliver exceptional performance. You need to select the one that works best for your mobile app development project. In this regard, a quick discussion with experienced React Native app development Services will help you to choose the best-suited library.

Scalability: Scope

Today, it’s crucial to consider the scalability of the proposed application so that it perfectly fits into the differently-sized screens of smartphone devices. Besides, a modern-day app should have the required scalability for handling more real-time users as well as devices to accelerate profitability.

To scale react native applications to a larger codebase, adopt good tools like prettier and ESLint can help reduce syntax errors, include good libraries like React Router, react-hook-form, use GitHub for sharing and managing the components as building blocks that are independent and you can use Next.js instead of Create React App for starting the project.

React Native mobile app development offers plenty of room for scalability. – Facebook, a React Native empowered app is a good example. Nevertheless, for getting it right, it is important to understand the structure of the React Native app thoroughly. And, this can be achieved through extensive developmental efforts by skilled and experienced React Native developers.

Which Types of Apps are best suited for the React Native Framework?

Fully Functional Prototypes/MVPs

The strategy of hitting the market with a quick app prototype (MVP) at budget-friendly development costs, instead of investing in a full-fledged app at the beginning, is incorporated by most start-ups for getting their app idea validated and identifying the requirement of the target audience. This plan of action is one of the key prerequisites of agile development:

·        Developing a solution before competitors get time to act

·        Ensuring that a wide range of target audiences use the solution

·        Iterating speedily based on user feedback

React Native development is the ideal solution for this strategy as this framework involves low project expenses and speedy development cycles as compared to native tech stacks. And, unlike hybrid apps, React Native applications will deliver test users a truly native UX. In fact, most of the popular React Native apps have begun their journey as quick prototypes and were thereafter updated with necessary functionalities.

Example:

Airbnb possessed a website built using React. Thereafter, the rising popularity of mobile apps put them under pressure to craft a mobile app solution for staying competitive. So, in 2016 they developed an MVP using React Native and added new features in the form of updates. Once, they were well versed with the requirements of target users and the shape of the full-fledged mature product; they architected two native applications – one each for iOS and Android.

Basic Cross-platform applications

Native app development is advisable for developing highly complex software solutions that require several platform-specific features like audio/video processing, multi-threading, etc. But, if you intend to create a basic cross-platform app in a cost-effective way and your target market is evenly distributed across Android and iOS platforms; opting for React Native app development will be the ideal strategy. The reason is React Native apps involve low developmental costs and app owners can effortlessly make the interface function for both Android and iOS platforms using one single codebase.

Example:

The business brand Townske has leveraged React Native to build an application that shares city guides. The firm had only one developer, and so it was impossible to even think of developing separate apps for the iOS and Android platforms. React Native development enabled them to create a cross-platform app speedily, with their existing resources – the brand reused most part of the business logic of its existing React-based web app for building their mobile application. React Native’s key offerings - high code reusability, development speed, easy debugging, and helpful community - helped this brand to sail through all project-related challenges.

Final Words:

I hope, this post has clearly defined why React Native app development is a top pick amongst app creators and the kind of app creation projects that are best suited for this framework. If you are planning to craft a customized React Native app, contact Biz4Solutions, a prominent offshore mobile app development firm offering high-end React Native app development services in India and U.S.A. We possess extensive experience in partnering with global clients across diverse industrial domains.

To know more about our other core technologies, refer to links below:

Ionic App Development

.Net App Development

Java App Development

Top things to know about .net framework

 

The Dot Net framework — leveraged for creating various kinds of enterprise applications and websites — has garnered a great deal of traction in recent times. The unique selling points of this framework are:

• Stability, security, and scalability
• Is robust and trustworthy
• Displays high compatibility due to its ability to reuse codes/components
• Ensures effortless development
• Support for numerous programming languages
• Platform independence
• High-end performance
• Cost-effectiveness
• The availability of a host of tools and editors
• A technically sound community available for assisting with .Net related queries and issues

Dot net developers and dot net companies must be well versed with its key offerings, USPs, as well as crucial aspects of the framework and its functioning. This post provides you with all-inclusive information about the dot net development ecosystem. Here we commence!

Dot net Framework: A Synopsis

Dot Net (.Net) is a free, open-source, cross-platform software development platform devised by Microsoft. It is used for architecting various kinds of apps for mobile, web, desktop, gaming, and IoT platforms. It is also used for building websites and web services. With the dot net framework, one can use various languages, libraries, and editors.

The first version — .Net framework 1.0 — was launched in 2002 and was meant to develop apps for the Windows platforms. Thereafter, Microsoft has rolled out several enhanced versions to keep this framework updated with changing market trends; the latest version being .Net framework 6.12.0.122.

Using dot net, you can build Web-based as well as Form-based Apps applications. This framework is known for supporting a wide range of programming languages including Visual Basic, C#, and F#; and this provides plenty of choice to the .Net app developers while crafting app solutions.

Dot net: Key Offerings

A Huge Collection of Comprehensive Libraries

The Dot Net eco-system offers a huge assemblage of pre-defined libraries offering simple/complex data structures. It is a systematic app development ecosystem that ensures quality and also enables reengineering and migration. Moreover, .Net extends its support to a plethora of languages, technologies, and software tools. Consequently, dot net developers enjoy the privilege of creating functionalities that are based on the needs and accordingly write the code. Furthermore, a dedicated library for functions like encryption, database access, security, etc. is also available.

ASP.NET: Back-end Development Tool

ASP.NET, a crucial and handy software tool, is an open-source web app creation platform for executing back-end functions. It is the key tool offered by the Dot Net eco-system for developing various dynamic web solutions like websites, web apps, web services, etc. with JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and server scripting. Any .Net language can be used for writing ASP.NET apps.

The presence of the ASP .NET MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture is another USP of the dot net framework. On account of this development model, there’s better separation between the app’s code and the UI code and it becomes easier for software professionals to perform unit tests as well as to conduct Test-driven Development (TDD). This leads to better code management and guarantees code security. Owing to the MVC approach, .Net developers need not worry about ViewState and IsPostBack each time and hence can build apps as per their natural workflow, resulting in improved efficiency.

Moreover, ASP .Net WebHooks are used to connect Web APIs with SaaS services. It also allows using additional extensions that facilitate web development.

Visual Basic .Net and C#: Main Programming Languages

The Dot Net framework consists of as many as thirty-two programming languages including Visual Basic .Net, C#, F#, Boo, A Sharp, Cobra, Oxygene, IronPython, Fantom, etc. Out of these, Visual Basic .Net and C# are the most notable ones. Both of these languages are used for the front-end development of various kinds of apps starting from web solutions to desktop apps.

C# is an object-oriented language and is quite similar to Java and C++. It has been designed to meet the needs of the Dot Net platform and facilitates in crafting complex app solutions that are scalable and flexible as well.

Visual Basic .Net is also an object-oriented language meant for the .Net platform. It is employed for creating large-scale web apps, gaming apps, simple command-line tools, and graphical user interfaces.

Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a powerful IDE (Integrated Development Environment) used for writing the .Net and C# programs and is free to download. It supports an array of functions like interface designing, code editing, debugging, server management, analyzing performances, etc.

Ability to build Different Types of Applications

This programming framework comes with a plethora of features and guidelines; and is capable of developing apps/solutions for diverse platforms including mobile, web, and Windows.

Dot net: Crucial Aspects to watch out for

Dot Net is now Open-source

The .Net framework became open-source in 2014. To be precise, certain portions of the framework are available under the open-source license. C# Roslyn is an example of an open-source compiler created by Microsoft, under the Apache license; its source code can be downloaded from GitHub. Owing to its open-source nature, the .Net framework enjoys the following advantages:

• It can be used as well as distributed amongst users for free
• Users can mold this framework to suit their project requirements
• The open-source environment enables direct project access to the project vendors, partners as well as associates. Project vendors can download and make changes to the project; whereas vendor partners can only download the project.

Dot Net is not meant for Windows Only

Initially, .Net was meant for Windows only. But, after the NET Core update rolled out by Microsoft in 2016, Dot Net can now run on several platforms such as Mac OS X and Linux. On account of being an open-source as well as a cross-platform development technology, it enables developers to add new platforms to applications. It is also employed for building Cloud and IoT apps and offers several libraries, a compiler, and a core runtime.

Support for Single-File Apps

The updated version .NET 5 had added the support for single-file apps. This feature allows the .NET developers to publish/deploy apps and their dependencies as a single file; wherein the dependencies are bundled into one file. In earlier versions, single-file apps could support binaries only. But .NET 5 update provides a new internal structure that supports direct execution and at the same time, doesn’t affect performance.

A Unified System with CLR and FCL

The dot net framework consists of the CLR and FCL. The function of CLR or the Common Language Runtime is to manage the program execution written in various languages; while FCL or the Framework Class Library is a set of standardized types that helps in running .net apps. CLR and FCL together create an eco-system that enables different programming languages to interact natively, thereby representing a unified system.

A Big Umbrella: .Net’s Compatibility and Interoperability

Dot Net is considered to be a big umbrella as it is compatible with a plethora of tools, technologies as well as languages. It offers a systematic eco-system for software development that is not only a good choice for app building, app migration, and reengineering; but also comes with a promise of quality assurance.

Besides its support for a wide range of tools, skillsets, and languages; this framework offers interoperability as well. Interoperability refers to the capability of specific software or hardware to virtually work with various kinds of hardware/software, including the ones that have not yet been discovered. Dot Net is interoperable with most standard programming languages and operating eco-systems.

Its interoperability can be classified into three broad categories — COM interop (dot net with COM components); P/Invoke (dot net with Win32 DLLs); and .Net interop (COM components with dot net). COM refers to the Component Object Model that was introduced by Microsoft as the binary-interface standard in between 2 binary modules — a user-run program and a library. COM explains the standard through which these two binary modules unite as well as interact with each other. Accessing the .Net components from COM components using dot net runtime is referred to as forwarding compatibility, whereas, accessing the old code COM from dot net components is known as backward compatibility.

Adopted by Several Big Players

The Dot Net technology has been adopted by several top-layer global companies across diverse industrial domains. Some of them are Accenture, Dell, TCS, Epic Systems, Dell, Quicken Loans, and TitleSource. These big market players trust the .Net framework owing to its reliability, easy learning curve, and popularity amongst developers.

Final Thoughts

Thus, .Net is a standard software framework that programs and runs mobile as well as web apps seamlessly. Its integrated development environment ushers in myriad advantages for developing software solutions. And, the good news is that the .Net core framework awaits a brighter future ahead and is expected to grow exponentially in the years to come.

Biz4Solutions, a distinguished outsourcing software development firm, possesses extensive experience in creating effective .Net solutions for various platforms. So, if you are looking for a dot net development company, reap the benefits of our high-end .Net development services.

To know more about our other core technologies, refer to links below:

Ionic App Development

React Native App Development

Angular App Development

Developing a Desktop App using React Native for Windows: Step-by-step Guidance!

Would you like to architect a premium quality Windows Desktop Application?  Well then, employing React Native for desktop/Windows is one of the most preferred solutions for desktop application development. The reasons are manifold.

Facebook devised React, a free and open-sourced library known for crafting dynamic user interfaces. Later on, the Facebook team coined React Native. Using the React Native framework, developers were able to build cross-platform native mobile applications with React as the core interface. Furthermore, they were able to develop native mobile apps for iOS/Android, employing a single codebase based on React syntax.

This blog provides useful insights on React Native for Windows, its usage in a project, and guides you through the key technical steps involved in building a React native desktop app. So, let’s get the ball rolling!

React Native for Windows: Overview

React Native Windows was devised by the Microsoft team a couple of years back and is actively created to date with an objective to keep its releases parallel to the React Native releases rolled out by Facebook.

React Native Windows allows using the React Native framework on desktop. It resembles React Native in terms of architecture, tools, languages used, eco-system, and developer experiences. Therefore, React Native app developers can easily comprehend and work with React Native for Windows. The only aspect that developers should watch out for is that React Native Windows is rooted in Windows technologies and hence, in such projects, the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) will be invoked at the back of the JavaScript code.

Using React Native Windows in a Project

There are two major approaches while setting up a React Native Windows project: Greenfield and Brownfield

• Greenfield: A greenfield project can be created effortlessly as all steps that need to be followed are documented by the Microsoft team in a guide named “Getting Started”. And, once the project is created, you need to view your repository that is provided with the Windows/ directory. Here, you will find the native windows implementation. However, it is necessary to separate the native implementation from the main JavaScript implementation for keeping the project in good shape. This can be done by creating a separate directory for storing all the JavaScript sources. You can name the directory as src/,source/ or any other name as per your standards. Now, you are ready to start implementing the application.
• Brownfield: The UWP (Universal Windows Platform) application is based on XAML pages that contain the entire content of the app; just like a React Native Windows App that consists of a single page that stores the main App.js component. Therefore, if you already have the UWP app project as a legacy, and wish to port it to RNW, or extend the project employing RNW content the following steps needs to be executed: Creating a RNW project in a similar manner as the Greenfield project, moving the existing UWP solution to the project that has been created, and adding a new XAML Page with the below content.

<Page

x:Class="RNWProjectName.RNWContentPage"

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

xmlns:react="using:Microsoft.ReactNative"

xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

mc:Ignorable="d"

Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">

<react:ReactRootView

x:Name="ReactRootView"

ComponentName="RNWProjectName"

Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}"

MinHeight="500"/>

</Page

Developing a Desktop App with React Native for Windows: Key Steps

Establishing the Developer Environment: Step1

• You need to install the following version of Windows on your computer: Windows 10.0.16299.0 (a.k.a.,1709, Fall Creators Update, or Redstone 3) or a higher version.
• Thereafter, install the required dependencies. For this, you need to run this command given below in an elevated PowerShell Window

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope Process -Force; iex (New-ObjectSystem.Net.WebClient) . DownloadString (‘https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/react-native-windows/master/vnext/Scripts/rnw-dependencies.ps1 ’)

• This command will activate the developer mode and install the Visual Studio, the Node.js LTS version, and the Chocolatey package manager.
• It’s an added advantage if your computer possesses a physical memory of 8GB or higher than that because an above-average physical memory is needed for running the windows build processes.

Installation of React Native for Windows: Step2

Here’s how to set up react-native on windows. Check out the steps to follow for developing a Windows Desktop App employing React Native!

• Open a command-line window and then, navigate to the directory in which you would like to build the Windows Desktop App project.
• Run a command along with the Node Package Executor (NPX).

Npx react-native init  <project Name>  -- template react-native@^0.63.2

This command will enable you to create a React Native project without having to either carry out any local installations or globally install any extra tool. It will generate a React Native application within the directory specified by

<projectName>

• Then, you need to switch to the project directory for installing the React Native for Windows packages by running this command:

cd projectName

npx react-native-windows-init  -overwrite

• For running the application, launch your web browser at first, and thereafter run the following command:

npx react-native run-windows

Important Note: The first build process involves compiling several C++ sources files and so takes some time to get completed. There is a possibility that the build process might stop and show an error. In that case, you have to run a command for detecting those errors.

Here are the commonest errors that might occur during the build process, along with possible solutions:

• Error: Missing Windows 10 SDK; Solution: Install Windows 10 SDK from the Visual Studio Installer
• Error: The React Native build fails due to a certificate error; Solution: Create a new certificate for the autogenerated UWP project
• Error: Issues with paths having spaces in certain modules; Solution: Ensure that there aren’t any spaces in your project path

Debugging the React Native Desktop App employing Visual Studio: Step3

Follow these steps to debug the React Native desktop application.

• Install Visual Studio 2019 and verify the following options: (1) Workloads – UWP development and desktop development using C++; (2) Individual Components: Development activities and support for Node.js development.
• Open the solution file contained within the app folder in Visual Studio.
• Then select the debugging configuration as well as the x64 platform from the combo box controls that is there on the left side of the “Run” button and below the menu items called “Team and Tools.”
• Now, run the command yarn start from the project directory and thereafter, wait until the React Native packager reports success.
• Then, either select the option “Run”, which is visible towards the right side of the platform combo box control within the VS, or select the option: Debug->Start without Debugging menu item. Once this step is done, your new app is visible. Also, Chrome should have loaded this URL in a new tab: http://localhost:8081/debugger-ui/in.
• Select either of these two keys - Ctrl+Shift+I OR F12 - for opening Developer Tools in your web browser.

Inside React Native Windows: Key Aspects you Need to Know

• There are various pre-defined React components - Image, Text, View, ScrollView, and TextInput – within the core of the React Native framework.
• The official React Native runtime is capable of rendering genuinely native UI building blocks for the iOS/Android OS. The native rendering module was made entirely extendable by the React Native team and this enabled the dev community to extend it for other platforms too.
• Windows app target support was added by the react-native-windows project that is capable of generating a Windows app having a truly native Universal Windows Platform GUI from a prototypical React Native project.
• UWP apps function on every popular platform including Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Mixed Reality, and Xbox One system software.
• A JavaScript engine - just like the one used in the original React Native project - is used for running the portion of the app that involves JavaScript. In the beginning, the Chakra JavaScript engine was used in the react-native-windows project, but later Facebook’s Hermes JavaScript engine was integrated into the development environment for enhancing the performance.

Building a simple App employing react-native-windows: Step3

Now create a simple UWP application that will display a greeting message after you submit your first name and last name. The steps are as follows:

• Add the required code into the App.js file.
• Add the required core components and core APIs of the React Native environment and React’s “useState Hook” for receiving user inputs.
• Then, you get native Universal Windows Platform UI components from React Native components.
• The react-native-windows project extension supports a Yoga-friendly syntax and as such, it can facilitate complex layout implementations.
• Besides, the community of React Native app developers has created several amazing libraries that function on iOS/Android/ Windows apps.
• App distribution is enabled if you open the UWP app source with Visual Studio.

Publishing the React Native Windows App: Step3

Use Microsoft store to publish your application. To build the standalone react native windows app:

• Open your app solution in Visual Studio. You will find this solution in the windows/directory contained within the project’s root folder. The windows/directory contains the .sln file with your app’s name in it.
• After opening and loading the solution in the Visual Studio, select the “Release configuration” option present in the “Configuration Manager” drop-down menu and then create it.
• For building a ready-to-be-published package, click the option – Project-> Publish -> Create App Packages.
• You will find the artifacts of the build at the same directory as .sln file- <root>/windows/AppPackages/directory - in which your .sln file is there.

Conclusion

So, this is how you need to establish the set-up of a React Native Windows App and thereafter develop, debug, and publish the same. The React Native for Windows project undoubtedly renders platform-specific UI elements from a codebase that is based on JavaScript.

For any kind of technical assistance concerning React Native app development, contact Biz4Solutions, a proficient mobile app development firm delivering high-end React Native app development services to global clients across various industrial domains. Our skilled professionals possess the required experience and technical expertise to deliver highly functional and productive software solutions.

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Reasons to consider an eCommerce Mobile App for your Business

 

Have you ever wondered why your eCommerce Store is not fetching you the desired success, despite maintaining an outstanding website for attracting online buyers? The answer is simple! The market is fast progressing and adapting to novel approaches for gaining a competitive edge over peers.

Websites are a thing of the past as mobile apps have taken over! Modern-era consumers are glued to their mobile screens and prefer a mobile app for obtaining any service or product they desire. As such, today, most successful entrepreneurs boast of possessing a dedicated eCommerce mobile app for their business.

Mobile apps open up endless possibilities and elevate your business to unprecedented heights of success. This post explores the myriad goodies of mobile eCommerce apps and discusses the reasons why every eCommerce store needs a mobile app, even if they already have a responsive website.

eCommerce Mobile App Benefits: Customers’ Perspective

Rich User Interface

Mobile apps can conduct certain functions during offline mode and hence, do not require constant internet connectivity. This functionality of mobile apps facilitates the speedier loading of animations as well as high-resolution images, leading to the creation of a captivating design and a rich UX.

Effortless Sign in/Check out

Every time users log into websites, the browser prompts them to sign in to their account for continuing their shopping activity. And, this is the case even with a responsive website. Mobile apps, on the other hand, store the users’ particulars during their first sign-in. So, the users have to sign in only once — at the time of downloading the application- without the need for signing in every time they shop. This results in enhanced user satisfaction.

Owing to its simple layout, a mobile app speeds up the checkout process and enables eCommerce companies to provide consumers the option of single-click ordering.

Access to Native Features of Smartphones

Unlike websites, mobile apps can leverage the native features of the users’ smartphones like cameras, microphones, and GPS, for providing them an improved UX. For instance, GPS automatically identifies and geotags the users’ current location, the device microphone allows users to verbalize their search process, and the device’s camera enables consumers to click pictures of the purchased items and showcase these on social media platforms. Furthermore, an interactive shopping experience enabled by AR and VR is available for mobile apps only.

Easy Navigation

Using mobile apps, users can easily switch between various tabs resulting in smooth and easy-going navigation that is not possible using websites.

Responsiveness

The responsiveness of an eCommerce website/app plays a crucial role in its success. This is because modern customers have a relatively lower attention span and abandon the web or mobile apps if it loads too slowly. And, mobile apps enjoy a significant advantage over websites regarding responsiveness and the speed of content loading. Here are the reasons!

Mobile apps can perform certain basic functions like comparing a product’s features, verifying prices, etc. during the offline mode and can store a certain amount of their data on the users’ smartphone devices. Websites, contrarily, cannot function during the offline mode and require a stable uninterrupted network connection for content updates.

Therefore, the amount of data transmitted between a mobile app and a server is ten times lesser than the data transferred between a web browser and a server. As a result, mobile apps receive data much faster as compared to websites and hence, take lesser time to respond. For this reason, mobile apps are more responsive than websites and promise speedier content loading.

Ability to set User Preferences

A mobile eCommerce application allows users to activate app filters and set their preferences while they are searching for a specific product or service so that the app displays only the types of products/services they are looking for. Moreover, the users can shortlist the desired products and save them in the form of a wishlist. This feature saves the users’ time and effort as they do not have to search for the product all over again during their next online store visit.

Hassle-free payment and Timely Notifications

Mobile app users can select from various payment options/methodologies and can even add a card of their choice for speeding up transactions.

Besides, business brands use mobile apps to notify their customers about lucrative deals, special discounts, or information about when a particular item in the users’ wish list comes back in stock.

eCommerce Mobile App: Business Benefits

Direct Marketing Channel for Branding

A mobile application allows brands to offer an integrated omnichannel experience to consumers by:

• Integrating social media channels with the app for maximizing customer engagement
• Utilizing the information about customer preferences saved by the app, for sending tailored content relevant to a specific customer
• Making use of geofencing and displaying special offers on the customers’ smartphones via push notifications, whenever they are within close proximity to the physical store of the brand.

High-end Services to Customers

eCommerce apps enable business owners to provide extraordinary services to their consumers in the following ways:

• Real-time in-app 24X7 customer support via an in-built help desk for resolving complaints and queries
• Personalized shopping recommendations to each customer based on their browser/ purchase history
• Innovative functionalities to enrich the shopping experience of users
• Adding features to boost the app usability by integrating third-party APIs

Improved Customer Loyalty

Users can hardly recall URLs of websites, but always remember their favorite mobile apps as apps allow them the convenience to access all products/services offered by a brand with a few clicks. Therefore, it is a crucial tool for building customer loyalty.

The commonest strategy to create customer loyalty using mobile apps is running an in-app loyalty program for existing customers by providing them with special discounted offers, reward points, etc. Users can be offered:

• A points pattern that can be redeemed for winning a free product
• Bonus on future purchases
• First access to a season’s new collection

Lower Cart Abandonment Rates

It has been observed that a majority of eCommerce businesses suffer due to cart abandonment rates and this rate is higher for eCommerce websites.

Key reasons for cart abandonment are:

• A complex and time-consuming checkout/payment process
• Additional costs like taxes, shipping charges, etc.
• Website crashes, errors, and other such issues
• Lack of trust while furnishing credit card information to the website

However, mobile apps successfully address all these issues by providing customized settings, effortless navigation, faster loading of pages, and reduced friction while checking out. Moreover, due to the practice of saving consumers’ preferences within the app settings after their first purchase, customers do not have to manually enter details like their names, shipping address, billing information, etc. during their future purchases. Furthermore, consumers can choose from multiple secure payment gateways like Google Pay, Paypal, Apple Pay, etc. and the entire process of buying products is executed with the help of a few clicks. Some apps even provide the facility of making a purchase by simply scanning the users’ fingerprints.

Handy Insights on Consumer Behavior

Mobile analytics can be utilized to track and monitor the users’ interaction with your app. Moreover, mobile apps can be integrated with cutting-edge technologies such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality. These practices help entrepreneurs gather valuable data on user behavior and their purchasing patterns like as given below:

• What are the likes, dislikes, and preferences of consumers while shopping?
• At what time, during the day, do they usually make purchase decisions?
• How much time do they take to finalize a purchase decision?
• How do users respond to particular content and its functionalities?
• What is the users’ feedback about a brand’s products/services?

Once the brand owners get the answers to the aforesaid questions, they can adopt profitable strategies for accelerating sales — creating customized content for users, implementing improvements and updates based on user feedback, and building more effective promotional/marketing campaigns.

Increased Revenue Generation

Needless to say, mobile apps are more flexible and consumer-friendly as compared to websites. So, despite the fact that implementing apps involve a huge cost; they guarantee a handsome ROI. The reason is a mobile app with the relevant concept and the right set of features attracts more consumers, resulting in increased sales, and hence, a greater amount of revenue is generated. Besides, push notifications allow brands to deliver the necessary information to consumers, thereby encouraging them to make instant purchases.

Concluding Words:

Thus, to sum up, a mobile app is an essential tool for the growth and success of any eCommerce business. eCommerce mobile applications help a business brand to make its online presence felt, generate a positive brand image, provide incredible services, and maximize sales.

If you are looking for an experienced and proficient eCommerce app development company or services, reach out to Biz4Solutions, an offshore mobile app development company in India and U.S.A. We have 10+years of experience in delivering top-quality eCommerce solutions for global clients.

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