Enterprise App Development – Ext JS vs Xamarin

The choice for the technology framework has never been easy, specifically, when the things are continuously changing to make programming easier and preferably redundant. There are a number of vendors competing with each other and then you have the amazing open source community spicing up the offering. It becomes imperative to decide the right technology, which exactly meets your mid-term as well as long-term goals and of course, helps you save the significant amount of time and money.

At WalkingTree, we primarily use Ext JS, Angular JS and Xamarin to cater to the UX need of our customers. In this article, I will be comparing two commercially supported framework. Of course, I have made certain assumptions and this comparison holds good in that context only.

Assumption

• The business need is to look for an effective solution which will enable them to create enterprise level mobile applications with
  • significant lifetime
  • major code reusability
  • low support and maintenance
  • easily available development support
• Native Application Development using iOS, Android or Windows phone specific SDKs are not being considered
• The choice is between Xamarin (closer to Native) and Sencha Ext JS 6 (based on HTML 5)

Comparison

The following section shows the comparison between Ext JS and Xamarin by considering various factors relevant for deciding about the framework. The comparison where content has been highlighted (in bold) shall be considered as an advantage for that specific platform.

Licensing and Costs

Support

Features

Coding

Build and Packaging

Testing

Resources

Conclusion

Xamarin and Ext JS are excellent options for development when there is significant work involved (several months of effort) in an application and the application is supposed to be maintained for a longer period.

Xamarin is a great choice if

• We don’t have to create the web application with same/similar functionalities
• There is a lot of logic involved in a front end and the presentation layer is relatively thinner
• The performance of the native APIs is critical for the success of the application. While it is not purely as native as ObjectiveC, it is better than Phonegap / Cordova based access of device APIs.

Ext JS is an excellent choice for developing web / mobile applications if

• The web application is equally important as the mobile application. Specifically, if the web application already uses Ext JS
• You want to develop a mobile application based on HTML5 capabilities

Summary

I hope this article helps you in deciding which framework will be suitable for you in your next mobile application development. Walking Tree is Xamarin partner as well as Sencha Partner and we know that these two frameworks exist for two different kinds of audiences. Also, they don’t claim to compete with each other. Hence, you do need to understand your requirement clearly and you must assess your available resources/constraints and mention them clearly while deciding on these frameworks.  Both frameworks are going through continuous changes. These comparisons may keep changing. Hence, it is advised that you shall seek professional help to reach the final conclusion.

If you need any support in identifying the right technology or implementing the solution then do contact us. We help you build end-to-end solution/product.