I have been using Cordova or Phonegap build for years. Recently, Phonegap was closed down. On a current project, I had to develop a feature I hadn’t done before. I could find numerous plugins on Cordova site. So…
One by one I start testing. None of them solved the problem. I searched the plugin list, and by either last updated date, or quality ratings, none solved the problem.
I found a “passable solution” although management wasn’t satisfied, the app passed all functional requirements.
It nagged at me though, why could all of the requirements I have not find a plugin less than 3 years old?
In a restless night, I searched YouTube. I came across CapacitorJS. Most of the Tutorials were for Ionic Framework, which is understandable. So I informed management, next release we take time to rebuild it.
Just before my eyes slammed shut from screen exhaustion I caught a glimmer of… hope in documentation. Capacitor can work with ANY front end JS framework. Clock strikes 2 A.M., I text the CTO “3 days we’ll have a demo with capacitor for. you to review”.
The journey began…
The immediate project to app took minutes. But, to solve what kept my eyes from resting, that took time. Not because of a weakness of Capacitor, mind you. Within 7 hours the app was moved over, the UI was better, the code was more concise. Then, a snag. Some features were using Cordova plugins which needed to be replaced. In itself, it would have not taken so long, but I was unable to find docs fitting my project structure.
This was a breath of fresh air: https://github.com/EscolaDeSaudePublica/iSaude
The last elements I could not solve were not covered here, but the way of making them work with VueJS. So, credit where credit is due. This was a perfect VueJS example.
On the road ahead
Now, with that knowledge, I am able to get new features implemented faster. Far less code to manage. I cloned the above repo, I think going forward its going to be a boilerplate.
So, thanks @capacitorJS team!
