Building Blocks: Utilizing Component-Based Software Engineering in Developing Cross-Platform Mobile Applications

Abstract: Contemporary approaches to cross-platform mobile application development, such as hybrid apps from PhoneGap and generated native apps from Xamarin, show promise in reducing development time towards Android, iOS and other platforms. At the same time, studies show that there are various problems associated with these approaches, including suffering user experiences and codebases that are difficult to maintain and test properly. In this thesis, a novel prototype framework called Building Blocks was developed with the purpose of investigating the feasibility of utilizing component-based software engineering in solving this problem. The prototype was developed towards Android along with a web interface that allowed users to assemble an Android app using software components. The report concludes that component-based software engineering can be – and already is – utilized successfully to improve cross-platform mobile app development with special regards to user experience. Qualitative data indicate that Building Blocks as a concept is flexible and shows promise for mobile app development in which functionality is often reused, such as enterprise apps. Rapid prototyping using the web-based visual editing tool was another promising area. However, future use of Building Blocks would require further work on the prototype to improve its ease of use.