Using PhoneGap in Windows 8 Store Applications
PhoneGap and Windows 8 development are more similar than you realize
What you can take as an advantage when you create PhoneGap applications for Windows 8
- Your skills, assets, and probably a lot of your existing pure HTML/CSS and JavaScript code will just work in a Windows 8 application.
- You can update the look of your applications with very little effort by using the intrinsic styles for the basic HTML elements like <h1> and <button>, as well as the advanced Windows 8 controls like the app bar, date picker, flip view, and more.
- Your code that interacts with the PhoneGap API (to handle things like file access, sensors and application lifecycle events) can be updated to use the WinJS library to accomplish the same things you were doing in PhoneGap.
- Scenarios where you had to write PhoneGap plugins can be addressed by either finding the functionality in the expansive WinJS library, or by incorporating native code in a Windows 8 JavaScript app.
In this article we will talk about different ways to create Windows 8 Store applications with PhoneGap and will make a simple comparison between Windows 8 Applications with PhoneGap and those that use only WinJS
How to Create PhoneGap applications for Windows 8
There are three different ways to start with Windows 8 and PhoneGap
- To create a new Windows 8 JavaScript project and add PhoneGap references manually
- To start with PhoneGap startup project included in the distribution
- To build a PhoneGap Windows 8 template and use it in Visual Studio 2012
