Department of Computer Science A comparative analysis of mobile application development frameworks: A case study of mobile application development for water usage management in Alice and Fort Beaufort communities. By Kwabena Manu A project submitted for the fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Science Degree in Computer Science. Faculty of Science and Agriculture Alice South Africa Supervisor: Mr. S. Ngwenya Co-Supervisor: Prof K. Sibanda 0 DECLARATION I, Kwabena Manu declare that this research, which I hereby submit for the Master of Computer Science at University of Fort Hare, is my work and that it has never been submitted for any other degree at this or any other institution of higher learning. Signature: Date: 07 February 2019 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Almighty God for his love and grace towards me and for the strength to successfully complete this project. My sincere appreciation goes to my supervisors Mr. S. Ngwenya and Prof. K. Sibanda for their guidance and support throughout the research process. I benefited a lot from you, God bless you. I would like to thank Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RAVAC) headed by Dr. L. Zhou at University of Fort Hare for their financial support without which my dream of pursuing master’s degree would have not been achieved. Gratitude goes to my family (Mr & Mrs Amoah, Juliet Amoakoah Danso, Gracie Amoakoah Manu, Mr. Mojeed Adedoyin Agoro, Sis. Hannah, Sis. Sarah and Bro. TT) for their motivation and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my lab mates and all those who assisted in the completion of my research. ii ABSTRACT Mobile phones have become an integral part of standard of living. Users and customers expect sensible and very useful applications in less time. In this competitive market, it is an enormous challenge to develop high performance mobile applications that might meet the expectations of end users. Despite the fact that development of new applications for each mobile operating system in short time is fairly an issue, mobile operating systems vendors are giving their best available resources for creating applications in additional convenient ways. These days, there is a common tendency to look for less complex and quicker solutions that could be used in the process of software development. Developers of a new mobile application have to undertake variety of selections and decisions, including the target platform as well as the development technology to utilize. Mobile application development frameworks contribute in solving this problem. Several frameworks have emerged, which we classify and evaluate their appropriateness. In order to compare existing development frameworks solutions in this research, we compiled a set of criteria to assess mobile application development approaches. In view on these criteria, we evaluated five frameworks that is, PhoneGap, Xamarin, App Inventor, Sencha Touch and DragonRad. For proof of concepts, the chosen framework from the five evaluated mobile development frameworks was used to develop application for water usage management. The research will equip mobile application developers to gain more insight into mobile development frameworks available, therefore helping them to choose the most appropriate framework for their project. Keywords: Mobile Phones, Frameworks, Mobile Applications, Operating System iii ABBREVIATIONS 1G - First Generation 2G - Second Generation 3D - Three-Dimensional 3G - Third Generation 4G - Fourth Generation API - Application Programming Interface ATM - Automated Teller Machine BCL - Base Class Library BES - BlackBerry Enterprise Server CLI - Command Line Interface CMD - Command Prompt CMDA - Code-Division Multiple Access EDGE - Enhanced Data Rate For GSM Evolution FCM - Firebase Cloud Messaging FLOW - Field Level Operations Watch GeSI - Global e-Sustainability Initiative GIS - Geographical Information System GPRS - General Packet Radio Service GPS - Global Positioning System GSM - Global System for Mobile Communication GSMA - Global System for Mobile Communication Association GUI - Graphical User Interface HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol iCOMMS - Information for Community Service ICTs - Information and Communication Technologies IDE - Integrated Development Environment iOS - iPhone Operating System IoT - Internet of Things ITU - International Telecommunication Union iv JME - Java Platform Micro Edition LINQ - Language Integrated Query LTE - Long-Term Evolution M4D - Mobile Phone For Development MDGs - Millennium Development Goals MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology MMS - Multimedia Messaging MP - Mobile Phone MVC - Model View Control NFC - Near-field Communication NGO - Non-Governmental Organization OS - Operating System PC - Personal Computer RF - Radio Frequency RFID - Radio-frequency Identification RIM - Research In Motion SCADA - Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition SDGs - Sustainable Development Goals SDK - Software Development Kit SIM - Subscriber Identity Module SMS - Short Message Service UN - United Nations URL - Uniform Resource Locator USAID - United States Agency for International Development USB - Universal Serial Bus USSD - Unstructured Supplementary Service Data VM - Virtual Machine WaGs - Water Action Groups WAP - Wireless Application Protocol WQR - Water Quality Reporter WRC - Water Research Council v WRT - Web Runtime WSB - Water Services Boards WSPs - Water Service Providers WWF - World Wide Fund WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2-1: Grunfos Lifelink ‘Water ATM’ example. ............................................................. 16 Figure 2-2: Decreased resolution time and number of complaints processed through Majivoice (Ndaw and Mwangi, 2015). .................................................................................... 19 Figure 2-3: Smart Hand Pump in Kenya.................................................................................. 19 Figure 2-4: SMS from NextDrop to a user (Ndaw and Niyungeko, 2015).............................. 21 Figure 3-1: Evolutionary Prototype Model .............................................................................. 27 Figure 4-1:PhoneGap Architecture .......................................................................................... 33 Figure 4-2: PhoneGap Build (Bönström, 2014). ...................................................................... 34 Figure 4-3: Xamarin forms mapped to native operating system libraries (Radi, 2016) .......... 35 Figure 4-4: Xamarin Forms shared among different platforms ............................................... 36 Figure 4-5: Different Xamarin Page Templates ....................................................................... 36 Figure 4-6: Example of Block Editor in App Inventor ............................................................ 37 Figure 4-7: App Inventor Architecture (Trivedi, 2012) ........................................................... 37 Figure 4-8: Three Windows of App Inventor .......................................................................... 39 Figure 4-9: Sencha Touch Architecture ................................................................................... 40 Figure 4-10: DragonRad Architecture (KC, 2014) .................................................................. 42 Figure 5-1: System Design process.......................................................................................... 56 Figure 5-2: SaveAmanzi Application Architecture ................................................................. 58 Figure 5-3: User case diagram ................................................................................................. 60 Figure 5-4: Class Diagram ....................................................................................................... 61 Figure 5-5: Android Architecture ............................................................................................ 63 Figure 5-6: TinyWebDB Database Interface ........................................................................... 66 Figure 5-7: StoreValue Event Block ........................................................................................ 67 Figure 5-8: GetValue Event Block .......................................................................................... 67 Figure 5-9: Main Screen Code Blocks (a) ............................................................................... 68 Figure 5-10: Main Screen Code Blocks (b) ............................................................................. 69 Figure 5-11: Code Blocks of Technician Login Screen ........................................................... 69 Figure 5-12: Code Blocks for Water Leakage Report ............................................................. 70 Figure 5.11 Figure 5-13: Code Blocks for Notifications ......................................................... 71 vii Figure 5-14: OneSignal Web Interface .................................................................................... 71 Figure 5-15: Code Blocks for Retrieving Messages from Database........................................ 72 Figure 5-16: Login Error Screen .............................................................................................. 73 Figure 5-17: Login Success Screen .......................................................................................... 73 Figure 5-18: Internet Connection Error Screen ....................................................................... 74 Figure 5-19: