Cordova Basics

Getting started with hybrid mobile/web app development

About

Apache

Cordova

Apache Cordova is a set of device APIs that allow a mobile app developer to access native device function such as the camera or accelerometer from JavaScript. Combined with a UI framework such as jQuery Mobile or Dojo Mobile or Sencha Touch, this allows a smartphone app to be developed with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

History Lesson

PhoneGap proper was created around 2009 by a startup called Nitobi as an open source way to access the "native" environment through an embedded Web View in a native app. The goal of the project was to make it possible to build the bulk of a mobile app experience with pure web technologies like HTML5, CSS, and Javascript, but still be able to call into native code when necessary.
In 2011 Adobe purchased Nitobi and with it the rights to the PhoneGap brand, and the open source core was donated to the Apache Software Foundation under the name Cordova.

So what's the difference??

"So what is the difference between Cordova and PhoneGap? One helpful analogy Adobe uses is Cordova is to WebKit as PhoneGap is to Chrome. PhoneGap is Cordova plus extra Adobe stuff."

By @maxlynch