Extending a model-driven cross-platform development approach for business apps

• We present the model-driven approach MD2 for cross-platform development.
• MD2 addresses business apps at a high level of abstraction.
• MD2 reaches a platform-specific look and feel without compromising performance.
• A textual model is automatically transformed into native apps for Android and iOS.
• We focus on extensions: device-specific layout and extended control structures.

Due to the heterogeneity of different platforms, it is an expensive endeavor to provide a mobile application (app) for several of them. Cross-platform development approaches can solve this problem. Existing cross-platform approaches have severe limitations and typically work on a low-level of abstraction. Our model-driven cross-platform approach MD2 focuses on the domain of business apps and, hence, reaches a high-level of abstraction while maintaining a platform-specific look and feel. A textual model written in an MVC-based DSL is automatically transformed into native apps for Android and iOS. The present paper focuses on new extensions of MD2, namely device-specific layout, extended control structures, and offline computing.