Cross Platform Development

Cost Effective Software Development Services for Multiple OS Platforms

Orbital offers cross platform software development services across a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Mac, UNIX, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Design and Development

Given the breadth of our development capabilities and experience, Orbital is well equipped to effectively research and develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for our clients. The following general steps are typically involved in cross platform software design and development.

Platform Research

Orbital's design team will research all the platforms for which applications are to be developed and determine the strengths and weaknesses of each. We will then ascertain the best corresponding approach for the cross platform software development, given the required application functionality. Client interaction is encouraged during the research phase to ensure that all parties agree to an optimal course of action.

Design Approach

Orbitals experience has taught us that there is no one size fits all solution to Cross Platform solutions. The optimal solution really depends on the client’s requirements, the software functionality, and the platforms under consideration. Some of the factors that can influence the choice of approach are; supported platforms, UI complexity, supported browsers (if applicable), platform specific interfaces, third party library requirements, etc. As technology evolves the approaches and options available for cross platform development also changes. This is where Orbitals experience gained through working with different clients helps us to bring the latest technology and experience to bear on your specific solution.

Where possible, Orbital's design team will use a "Shared Code Approach" when developing applications for one or more platforms. In fact, there is always some element of Shared Code in every application we develop. With this approach, core functionality is shared between the platform specific solutions. Core functionality is that portion of the program code that is platform independent and should therefore not be modified or impacted for a specific platform. This code typically includes patented or common algorithms and other basic functionality that defines the essence of how a program behaves.

This methodology provides for optimal development efficiency, in that it reduces the level of effort required, while ensuring maximum "closeness" between the two or more applications being developed on different platforms.

Web based applications are one way to efficiently provide cross platform solutions. But in cases where a web application is not acceptable we might choose to accomplish this Shared Code Approach by using cross platform development frameworks, languages, libraries, etc. Examples of these include Xamarin, titanium, PhoneGap, C++, Java, etc.

Coding

Once the above issues have been addressed, Orbital will develop the software application on a target platform in a manner that meets the exacting needs of our client. We always aim to get a high percentage of unit test coverage during development and where possible will also add automated build and release testing into the solution.

Benefits of Cross Platform Software Development

Entry into Multiple Markets

By offering a software application on multiple platforms, our clients are able to achieve increased sales by offering their software products to multiple market segments that are not accessible via a single platform.

Reduced Per-Unit Development Costs

By developing a software application on multiple new platforms, our clients are able to spread their software development costs over a larger volume of units.

Application Porting

Expand Your Market and Leverage Your Existing Code Base

Application porting is somewhat related to cross platform development. The objective of application porting is to create an application on a target platform that behaves like the original version, thereby making the application available to an expanded market.

Orbital has experience porting software applications to and from many different platforms. We have completed many complex and innovative application porting projects for clients that have wanted to extend use of their software to one or more additional platforms.

As with cross platform development, the key to porting is to reuse as much code (shared code) as possible, to minimize cost and risk in the porting exercise. Orbitals architects and designers will work with the client’s team to evaluate the current code on the Source Platform and the differences between the Source Platform and new or Target Platform. A plan will be agreed upon for the development approach, usually resulting in a series of shared code modules and platform specific modules.

Need Cross-platform or Application Porting Software Development Assistance?

Contact us for additional information about our cross platform and application porting software development services