It has been a little over a decade since we started using apps. But the mobile app development market has transformed significantly since then. The boom in the sale and usage of smartphones has also prompted a change in the behavior of the consumer. Due to this, developers have also changed their tactics.

Earlier, they used to make native apps for specific platforms. But now, they make apps for every platform and operating system available. But that used to take a lot of time, and companies cannot afford to test their users’ patience.

That gave birth to cross-platform development, which reduced development time and brought more opportunities. However, there are some issues that developers and users face with this in terms of performance and security. PHP web development services helped developers greatly in this.

But before we get into it, let’s take a look at some pros of cross-platform development.

How PHP Helps in Cross-Platform Development

Now, let’s understand how PHP makes cross-platform development more efficient.

Performance Issues

One of the most significant qualities of an app is its performance. However, there is a general consensus that the performance of cross-platform apps is lower than native apps.

Due to compatibility difficulties with specific operating systems, these apps have performance limitations. This occurs because the native and non-native elements of the devices on which the app operates are incompatible. That’s why cross-platform solutions perform poorly in comparison to native apps.

Now the question that arises is how PHP can help in this!

There are many things that a PHP website development company can do to make an app or a website built with PHP run faster.

• Enabling OPcache on PHP Server

OPcache works directly with the code compilation process. Therefore, it is one of the building blocks of PHP performance. Usually, when a developer sends a request to the server, it compiles the code each time before delivering responses. This gradually increases the loading time.

However, OPcache saves the pre-compiled code and prevents it from compiling on subsequent requests. Some experts believe that PHP performance will increase manifolds and the load time will reduce if developers integrate OPcache. As a result, we cannot undermine the significance of Opcache.

• Cache Static Assets

You can hire PHP programmers to use static content caching technologies such as Varnish for this. Varnish speeds up the process of creating PHP websites and provides developers with the best possible performance because it caches HTML.

It allows developers to cache components for a set period of time before erasing them all. When they develop eCommerce shops in PHP, they can additionally cache custom URLs that are useful.

• Minify Static Assets

While using PHP, developers work side by side with a variety of other technologies like HTML, CSS, JS, and other scripts. These other technologies contribute to increasing the efficiency of the apps. Therefore, experts always advise minifying static scripts in order to reduce processing time.

A PHP web development agency doesn’t have to do this manually because there are plenty of online tools to help them out.

• Using Cloud Hosting for Deployment

It will help if developers deploy PHP apps to hosting servers after finishing development on dev servers. The hosting environment also influences the speed and performance of PHP applications. The requests will be completed quickly if the server is efficient and well-optimized.

• Memcache Configuration

Memcache is a distributed memory caching technology. By keeping database objects in dynamic memory, it accelerates websites with huge dynamic databases. You can take the help of PHP web development services for this.

The goal of keeping data in dynamic memory is to relieve server load when an external data source requests a query. The use of a Memcache layer minimizes the amount of database requests.

Complex Code Structure

Cross platform solutions must accommodate their design and functionality not just to individual devices, but also to platforms that differ greatly. As a result, it adds to the workload of developers.

They have to deal with unique exceptions for a range of devices and platforms, especially with more complex features. Since these challenges are rare in native apps, developers can concentrate on solving users’ problems.

PHP offers developers many performance optimization techniques for code improvement.

• Instead of XML, developers should use JSON data types.
• They should never repeat variable declarations and must use isset() because it is faster.
• Developers should avoid duplicating functions and classes by writing a standard class that others can inherit.
• They must always disable debugging options, disconnect DB connections, and prevent writing SQL queries in sequences on live servers.
• Keeping database requests to a minimum and avoiding too many requests at once will also help.

These tips will definitely help in keeping code structured and improving the performance of PHP websites and apps.

Security Issues

Cyber attacks are becoming more widespread, and mobile apps are no exception. Native apps can fix security flaws with frequent updates, but cross-platform apps lack that agility when it comes to addressing security vulnerabilities. Therefore, companies prefer native apps if they have to deal with a lot of corporate and business data.

With the introduction of cutting-edge technologies and architecture, cross-platform app development businesses are doing their best to overcome these difficulties. And this is where PHP web application development plays a pivotal role.

PHP provides a number of features and tools to safeguard websites and apps from any kind of external attack.

• Hiding Files from the Browser

PHP frameworks allow different files such as controllers, models, and configuration files to be placed in that directory. However, most browsers do not handle all of them, even though they are visible. There is a way for developers to solve this problem.

They can move files from the root directory and into a public folder. This way, they will not be available in the browser at all times.  

• Avoiding SQL Injections

Experts recommend utilizing parameterized queries to avoid SQL injection attacks. Before conducting the SQL query, these queries appropriately substitute the arguments. Therefore, they eliminate any risk of a SQL injection attack. This method not only helps developers protect SQL queries, but it also helps structure them so they can be processed quickly.

• Avoiding Session Hijacking

Developers must always connect their sessions to actual IP addresses to avoid session hijacking. This approach enables them to terminate sessions whenever an unexpected violation occurs. This alerts them that someone is attempting to bypass their session in order to gain access to the application.

Also, exposing IDs in any conditions can lead to their identity being compromised by another assault. Therefore, it is better to avoid doing that in mobile app development.

• Avoiding Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

A hacker can launch a CSRF attack only if a user clicks on the hacker’s disguised malicious link. This means that if developers can figure out which hidden infected scripts, they can prevent any potential CSRF attack.

Meanwhile, developers can strengthen the app’s security by incorporating GET requests into the URL. It also guarantees the generation of non-GET requests solely by the client-side code.

In Conclusion

It is clear from the above points that PHP is fully-equipped to counter any drawback or limitation of cross-platform app development. All you need to do is integrate those features into your app. But for this you need someone who is an expert in this.

Narola Infotech is a PHP development company that is experienced in making websites and cross-platform apps. Our developers utilize the latest techniques to make the apps secure and highly functional. You can contact us anytime if you want to discuss your project requirements.