Setting up the Ionic development environment

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Overview

Ionic is a framework built on AngularJS and Apache Cordova that helps you to rapidly build hybrid mobile & web apps using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

If you are a developer who has chosen Ionic as the framework to develop your mobile or web app, the following sections help you get started with IBM Mobile Foundation SDK in your Ionic app.

You can use your preferred code editor such as Atom.io, Visual Studio Code, Eclipse, IntelliJ and others for writing your applications.

Prerequisite: As you setup your Ionic development environment, make sure to also read the Setting up the MobileFirst development environment tutorial.

Installing the Ionic CLI

To get started with Ionic development the first step required is to install the Ionic CLI.

To install cordova and ionic CLI:

  • Download and install NodeJS.
  • From a Command-line window, run the command: 
    npm install -g ionic

Adding the Mobile Foundation SDK to your Ionic app

To continue with MobileFirst development in Ionic applications, the MobileFirst Cordova SDK or plug-ins need to be added to the Ionic application.

Learn how to add the MobileFirst SDK to Cordova applications. For application development, refer to the tutorial Adding the Mobile Foundation SDK to Ionic applications.

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Inclusive terminology note: The Mobile First Platform team is making changes to support the IBM® initiative to replace racially biased and other discriminatory language in our code and content with more inclusive language. While IBM values the use of inclusive language, terms that are outside of IBM's direct influence are sometimes required for the sake of maintaining user understanding. As other industry leaders join IBM in embracing the use of inclusive language, IBM will continue to update the documentation to reflect those changes.
Last modified on July 24, 2018