Howdy everyone!
I am an Ember.js dev. I am interested in writing some iOS apps using javascript. I heard about Ionic. Started looking into it. I watched the crash course video. And it appears to me that everything to do with Ionic is based on Angular.js?
So I guess here is my question: Is Ionic tighly coupled with Angular.js? And thus I should look to Phonegap to write my Ember apps? Or is that just the Ionic community prefers and Ionic plays nicely with Ember.js?
Thanks!
-bfcoder
You should really learn about AngularJS. If you’re an Ember.js developer, it will be super easy for you to make the transition. AngularJS is much better than Ember.js in almost every aspect.
that’s excessive. I actually prefer ember’s way of doing things and look forward to someday doing ionic apps with ember.
You sure? Have you checked AngularJS in depth?
Well, if you want to stick to Ember.js, you could use the CSS part of the framework. But you won’t even use 10% of what Ionic offers. The JavaScript part is kinda tightly coupled with AngularJS.
@alon_gubkin is right about how tightly coupled angular and ionic are. For ionic needs, angular fits the bill. I’ve written web apps in ember before and when I found angular, I’ll admit I was a little bit confused on things. But there are some great resources out there (egghead.io) that can help with learning the syntax and structure.
But if you’ve done stuff in ember, you should be able to pick up angular/ionic in no time 
Best of luck!
Thank you @mhartington, that is the information I was looking for. I’ve looked into AngularJS and I just wasn’t satisfied. There are pros and cons to each. I didn’t want this to turn into an Angular vs Ember discussion. For some people, AngularJS is their thing. And I respect that. I have nothing against it. It just isn’t for me right now. :] Maybe someday.
I appreciate the work you guys are doing. For now I’ll keep an eye on Ionic, and build using Phonegap for the time being.
Thanks!
-bfcoder
One final note is that all of the Ionic CSS is available for use. You can take it and put in an Ember app if you’d like. You’ll just need to deal with animations, navigation, etc on your own.
Is there ever a plan to move further away form angular.js and allow integration with other js frameworks such as ember.js?
Probably not. Angular is the best fit for ionic, and I can’t imagine the devs wanted to rewrite all that code again for ember.
But that doesnt mean that someone can’t take the css and make and ember port. Ember does have a similar concept of directives called components (AFAIK)
I am sorry to contribute this as my first post in this forum, but I have taken another similar framework and created an ember-cli component out of it:
http://ember-mobile.github.io/#/ember-cli-framework7
Maybe it helps someone looking for an EmberJS solution.
Might want to check https://github.com/ebryn/ember-ionic which is presented as “Ember Components that use the Ionic project’s CSS”.
Here’s my perspective: personally I don’t think of myself as an Angular or Ember or [insert framework of the day] developer. Not even a JavaScript developer or [some other language] developer. I’m a Software Developer, and strive to choose the best tool for the job.