Along with providing developers with an incredibly easy yet powerful way to build native mobile applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the PhoneGap framework also gives us the ability to further extend the functionality by creating native plugins that can interact in more detail with device features and functions that are not already exposed through the existing Cordova plugin API.

By creating native plugins, we can enhance the already vast list of methods available through the plugin API, or build totally unique features, all of which will be made available to call and process responses from JavaScript methods.

For some, the thought of writing code that is native to the device platform that they wish to enhance may be a little daunting. If you haven't had any prior exposure to or experience in these languages, they may be perceived as a form of an unwelcome paradigm shift.

Luckily, the Cordova API simplifies this process as much as possible and essentially breaks it down...