DOCSLIB.ORG

Application Development Platforms and Frameworks

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Application Development Platforms and Frameworks Page . 1 Highlights • Every major mobile OS comes with a rich app framework and powerful app development platforms – iOS, Android, Blackberry, WebOS, Windows Phone • Many 3rd party libraries, frameworks and platforms offer cross-platform alternatives to the OS vendor frameworks and platforms – PhoneGap, Appcelerator, Rhodes, Sencha… – The best enable applications built with web technologies …that have the look-and-feel of native smartphone applications …with full support for the native phone controls and touch gestures • Emerging HTML5 application platforms point the way to the future – Chrome OS, Alibaba Aliyum, Carbyn… – HTML5 enables web apps in the browser container to operate off-line • App cached on the device • Data stored locally on the device Mobile App Development Tools • There are a wide variety of tools available for creating mobile applications. These tools fall into three broad categories – Software libraries • Small, self-contained toolkits that offer specific functionality • E.g., UI widgets and 3D graphics – Application frameworks • A set of libraries, software components and architecture guidelines • Enable building a complete mobile application – Application development platforms • Everything needed to build a complete application and package it for distribution • Development tools are provided by OS vendors and by 3rd parties • OS vendors provide native OS platforms & development environments – 3rd parties provide libraries, frameworks and platforms Native OS Application Platforms & Development Environments Every major mobile OS comes with a rich application development and execution environment, including: • Integrated Development Environment (IDE) – Industry standard langauges – Debuggers – Emulators • Rich application framework • Comprehensive set of libraries Android iOS Blackberry WebOS Windows Phone Primary languages Java Objective C Java HTML, CSS, C# JavaScript Also supported C, C++ C, C++ IDE Eclipse Xcode Eclipse Eclipse Visual Studio HTML5 – is the Future of Mobile App Development Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards. Apple’s mobile devices all ship with high performance, low power implementations of these open standards. HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee … New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Steve Jobs, April 2010 Why HTML5 • HTML5 transforms the web browser into a rich application platform – Rich user interfaces – Offline capabilities – Deep and secure hardware access capabilities • Availability – First public working draft of HTML5 published in 2008 by the W3C and WHATWG web standard consortia – Although the specification work is ongoing, browsers have already implemented many HTML5 features – Widespread use of the WebKit layout engine on iOS, Android, Blackberry, WebOS and Bada has accelerated the mobile adoption of HTML5 The HTML5 Family • So called “HTML5” apps are built using the suite of modern web development technologies – The Core HTML5 spec – CSS3 (Cascading Style Sheets Version 3) – Web Workers – Web Storage – Web Sockets – Geolocation – Microdata – SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) – WebGL* – Device API and File API – And more specifications in progress * WebGL is not a W3C specification. HTML5 Offline Capabilities • Local application storage: AppCache – Enables offline access to applications – Fast – native app like – app load time – Caches entire web app locally • Application to be cached specified in Cache Manifest File • Data storage and access – Web SQL Database • Client-side SQLite database – IndexedDB • Object based data store – File / FileSystem APIs • Reading and manipulating • Creating and writing • Directories and System Building Mobile Apps with HTML5 • Pure web apps – Accessed using a standard browser – Fully encapsulated in the browser • Web apps transformed into native apps – Wrapped in a native wrapper (e.g., PhoneGap) – Compiled to native platform object (e.g., Appcelerator) – There are two broad reasons to do this: • Access to the native app store (e.g., iTunes) • Access to API's not exposed to the browser (e.g., accelerometer, camera) • Web pages invoked by a native app using the OS’s built-in browser 3rd party Libraries, Frameworks and Platforms • There are a great many 3rd party libraries, frameworks and platforms • Most are cross-platform, some are OS specific (e.g., only for iOS) • Most support web development technologies – HTML, CSS, JavaScript… • Generally fall into one of three groups: 1. Compile a native app targeting one or more platforms • E.g., Titanium Appcelerator (html/js/css -> iPhone/Android/Blackberry) 2. Wrap a web app in a native wrapper, exposing native APIs to the web app • E.g., PhoneGap 3. Enable touch-device optimized, native look and feel web apps • E.g., Sencha Libraries Libraries are small, self-contained toolkits that offer specific functionality to the developer. Normally used in conjunction with other libraries and tools to make up the full mobile app. Examples include UI widgets and 3D graphics libraries. The best libraries for mobile application development enable the creation of touch-device optimized, native look-and-feel applications. Library URL License Type A sample of the more popular 3rd party cross-platform libraries: Jo http://joapp.com Open Source Library JQTouch http://jqtouch.com Open Source Library JQuery Mobile http://jquerymobile.com Open Source Library Sencha Touch http://www.sencha.com/products/touch/ OS/Commercial Library xui http://xuijs.com Open Source Library Frameworks A framework is a set of libraries, software components and architecture guidelines that provides the developer with a comprehensive toolkit to build a complete mobile application, from top to bottom. A sample of the more popular 3rd party cross-platform frameworks: Framework URL License Type AML http://www.amlcode.com Open Source Framework Grapple http://www.grapplemobile.com/ Commercial Framework MotherApp http://www.motherapp.com/ Commercial Framework QT http://qt.nokia.com/products/qt-formobile-platforms/ Open Source Framework QuickConnectFamily http://www.quickconnectfamily.org/ Open Source Framework Sproutcore Touch Framework WebApp.net http://webapp-net.com/ Open Source Framework Platforms A set of frameworks, tools and services that not only allow the user to build a complete mobile application but also to configure, package and distribute it to app stores or the cloud. Platforms normally include some sort of integrated development environment (IDE) to ease app construction, comprehensive documentation, support and automation tools. A sample of the more popular 3rd party cross-platform platforms: Plaform URL License Type Adobe AIR Commercial Platform Appcelerator Titanium http://www.appcelerator.com/ Open Source Platform appMobi Platform MobileIron http://mobileiron.com/ Commercial Platform MoSync http://www.mosync.com/ Open Source Platform Phonegap (Apache Callback) http://www.phonegap.com Open Source Platform RhoMobile Rhodes http://rhomobile.com/products/rhodes/ Open Source Platform WidgetPad http://widgetpad.com Open Source Platform PhoneGap (Apache Callback) • Technical architecture – Apps written in HTML, JavaScript and CSS – Run in a mobile browser embedded on a thin native app wrapper – Access to device’s capabilities through a device-independent JavaScript API which talks to the OS proprietary API’s • Supported platforms – iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile 6.5, Symbian, Palm • Strengths – Native wrapper source code is available for customization – Simple ‘drop-in libraries’ concept makes it easier to develop – Broad range of platforms supported – Apps built purely in HTML, JavaScript and CSS • Weaknesses – Lack of support for native UI components, design patterns and development tools • Best PhoneGap apps use Sencha Touch to provide native look-and-feel PhoneGap (Apache Callback) • Free open source framework – Many contributors, including from IBM, RIM and Microsoft • Originally created by Nitobi • Adobe acquired Nitobi in October 2011 – Provides Adobe with a pure web-technology mobile solution as an alternative to the proprietary Flash/AIR – Adobe committed to continuing to contribute to the code and to host the PhoneGap online community and the PhoneGap Build service – PhoneGap code was contributed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under the name Apache Callback PhoneGap (Apache Callback) supported features Source: http://phonegap.com/about/features/ Appcelerator Titanium • Technical architecture – Apps written in JavaScript, compiled into native code – Creates target platform specific packaged • Enables distribution through app stores • Supported platforms – iOS, Android, BlackBerry (announced in 2010 but still in closed beta) • Strengths – Native code output so very quick and fluid on phone – Easy setup and start-up for developers – Excellent documentation and examples – Strong community forums to find out answers. • Weaknesses – Restrictive set of API’s – Currently only supports iOS and Android Appcelerator Titanium supported features Capability iPhone Android Geo-location Yes Yes PIM Contacts Yes Partially Camera Yes Yes Native menu/Tab bar Yes Yes Barcode No No Audio/video capture Yes Yes Bluetooth No No
Recommended publications
  • Comparison and Evaluation of Cross Platform Mobile Application Development Tools

    Comparison and Evaluation of Cross Platform Mobile Application Development Tools

    International Journal of Applied Mathematics, Electronics and Computers 8(4): 273-281, 2020 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS International Open Access ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTERS Volume 08 Issue 04 www.dergipark.org.tr/ijamec e-ISSN: 2147-8228 December, 2020 Research Article Comparison and Evaluation of Cross Platform Mobile Application Development Tools Mehmet ISITAN a , Murat KOKLU b a Sakarya University, Faculty of Computer and Information Science, Department of Software Engineering b Selcuk University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Computer Engineering ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: In order to develop a mobile application, it is necessary to develop software separately for each Received 28 November 2020 operating system to be outputted. In response to this problem, frameworks that can give application Accepted 6 December 2020 outputs for more than one operating system by developing applications on only one platform have Keywords: been developed. With the recent diversification of these systems, which are called cross platform Cross Platform, mobile application development tools, which one should be preferred has become a problem for Mobile Development, Mobile Frameworks, developers. In this study, the cross-platform mobile application development tools that have come One Code to the fore in recent years will be determined and evaluated separately based on the pros and cons of distinguishing parameters. With the help of the applications to be developed, values such as processor, memory, battery and network usage, rendering time, opening time, installation file size, application size will be measured. It is also aimed to help developers find out which framework is more suitable for their needs by comparing them on topics such as popularity, third party software support, operating systems that can be outputted, development languages and ease of use, speed - performance.
  • Native Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development

    Native Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development

    Native Cross-platform Mobile Application Development by W. de Kraker (0815283) CMI-Program Informatics – Rotterdam University August 14, 2012 First supervisor Mr. Y. S. Tjang Second supervisor Mr. A. Chamani Abstract Nowadays mobile devices are vastly integrated into modern society. They bring us one step closer to satisfy our ever growing need to have information available anytime, anywhere. To help gain access to information on mobile devices we use software applications, so called apps. However, the fragmented nature of today’s mobile ecosystem poses a challenge for developers to develop apps which are suitable to run on all mobile devices, since there is no de facto standard in cross-platform app development. Currently there are several solutions available to solve the cross-platform challenge. Lunatech, having expressed its interest in mobile app development, would like to know which solution, if any, suits Lunatechs needs. A study has been set up in order to resolve this question, the results of which are laid out in this thesis. ii Versions Version Date Author Details 0.1 12/07/2012 W. de Kraker Intial draft 0.2 20/07/2012 W. de Kraker Improved main research structure 0.3 08/08/2012 W. de Kraker Changes based on feedback from Mr. Y.S. Tjang 0.4 12/08/2012 W. de Kraker Changes based on feedback from Mr. S. de Kaper 1.0 14/08/2012 W. de Kraker Final version Table 1: Version history iii Preface You are looking at the thesis for the graduation internship on the subject of "cross-platform mobile application development while retaining the native look and feel".
  • Practicalizing Delay-Tolerant Mobile Apps with Cedos

    Practicalizing Delay-Tolerant Mobile Apps with Cedos

    Practicalizing Delay-Tolerant Mobile Apps with Cedos YoungGyoun Moon, Donghwi Kim, Younghwan Go, Yeongjin Kim, Yung Yi, Song Chong, and KyoungSoo Park Department of Electrical Engineering, KAIST Daejeon, Republic of Korea {ygmoon, dhkim, yhwan}@ndsl.kaist.edu, [email protected], {yiyung, songchong}@kaist.edu, [email protected] ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION Delay-tolerant Wi-Fi offloading is known to improve overall mo- Wi-Fi has become the most popular secondary network interface bile network bandwidth at low delay and low cost. Yet, in reality, for high-speed mobile Internet access on mobile devices. Many we rarely find mobile apps that fully support opportunistic Wi-Fi mobile apps support the “Wi-Fi only” mode that allows the users to access. This is mainly because it is still challenging to develop shun expensive cellular communication while enjoying high band- delay-tolerant mobile apps due to the complexity of handling net- width and low delay. In addition, cellular ISPs are actively de- work disruptions and delays. ploying Wi-Fi access points (APs) to further increase the mobile In this work, we present Cedos, a practical delay-tolerant mobile Internet access coverage [1, 2, 3]. network access architecture in which one can easily build a mo- However, current Wi-Fi usage is often statically bound to the lo- bile app. Cedos consists of three components. First, it provides a cation of mobile devices. While this “on-the-spot” Wi-Fi offloading familiar socket API whose semantics conforms to TCP while the is still effective, recent studies suggest that one can further extend underlying protocol, D2TP, transparently handles network disrup- the benefit of Wi-Fi access if we allow delay tolerance between net- tions and delays in mobility.
  • Taxonomy of Cross-Platform Mobile Applications Development Approaches

    Taxonomy of Cross-Platform Mobile Applications Development Approaches

    Ain Shams Engineering Journal (2015) xxx, xxx–xxx Ain Shams University Ain Shams Engineering Journal www.elsevier.com/locate/asej www.sciencedirect.com ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Taxonomy of Cross-Platform Mobile Applications Development Approaches Wafaa S. El-Kassas *, Bassem A. Abdullah, Ahmed H. Yousef, Ayman M. Wahba Department of Computer and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Egypt Received 13 September 2014; revised 30 May 2015; accepted 3 August 2015 KEYWORDS Abstract The developers use the cross-platform mobile development solutions to develop the Cross-platform mobile mobile application once and run it on many platforms. Many of these cross-platform solutions development; are still under research and development. Also, these solutions are based on different approaches Interpretation approach; such as Cross-Compilation approach, Virtual Machine approach, and Web-Based approach. There Cloud computing; are many survey papers about the cross-platform mobile development solutions but they do not Compilation approach; include the most recent approaches, including Component-Based approach, Cloud-Based Component-Based approach, and Merged approach. The main aim of this paper is helping the researchers to know approach; the most recent approaches and the open research issues. This paper surveys the existing cross- Model-Driven Engineering platform mobile development approaches and attempts to provide a global view: it thoroughly introduces a comprehensive categorization to the cross-platform approaches, defines the pros and cons of each approach, explains sample solutions per approach, compares the cross-platform mobile development solutions, and ends with the open research areas. Ó 2015 Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
  • Survey on Techniques for Cross Platform Mobile Application Development

    Survey on Techniques for Cross Platform Mobile Application Development

    International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET) Volume 3 Issue 10, October 2014 Survey on Techniques for Cross Platform Mobile Application Development Apurva P. Pawar, Vandana S. Jagtap, Mamta S. Bhamare Abstract— Smart phone is used by most of the population. Different internal architecture of Operating System Over thousands of applications are used daily and a new becomes a reason for redevelopment of application to make it application gets launched as per need. In order to do work on run on each Operating System which in turn incurs lot of cost phones itself many desktop applications are getting converted to mobile version by developers. And it’s real challenge to market in terms of time, money, efforts. Consider example of are these applications and reach to the maximum users. From document editor software like Adobe Reader and Kingsoft developer point of view for application to reach to most of the office. People are also doing work through their Smartphone end users it need to run on max platforms, this needs too. It‘s not necessary that everyone is using windows redevelopment of application, we can solve this problem to some operating system on their Smartphone. Each mobile operating extent by developing cross platform application without system uses different programming model, developer would additional investment. Several techniques are available which will help to make it happen. Survey of these techniques could require additional overhead and troubleshooting since help application developers to make a proper choice. developer might have good hands on particular single platform. Hence, making software as cross platform Index Terms— Cross Compiled Approach, Cross Platform application can be a good option.
  • Arcgis API for Javascript: Building Native Apps Using Phonegap and Jquery

    Arcgis API for Javascript: Building Native Apps Using Phonegap and Jquery

    Building Native Apps with ArcGIS API for JavaScript Using PhoneGap and jQuery Andy Gup, Lloyd Heberlie Agenda • Getting to know PhoneGap • jQuery and jQuery mobile overview • jQuery and ArcGIS API for JavaScript • Putting it all together • Additional information Technical workshops at Dev Summit • Web - Building Mobile Web Apps with the ArcGIS API for JavaScript • Hybrid - You are here! • Native - Search the agenda for “Runtime SDK” Application comparison: Native vs. Web • ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Android • https://developers.arcgis.com/android/guide/native-vs-web.htm • ArcGIS Runtime SDK for iOS • https://developers.arcgis.com/ios/objective-c/guide/native-vs-web.htm Hello Cordova and Resources Lloyd Heberlie Enable Safari remote web inspection What is PhoneGap? • Application container technology • Core engine is 100% open source • Web view container, plus JS API • HTML5, CSS3, JS = Native App PhoneGap PhoneGap architecture PhoneGap PhoneGap Application Native Plugins Code App PhoneGap Plugins PhoneGap Plugin options Setup a developer machine Code quality and verification web server Source Control Preparing for PhoneGap Installing PhoneGap and Apache Cordova Check versions of PhoneGap and Apache Cordova Updating PhoneGap and Apache Cordova Creating your first PhoneGap CLI project phonegap create path/to/my-app "com.example.app" "My App" Hello Cordova (cont.) Lloyd Heberlie PhoneGap: Featured Apps Featured Apps: Tripcase, Untappd Agenda • Getting to know PhoneGap • jQuery and jQuery mobile overview • jQuery and ArcGIS API for JavaScript •
  • Critical Capabilities for Successful Mobile App Development

    Critical Capabilities for Successful Mobile App Development

    7 Critical Capabilities Your Mobile App Development and Deployment Platform Must Include Speed Mobile App Development and Ensure Wide User Adoption Executive Summary In today's mobile business environment companies are scrambling to quickly mobilize hundreds of B2B and B2E business processes or legacy applications. There are three main approaches developers can use to build mobile business apps: - Responsive web apps - Native app development - "Native quality" hybrid apps This whitepaper explains important differences between these three approaches, outlines 7 mobile capabilities that real-world business apps require today, and identifies the most productive development approach for getting these mobile business apps to market FAST. 1 | P a g e High Demand for Mobile Apps For competitive and productivity reasons, businesses and organizations are embracing mobile more than ever. Gartner forecasts enterprise application software spending to double from $300B in 2013 to over $575B by the end of 2018.1 Yet, Gartner also predicts demand for enterprise mobile apps will outstrip available development capacity by five to one.2 Forrester warns: “The CIO who fails in mobile will lose his job.”3 As a result, companies are trying to find new ways to enable their employees to develop business apps. Everyone from young IT or business workers with basic HTML5 skills, to IT developers with limited mobile experience and business analysts are exploring how to build apps to get routine things mobilized faster. Rising End-User Expectations Complicating the problem is the rising expectations of an increasingly mobile workforce. Employees are adopting mobile devices exponentially and demanding more business apps to do their work.
  • Factors Influencing Quality of Mobile Apps: Role of Mobile App Development Life Cycle

    Factors Influencing Quality of Mobile Apps: Role of Mobile App Development Life Cycle

    International Journal of Software Engineering & Applications (IJSEA), Vol.5, No.5, September 2014 FACTORS INFLUENCING QUALITY OF MOBILE APPS : R OLE OF MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE Venkata N Inukollu 1, Divya D Keshamoni 2 , Taeghyun Kang 3 and Manikanta Inukollu 4 1Department of Computer Science Engineering, Texas Tech University, USA 2 Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University, USA 3 Department of Computer Science Engineering, Wake forest university, USA 4Department of Computer Science, Bhaskar Engineering College, India ABSTRACT In this paper, The mobile application field has been receiving astronomical attention from the past few years due to the growing number of mobile app downloads and withal due to the revenues being engendered .With the surge in the number of apps, the number of lamentable apps/failing apps has withal been growing.Interesting mobile app statistics are included in this paper which might avail the developers understand the concerns and merits of mobile apps.The authors have made an effort to integrate all the crucial factors that cause apps to fail which include negligence by the developers, technical issues, inadequate marketing efforts, and high prospects of the users/consumers.The paper provides suggestions to eschew failure of apps. As per the various surveys, the number of lamentable/failing apps is growing enormously, primarily because mobile app developers are not adopting a standard development life cycle for the development of apps. In this paper, we have developed a mobile application with the aid of traditional software development life cycle phases (Requirements, Design, Develop, Test, and, Maintenance) and we have used UML, M-UML, and mobile application development technologies.
  • Apache Cordova Training

    Apache Cordova Training

    Apache Cordova Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development Duration: 3 Days (Face-to-Face & Remote-Live), or 21 Hours (On-Demand) Price: $1695 (Face-to-Face & Remote-Live), or $1495 (On-Demand) Discounts: We offer multiple discount options. Click here for more information. Delivery Options: Attend face-to-face in the classroom or remote-live attendance. Students Will Learn The jQuery Mobile Toolkit Introduction to Apache Cordova (PhoneGap) Style Class Manipulation Using the Contacts Database API DOM Manipulation Using the the Cordova File API Introduction to Ajax Accessing the Camera with Cordova Using jQuery Mobile Lists, Forms, Buttons and Themes Using the Accelerometer Overview of Geolocation Course Description Apache Cordova (formerly PhoneGap) is an open-source is a mobile application development framework. It utilizes HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript to create apps for a variety of mobile platforms. Students will learn how to build applications using jQuery Mobile and Apache Cordova that run on a variety of mobile platforms including iOS, Android and Windows Mobile. Comprehensive hands on exercises are integrated throughout to reinforce learning and develop real competency. Course Prerequisites Knowledge of HTML and JavaScript equivalent to attending the Website Development with HTML5, CSS and Bootstrap and JavaScript Programming courses. Course Overview The Mobile Landscape Technology Stack Devices Types HTML5 Main Objectives Browser-Side Data Storage Smartphones Tablets Declaring HTML5 Device Convergence Detecting Support for HTML5
  • Nativescript O Architecture O Developer Experience O Future Goals • Conclusions Hybrid Approaches

    Nativescript O Architecture O Developer Experience O Future Goals • Conclusions Hybrid Approaches

    Runtime Based Hybrid Apps Ruben Smeets Kris Aerts ES&S 26/04/2016 Agenda • Hybrid Approaches • Runtime Based CPT Candidates • Comparison of Titanium / React Native / NativeScript o Architecture o Developer Experience o Future goals • Conclusions Hybrid Approaches WebView Based Runtime Based WebView Container JavaScript Runtime Web Code JavaScript HTML CSS JS Native UI + Device APIs Device APIs Hybrid Approaches WebView Based Web Code UI frameworks & libs DOM - based WebGL - based React Canvas Famo.us + Architectural frameworks Combined frameworks Hybrid Approaches WebView Based Web Code Pure Hybrid Apps Tools Properties UI frameworks & libs • Single WebView • Content & navigation DOM - based WebGL - based in HTML5 • Thin native wrapper React Canvas Famo.us + Architectural frameworks Combined frameworks Hybrid Approaches WebView Based Web Code Pure Hybrid Apps Tools Properties UI frameworks & libs • Single WebView • Content & navigation DOM - based WebGL - based in HTML5 • Thin native wrapper React Canvas Mixed hybrid Apps Pattern Tools Properties • Multiple WebViews Famo.us Blended • Native navigation • E.g.: Apple Store + • WebViews for later stages of Architectural Mullet user flow frameworks • E.g.: Walmart • WebViews for little used or frequently Combined frameworks Fallback changing content • E.g.: Instagram Hybrid Approaches Runtime Based WebView Based Runtime Based WebView Container JavaScript Runtime Web Code JavaScript HTML CSS JS Native UI + Device APIs Device APIs Hybrid Approaches Runtime Based – The “WHY” • Consistent with
  • Browser App Approach: Can It Be an Answer to the Challenges in Cross-Platform App Development?

    Browser App Approach: Can It Be an Answer to the Challenges in Cross-Platform App Development?

    Volume 16, 2017 BROWSER APP APPROACH: CAN IT BE AN ANSWER TO THE CHALLENGES IN CROSS-PLATFORM APP DEVELOPMENT? Minh Huynh* Southeastern Louisiana University, [email protected] Hammond, LA USA Prashant Ghimire Southeastern Louisiana University, [email protected] Hammond, LA USA *Corresponding Author ABSTRACT Aim/Purpose As smartphones proliferate, many different platforms begin to emerge. The challenge to developers as well as IS educators and students is how to learn the skills to design and develop apps to run on cross-platforms. Background For developers, the purpose of this paper is to describe an alternative to the complex native app development. For IS educators and students, the paper pro- vides a feasible way to learn and develop fully functional mobile apps without technical burdens. Methodology The methods used in the development of browser-based apps is prototyping. Our proposed approach is browser-based, supports cross-platforms, uses open- source standards, and takes advantage of “write-once-and-run-anywhere” (WORA) concept. Contribution The paper illustrates the application of the browser-based approach to create a series of browser apps without high learning curve. Findings The results show the potentials for using browser app approach to teach as well as to create new apps. Recommendations Our proposed browser app development approach and example would be use- for Practitioners ful to mobile app developers/IS educators and non-technical students because the source code as well as documentations in this project are available for down- loading. Future Research For further work, we discuss the use of hybrid development framework to en- hance browser apps.
  • Voyager Mobile Skin Developed Using the Jquery Mobile Web Framework

    Voyager Mobile Skin Developed Using the Jquery Mobile Web Framework

    Voyager Mobile Skin Developed Using the jQuery Mobile Web Framework By Wes Clawson University of Rochester Libraries Contact: Denise Dunham - [email protected] en_US Rochester Original Mobile skin After Adding jQuery Mobile How We Did It We needed to make some simple changes to a few XML/XSL files. To start using jQuery Mobile You need three new things: jQuery JavaScript - jQuery Mobile JavaScript - jQuery CSS These are placed in frameWork.xsl To make things easier: We trimmed down an original skin first. By getting rid of features that we knew weren’t going to be used on mobile devices, we had a lot less to worry about when we added jQuery Mobile. Generates a divider with collapsible content Button shape and color can be based on existing jQuery Mobile themes Generates a clickable button When the page is loaded by a browser, jQuery Mobile makes changes to markup that has been indicated with special tags. These special tags were added to markup where we wanted jQuery to form certain types of elements. Collapsible Divider (closed) Collapsible Divider (open) Stylized Drop-down Menus Value Slider Stylized Buttons In the end, roughly 27 files were modified to include jQuery-specific markup tags, giving a sleek, simple, yet robust mobile interface. Why We Did It jQuery Mobile save a lot of the time and resources that are normally needed to develop stylistic graphics and formatting. Items are auto-generated! Buttons Search Box Active Item Styling Icons Button Icons (standard jQuery Mobile) 3rd party icons also available! The jQuery Mobile framework allows developers a fast and simple way to create skins that are easily accessible on mobile devices.