My last test was something minimalistic and XUI (http://xuijs.com/) seems like the best choice as it comes from the same team as PhoneGap. You can think of XUI like stipped down JQuery. It is only 10k and coveres basic things like selectors, events but also some fx like transitions. I must admit I tried even bare Javascipt, without even XUI, but after spending too much time on transitions that behaved wierd ony my HTC Desire I have skipped it in favor of XUI’s “tween” fx. Other than that, bare Javascript way and XUI way is not that different.

My first impression: well, it is easier than I though to do it without any framework! Don’t expect hundreds of lines of codes, CSS3 and HTML5 offer enough power to do things easier than you expected. But second impression is a bit different as time gets spent on small things, wierd behaviors or things you take for granted when you use frameworks, like managing back button on Android. Read more

It took me some time from part 2 to part 3 and that is because part 3 was Sencha Touch (http://www.sencha.com/products/touch/). This baby is far from JQuery Mobile… completely opposite side of the mobile frameworks spectrum. JQM was a markup-driven framework and you deal with a lot of HTML5, in Sencha Touch index.html had only one function and that is to load javascript file containing you app. So, it’s fully javascript and almost no HTML (unless you use it in some templates inside javascript code).

I was playing with Ext JS for desktops some years ago and was surprised that Sencha is actually a new name for it and Sencha Touch is mobile variant. That helped me a lot as everything was familiar. Even more familiar than JQM will be to JQuery users. Sencha Touch has amazing documentation and community. Every object, method, property, event… neatly described in a doc (done in Sencha) when you install framework. I kept it open all the time while programming. Read more

Following on previous post Mobile devices development using HTML5/JS – part 1 , after my initial discovery of PhoneGap and HTML5 mobile frameworks it was time to try out the first one. Since we’ve been using JQuery for long time on our web apps and web sites, it was a logical candidate to start with.

Before I continue, I want to say again that I’m no professional HTML5 nor mobile developer. I’m a noob in this area, although I’m building web apps and portals since 1995. However, my daily job for long time is management in this area and less coding, which remains a hobby. So, please don’t take me as HTML5/mobile authority, just a noob exploring new world for the first time. Read more

I have always avoided development for mobile phones. There are too many platforms and programming in Java is not something I want to learn. But last week @istrigo pointed me to PhoneGap (www.phonegap.com) and that changed everything (a bit late for myself I must admit!). PhoneGap enables you to develop HTML5/JS apps the same way as developing mobile sites but then wraps it up in a nice, installable iPhone/Android/Blackberry/… package you can install and run on a mobile device like any other native app. So, your mobile site and ALL platforms share the same code!? Great! Read more