Author Archives: Scott Selikoff

Live from TSS-JS – Mobile Development with Mark

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Currently attending “Comparing, Contrasting, and Differentiating Between Mobile Platforms” by Mark Spritzler, a fellow CodeRanch moderator.  The presentation is in part an open discussion with the audience of what people have tried and works well in the Mobile environment.

1.  What is out there?

  • Android OS (Java)
  • Apple iOS for iPhone/iPod/iPad
  • Web applications with custom UI for mobile applications.  CodeRanch currently offers a mobile web version of the website
  • J2ME (not common)
  • BlackBerry (custom Java)
  • SymbianOS (C)

2.  Android OS Review
Built by Google and uses Java and can run Flash.  UI built with declarative UIs using XML primarily and supports visual tools such as Droid Draw and/or Interface Builder.  MVC-like architecture with view as XML, and control/model as Java classes.  The API is quite open so there’s a lot of ability to customize for developers.

There is currently a large variety of Android devices so splintering of the code base could be in the future.  Some devices cannot upgrade the Android OS, leading to permanent branching of code base.

Also, Android requires a lot of manual work to integrate with a database, such as SQL Lite, whereas Apple iOS has this built in.

3.  Apple iOS Review
Built by Apple and uses Objective-C, and cannot run Flash.  Developers must manage memory manually.  The API is completely proprietary and there are limit tools for developers.  For example, the developer must have a Mac and use an xCode.  Closed APIs but Apple promises stability (although it did change in iPad with split/view feature).

Dicussion on Apple’s strigent application approval process followed.  One participant commented that they waited 1-2 months for Apple to approve it.  Apple has also stopped approving ‘pointless’ apps.  I asked Mark if he thinks the delays are worth the improvement in quality, to which he replied that it does lead to better applications.  He also informed the audience that Apple wants you to use certain visual controls in particular manners to help build a consistent UI, and may reject applications based on improper usage.  Apple sometimes comments on why applications are rejected but not always.

4.  J2ME Failure Review
Idea was to develop using Java and runs on a variety of devices.  One of the major problems is Sun certified J2ME mobile phones that didn’t properly or fully implement the spec.  Also, lead to splintering of code base and very inconsistent results across devices.

5.  Native vs Web applications
Web applications have greater reach since they can run on many devices, but have weaker performance and require the developer to self-promote them.

6.  App Generating Frameworks
Build mobile applications from predefined templates using a CMS system often entered in a web browser, such as MobileRoadie, but it is a paid service.  Builder frameworks (often open source) that generate mobile applications based on existing code including Appcelector, Rhomobile, PhoneGap.

Write once and run on many devices through generation.  They may have limited functionality since they use a subset of features available in the language.  Multi-touch is also very limited in Android over iOS.  HTML5 does support location-aware so it can help in application generation.

Conclusion
Mark ended the presentation with an open discussion asking people to share their own mobile development experience.  He pointed out that there a lot of pros and cons to using different mobile platforms and mobile devices, and you should consider the resources on hand when deciding how to proceed in development.

Live from TSS-JS – jQuery with Bear

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Below is a hightlight of a presentation by Bear Bibeault, who gave a break out talk at TheServerSide Symposium entitled “How jQuery Made Bob a Happy Man”.  Bear is well-known author of many jQuery books as well as a moderator on the CodeRanch.

1.  Overview of jQuery
The invention of Ajax has blurred the line between server and client development by providing users a more rich user experience.  jQuery is one of those emerging direct Ajax frameworks.  Bear claims you don’t need to be a JavaScript expert to use jQuery, although you to have some background in jQuery.  Also, there are many plugins that provides a large range of overall functionality.

2.  Do More With Less
jQuery simplifies JavaScript by providing the browser-dependent wrapped in very simple calls.  One line of jQuery often represents dozens of hundreds of lines of JavaScript.  Unlike Prototype, it only uses one namespace $() to simplify coding.  Excellent for finding elements using selectors, whereas in pure JavaScript this would syntactically difficult.

  • Basic Selectors.  The most commons selector can match by ID or component CSS type such as $(‘div’) and $(‘myApplication’)
  • Positional Selectors.  Filtered selection based upon DOM relationships such as $(‘div:first-child’) as defined by CSS3.
  • Custom Selectors.  jQuery-defined filters that inputs things CSS missed.  Example:  $(‘:text:disabled’) [selects all text input elements that are disabled].

jQuery also has a very diverse library for event, click, and click handlers.  Hard to imagine how we ever lived without them.

3.  Plays well with others
jQuery has supported means to give up $() namespace for other tools to use that namespace.  In this manner, jQuery and Prototype can be intermixed.

4.  DOM Manipulation
Variety of DOM manipulation elements such as move/copy, add/remove, style manipulation, position manipulation (helpful for animations), etc.  Variety of integration tools such as GET/POST/PUT/DELETE, etc for server Ajax-based calls.  Includes tools to automatically parse JSON, XML, HTML and can even execute retrieved JavaScript code.

5.  Chaining jQuery
Common jQuery interactions allow you to chain elements such as $(‘myClass’).css(‘color’,’red’).show().appentTo(‘…’).  A little strange to get used but very powerful.  There are some functions that do return values and cannot be chained as this.

6.  document-ready handler
jQuery offers a document-ready handler that fires immediately after the page has downloaded but before the page has fully displayed.  Allows you manipulate items before they have been drawn.

7.  jQuery with JavaScript turned off
One of the design goals of jQuery is to create pages that ‘degrade gracefully’ if the user has turned JavaScript has been turned off.  For example, updating the form action to match a form submit click handler in the event the form is submitted without the Ajax handler being invoked.  Some government groups require pages to work with JavaScript disabled.

8.  More with Plugins
Large variety of plugins available for jQuery that follow similar patterns/structure as the core jQuery API.  Most popular ones are jQuery UI for complex UI widgets, and jQuery Forms for advanced form handling.  There’s also validation plugin to help simplify creating complex form validation logic.  jQuery Templates can be used to create versatile client-side templating.  Finally, there’s LiveQuery for notifications and updates about elements being created and destroyed.

Conclusion
Bear reiterates the point “Do more with less and in less time” and in that jQuery is successful.

Welcome to TheServerSide Java Symposium 2011!

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I'm Speaking at TheServerSide Java Symposium Jeanne and I are both be presenting talks at TheServerSide Java Symposium this week in sunny Las Vegas! Come join us and feel free to say hello.

I’m giving a lecture Wednesday morning entitled “GWT Roundup: An Overview of Google’s Web Toolkit and Hybrid Integration” which provides a review of GWT for old and new GWT developers alike. I will also be speaking as part of a panel hosted by Cameron McKenzie on Friday afternoon called “Client Side Development Smackdown” .

Jeanne’s giving a talk on Friday afternoon called “Throw Away All The Rules. Now What Process Do You Follow?” and is about what processes are important if you aren’t being forced to follow any. It uses the CodeRanch forum conversion project as an example.