Cross platform mobile app development with HTML5

[molar]

Hi everyone,

I've been developing with Java for over 10 years now and spent the last year or so developing Java apps for the BlackBerry. As I'm sure you already know, the next version of the OS, BlackBerry 10 has no support for Java .

I have been looking at Codenameone which looks good, allows native apps for multiple platforms to be generated from an application written in Java. Soon I will be attending an introduction to WebMethods Mobile Desginer which sounds like it has a similar concept of 'cross-compiling' Java applications.

I'm put off by both of these tools however because I just feel like there will be too many limitations in what can be generated. The thought of trying to write a web page in Word '95 and examining the output springs to mind.

I'm more keen to get started with HTML5 and perhaps jQuery Mobile as I know all of the popular platforms have support for it and I will have more control over the result than writing my application in Java. I already have experience of using jQuery too.

I've followed a demo for BlackBerry WebWorks (WebWorks allows native BlackBerry functionality to be invoked via JavaScript) and deployed it to the PlayBook simulator.

Just wondering if anyone can recommend any good HTML5 books specifically for mobile to get started?

Thanks .

 

[Verbium]

I'm currently reading Javascript Web Applications by O'Reilly, it will give you a good start with backbone.js to start creating much more efficient apps if you're planning on using html5.

The rest really are community based since the development side is fairly fast paced and books are being outdated with 6 months.

For a few pointers phonegap and trigger.io are good starting points for development and for a quicker page loading try out zepto.js to replace jQuery

Hope that helps!

Edit: Thanks for codenameone, that might suit me for work!

 

[molar]

Hi, thanks very much for your reply.

The Javascript book you recommended has arrived, very pleased with it so far.

Thanks for the other pointers.

I've found a good wiki page which compares lots of different tools for cross platform app generation, hope this is of use to you too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_application_development