Cross-Platform Mobile Development

Slides from a talk at projekt202 Austin, where I covered some "best of" material from two previous talks…

— http://j.mp/pro-rwd
— http://j.mp/web-skills

Transcript

1. Cross-Platform Mobile Development Nathan Smith Principal UI Architect, projekt202 TUESDAY — NOVEMBER 13, 2012 — AUSTIN, TX
2. Relax, don’t stress out taking notes. You can get the slides here… http://j.mp/cross-mobile
3. Who am I?
4. I do mobile/web UX + JavaScript at http://projekt202.com (Me, on Twitter: @nathansmith)
5. The Rise of Mobile
6. http://flickr.com/photos/djwudi/382030798 State of mobile in 2007 — The year the iPhone was introduced
7. Handset design was quite diverse “way back when.” Industrial designers were still (awkwardly) searching for the best form factor…
8. http://zackmorriscellphone.com
9. Technology is cyclical. Good ideas are often “borrowed” and make their way to products from multiple vendors. http://engadget.com/photos/hp-envy-15-vs-the-macbook-pro
10. The state of mobile, now… Touch screens reign supreme
11. Not everyone can rock the giant cell phone forever… http://hulu.com/watch/76560/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon-saved-by-the-bell-reunion-update-3
12. <old-man-voice> Nowadays, it’s more about the software on the device. </old-man-voice>
13. http://lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1506 1,450,000 mobile devices activated 317,124 newborns begin life Each day, on planet Earth…
14. The one thing all these phones have in common (besides Angry Birds) is they all have decent web browsers. http://paulirish.com/2010/high-res-browser-icons
15. http://computerworld.com/s/article/9227412/Obama_orders_agencies_to_optimize_Web_content_for_mobile
16. “Obama orders agencies to optimize Web content for mobile…” http://flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/7161178504
17. The term “Responsive Web Design” was coined by Ethan Marcotte, in an an article published by A List Apart. Loosely defined, it means adapting to various screen sizes, using a fluid grid and @media queries in CSS.
19. Ethan also wrote a book… http://www.abookapart.com/products/responsive-web-design
20. Essentially, “responsive” has broken into the mainstream. It ain’t just for designer blogs anymore. Some pretty big name sites are adapting…
21. Microsoft.com — Home page is responsive
22. Time.com — Entire site is responsive
23. Disney.com — Entire site is responsive There is one Flash ad, which disappears if the browser is at “mobile” width. Note: Most mobile devices have little/no support for Flash, Silverlight, etc.
24. Disney.com — Menu adapts, based on screen size
25. When should you use RWD™? Responsive web design using @media queries (with one codebase for all devices) typically works best for web “sites” (not apps). Apps work best when tailored to one particular interaction paradigm. For instance, mobile Gmail is a different experience than on the desktop. As a general rule of thumb, if your content can be read via RSS (such as Google Reader) and still make sense, it might be worth considering a responsive approach.
27. Like accessibility, “responsive” works best with planning… #FAIL
29. // For good browsers... @import base @media (min-width:320px) @import 320-up @media (min-width:480px) @import 480-up @media (min-width:780px) @import 780-up @media (min-width:960px) @import 960-up @media (min-width:1100px) @import 1100-up
30. // For older IE... @import base @import 320-up @import 480-up @import 780-up @import 960-up <!--[if (gt IE 8) | (IEMobile)]><!--> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css"> <!--<![endif]--> <!--[if (lt IE 9) & (!IEMobile)]> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/ie.css"> <![endif]-->
31. @media queries aren’t just for width. Also works well for “retina” detection…
33. @media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and ( min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) { span.location { background-image: url(location@2x.png); background-size: 16px 14px; } span.success { background-image: url(success@2x.png); background-size: 13px 14px; } a.delete { background: url(delete@2x.png) no-repeat 0 -100px; } .content a.fav-link { background-image: url(favorite@2x.png); background-size: 11px 13px; } }
34. The biggest problem facing responsive design is <img> and potential file size. But, there’s a neat solution for JPG images, at least…
36. Mobile web trivia time… — PhoneGap on Windows Phone uses the IE10 engine (it is pretty good) — WebKit is the dominant rendering engine across most mobile devices — iOS, Android, Blackberry, webOS — Blackberry has one of the best WebKit-based browsers available
37. So, what should I build? [A] Desktop web app [B] Mobile web app [C] Mobile native app
38. [D] All of the above Note: I’m not saying you have to build all-in-one. But it is possible.
39. Benefits of native development — Default OS look & feel (UI conventions) — Performance (“closer to the metal”) — Access to device hardware (GPS, etc) — App store/marketplace distribution — Benefit from latest OS enhancements
40. Drawbacks of native development — Tied to the particular OS you built for — Maintaining a multi OS team/skill-set — Dealing with app store approval process — Keeping app in sync with OS updates
41. LinkedIn’s iPad app is 95% HTML5 We did users studies in-house, and I don’t think people noticed a big difference. Nobody said, “Oh that’s native,” or “Oh, that’s web.” As long as we can make the experience fast enough, nobody can tell the difference. It still feels right. — Kiran Prasad http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/02/linkedin-ipad-app-engineering
42. Benefits of hybrid development — Common codebase for multiple OS’s — Access to device hardware (GPS, etc) — App store/marketplace distribution — Skills you already have (HTML, CSS, JS) — Potential code reuse in web site/app
43. Drawbacks of hybrid development — Build for lowest common denominator — 3rd party SDK’s might lag behind OS — Want to use feature X? Wait for an implementation in abstraction layer. — An abstraction layer can have bugs of its own. Have to determine if a bug is in your code, the abstraction layer, or OS.
44. Facebook was HTML5, but is going native http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/facebook-plans-to-speedup-its-iphone-app/
45. Note: Essentially, Facebook was just “doing it wrong” when it came to HTML5 — Sending down HTML, CSS, JS to the app, rather than building the app with that embedded, and consuming lightweight JSON sent from the server. “A craftsman doesn’t blame his tools”
49. Titanium from Appcelerator http://appcelerator.com/platform
51. Areas where Titanium shines — Native UI — Great for iOS, crapshoot on Android — Build for iOS, Android, and Blackberry — Some code reuse across platforms — Entirely JavaScript based — Uses CommonJS’s AMD approach — Except for WebView (HTML/CSS too)
52. http://j.mp/bachmann-eyezed
53. Abstraction layers tend to be harder to debug than “native” languages — Objective-C, C#, or Java — whilst using an IDE such as Visual Studio, Xcode, or Eclipse. With “the web,” you have familiar browser-based desktop tools in Chrome, Firebug, or Opera Dragonfly.
54. http://phonegap.com PhoneGap from Adobe
56. — It embeds a WebView in a native app — Native app gives access to OS API’s — All the UI is built via HTML/CSS — JavaScript handles everything else — The app wrapper compiles via… Xcode, Eclipse, Visual Studio, or “the cloud” → build.phonegap.com How PhoneGap works
58. Areas where PhoneGap shines — It is “the web you already know” — Debugging via desktop browser — Access to device API’s (GPS, etc) — Strives to implement W3C specs — Camera API, etc. — Supports Windows Phone, too
59. http://youtu.be/nOEw9iiopwI
61. http://host.sonspring.com/handlebbbars Handlebbbars demo of Handlebars.js and the Dribbble API
62. http://handlebarsjs.com
64. Site/App adapts, based on screen width… http://host.sonspring.com/handlebbbars
65. @media (min-width: 880px) { /* line 198, ../sass/_site.sass */ body { width: 880px; margin: 0 auto; } /* line 202, ../sass/_site.sass */ #list li { float: left; width: 400px; height: 36em; } } @media (min-width: 1320px) { /* line 208, ../sass/_site.sass */ body { width: 1320px; } }
66. http://dribbble.com/api
67. Dribbble API: JSON
68. Handlebars template <script type="text/x-handlebars" id="_template-list-item"> {{#each shots}} <li> <p> <b class="big"> {{title}} </b> <img alt="{{title}}" class="frame" style="background-image:url({{image_url}})" src="data:image/png;base64, iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAYAAAC09K7GAAAAEklEQVQIHWP8//8/AzJgJCg AAB+ICPuLaDnAAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" /> </p> <table> <tr> <th> Designer: </th> <td> <b>{{player.name}}</b> </td> </tr> {{#if player.twitter_screen_name}} ... {{/if}} {{#if likes_count}} ... {{/if}} {{#if short_url}} ... {{/if}} </table> </li> {{/each}} </script>
69. <script type="text/x-handlebars" id="_template-list-item"> {{#each shots}} <li> <p> <b class="big"> {{title}} </b> <img alt="{{title}}" class="frame" style="background-image:url({{image_url}})" src="data:image/png;base64, iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAYAAAC09K7GAAAAEklEQVQIHWP8//8/AzJgJCg AAB+ICPuLaDnAAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" /> </p> <table> <tr> <th> Designer: </th> <td> <b>{{player.name}}</b> </td> </tr> {{#if player.twitter_screen_name}} ... {{/if}} {{#if likes_count}} ... {{/if}} {{#if short_url}} ... {{/if}} </table> </li> {{/each}} </script> Handlebars template
70. ... {{#if player.twitter_screen_name}} <tr> <th> Twitter: </th> <td> <a href="http://twitter.com/{{player.twitter_screen_name}}"> @{{player.twitter_screen_name}} </a> </td> </tr> {{/if}} {{#if likes_count}} <tr> <th> Likes: </th> <td> {{likes_count}} <span class="mute">&hearts;</span> </td> </tr> {{/if}} {{#if short_url}} <tr> <th> URL: </th> <td> <a href="{{short_url}}">{{short_url}}</a> </td> </tr> {{/if}} ... Handlebars template
71. ... {{#if player.twitter_screen_name}} <tr> <th> Twitter: </th> <td> <a href="http://twitter.com/{{player.twitter_screen_name}}"> @{{player.twitter_screen_name}} </a> </td> </tr> {{/if}} {{#if likes_count}} <tr> <th> Likes: </th> <td> {{likes_count}} <span class="mute">&hearts;</span> </td> </tr> {{/if}} {{#if short_url}} <tr> <th> URL: </th> <td> <a href="{{short_url}}">{{short_url}}</a> </td> </tr> {{/if}} ... Handlebars template
72. @font-face { font-family: 'Open Sans'; // For all good browsers, including IE9. src: url('../fonts/OpenSans-Regular-webfont.woff') format('woff'), // For older IE, and Android default browser. url('../fonts/OpenSans-Regular-webfont.ttf') format('truetype'); } @font-face { font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-weight: bold; // For all good browsers, including IE9. src: url('../fonts/OpenSans-Bold-webfont.woff') format('woff'), // For older IE, and Android default browser. url('../fonts/OpenSans-Bold-webfont.ttf') format('truetype'); } All modern browsers support *.woff or *.ttf
73. http://fontsquirrel.com
74. http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/post/9494864300/submission-the-compulsively-tidy-ursus-wehrli CSS served to browser Neatly organized *.sass
75. CSS Sass Compass http://sonspring.com/journal/sass-for-designers
76. http://compass-style.org
77. Compass makes vendor prefixes easy...
78. Compass brings sanity to gradients...
79. Text editors and IDE’s that support Sass/SCSS syntax Aptana http://aptana.org BBEdit http://barebones.com/bbedit Chocolat http://chocolatapp.com Coda http://panic.com/coda E Text Editor http://e-texteditor.com Eclipse http://eclipse.org Emacs http://gnu.org/software/emacs Espresso http://macrabbit.com/espresso GEdit http://projects.gnome.org/gedit Komodo http://activestate.com/komodo-ide Netbeans http://netbeans.org PhpStorm http://jetbrains.com/phpstorm PyCharm http://jetbrains.com/pycharm RubyMine http://jetbrains.com/ruby SubEthaEdit http://codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit Sublime Text http://sublimetext.com/dev TextMate http://macromates.com Vim http://vim.org Visual Studio http://microsoft.com/visualstudio http://sass-lang.com/editors.html  
      
80. IE <= 9 gets jQuery, other browsers get Zepto <!--[if gt IE 9]><!--> <script src="zepto.js"></script> <!--<![endif]--> <!--[if lte IE 9]> <script src="jquery.js"></script> <![endif]-->
82. // Redefine: $, window, document, undefined. var APP = (function($, window, document, undefined) { // Expose contents of APP. return { // APP.go go: function() { // ... }, // APP.init init: { // ... }, // APP.util util: { // ... } } // Parameters: Zepto/jQuery, window, document. })(typeof Zepto === 'function' ? Zepto : jQuery, this, this.document); http://host.sonspring.com/handlebbbars/assets/js/application.js Overview of Handlebbbars’ application.js file
83. markup = $('#_template-list-item') .html() .replace(/\s\s+/g, ''); template = Handlebars.compile(markup); Where the magic of Handlebars happens Yes, this looks underwhelming. That’s the point. It’s code you don’t have to write yourself! :) http://host.sonspring.com/handlebbbars/assets/js/application.js
85. Underscore.js is a power tool for working with collections of objects and arrays… — Collections — sortBy — pluck — uniq — extend — flatten — each — filter — find — Utility functions — throttle — chain — times  
    
    
86. Building the app, on Android phone
87. PhoneGap tip: Declare “safe” domains on iOS http://anujgakhar.com/2011/11/22/phonegap-gotcha-error-whitelist-rejection
88. “Real artists ship” — Steve Jobs Hopefully, I have inspired you to create more rapidly shippable software today :)