Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa

Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa Review

I don't consider myself much of a programmer. Creating webpages with HTML and CSS is pretty easy, but when it comes to working with PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, or other languages, I frequently turn to books and tutorials to help me figure out what's possible vs. what I want to accomplish. Building iPhone Apps... by Jonathan Stark shows n00b programmers like myself, how to make apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, it's more accurate to say that it teaches people to make websites using an iPhone-ish look-and-feel. The book assumes the reader has some experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but doesn't require people to be experts in those languages. In other words, it's accessible for people who rarely do coding.

Like most programming books the first chapter covers the basics: HTML, CSS, JavaScript. It also discusses the differences between a web app and a native app, and the pros and cons of the different approaches. Subsequent chapters deal mostly with coding and how to make web pages look like iPhone apps. The book also covers important tools like jQuery, PhoneGap, and XCode, all of which extend the functionality of webpages and turn them into actual applications suitable for the iPhone.

The book is slim at less than 200 pages, but it's also to-the-point. With some programming books, I get the feeling authors are padding the word count or page count by including material that isn't absolutely necessary. This book keeps the fluff to a minimum, and it gains clarity from the brevity. Though it isn't a huge programming book, it doesn't waste the reader's time. The examples and discussions within the book are useful and informative, without straying too far off topic.

The only potential drawback for this book is that it came out in January 2010 - the same month that Apple announced the iPad. The iPad uses the same operating system as the iPhone, and it's expected to have a number of changes in the not-too-distant future. I don't expect it will change the usefulness of this book - web apps created for the iPhone will still work. However, I wonder about the differences between iPhone apps and iPad apps. Supposedly it's not a huge leap from one to the other, but there are definite differences between the two platform. It makes me think this book will need a Second Edition soon, or it will need some sort of addendum available online. Will the iPad get a different book, or will it be included in future editions of this book?

Despite the drawback, I still recommend this book. It's short, but it doesn't waste the reader's time. It's useful, informative, clear, and easy-to-follow. I wish more programming books were as clear and as brief.

Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa Features

• ISBN13: 9780596805784
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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Price : $29.99

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Overviews

What people are saying about Building iPhone Apps w/ HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

"The future of mobile development is clearly web technologies like CSS, HTML and JavaScript. Jonathan Stark shows you how to leverage your existing web development skills to build native iPhone applications using these technologies."

--John Allsopp, author and founder of Web Directions

"Jonathan's book is the most comprehensive documentation available for developing web applications for mobile Safari. Not just great tech coverage, this book is an easy read of purely fascinating mobile tidbits in a fun colloquial style. Must have for all PhoneGap developers."

-- Brian LeRoux, Nitobi Software

It's a fact: if you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you already have the tools you need to develop your own iPhone apps. With this book, you'll learn how to use these open source web technologies to design and build apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch on the platform of your choice-without using Objective-C or Cocoa.

Device-agnostic mobile apps are the wave of the future, and this book shows you how to create one product for several platforms. You'll find guidelines for converting your product into a native iPhone app using the free PhoneGap framework. And you'll learn why releasing your product as a web app first helps you find, fix, and test bugs much faster than if you went straight to the App Store with a product built with Apple's tools.

• Build iPhone apps with tools you already know how to use
• Learn how to make an existing website look and behave like an iPhone app
• Add native-looking animations to your web app using jQTouch
• Take advantage of client-side data storage with apps that run even when the iPhone is offline
• Hook into advanced iPhone features -- including the accelerometer, geolocation, and vibration -- with JavaScript
• Submit your applications to the App Store with Xcode

This book received valuable community input through O'Reilly's Open Feedback Publishing System (OFPS). Learn more at http://labs.oreilly.com/ofps.html.

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Customer Review

Loved It - R. Young - Irvine, CA United States
Very clear and easy to understand. If you have a solid understanding of jQuery there is no reason why you can't follow the steps in this book.

Fantastic! - J. Curry - Libertyville, IL USA
Buy this book! I have worked with Jonathan Stark for years now, and he is a true expert.

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