Developing Hybrid Applications for the iPhone: Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Build Dynamic Apps for the iPhone Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Developing Hybrid Applications for the iPhone: Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Build Dynamic Apps for the iPhone? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Developing Hybrid Applications for the iPhone: Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Build Dynamic Apps for the iPhone. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Developing Hybrid Applications for the iPhone: Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Build Dynamic Apps for the iPhone ReviewI was very excited to get this book, as I had pre-ordered it before it was even published. I received it today and was surprised by how thin it was, 172 pages not counting the appendices. Not a big deal, though I'm used to huge volumes with other programing/development related books. In fact, it's nice not having to lug around a 20-pound volume.
The author dives right in on the subject in Chapter 1 discussing two distinct methods for developing iPhone apps with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Applications can be deployed as full-fledged iPhone apps (not requiring hosted server files) or as iPhone web-apps (requiring hosting files on a server). The author goes on to explain how this is possible using Apple's iPhone SDK and either, QuickConnectiPhone or PhoneGap, both of which are JavaScript APIs. The author, Lee S. Barney, is actually the creator of the QuickConnectiPhone (hereafter, QCIP) project.
The first project uses the QCIP method in Dashcode, part of Apple's iPhone SDK, and is essentially 5 easy steps in a 'Hello World' project. Button, text, click button, text changes. Note, this doesn't actually create a final iPhone app proper, rather it creates a demo that will run in the iPhone simulator, sans the app button. Part two describes how to import the files you have just created into Xcode, another part of the iPhone SDK, to compile a finished iPhone app.
The problem is, that right out of the gate, the demo throws a compiler error and doesn't work as intended. After several re-reads of the text to make sure I'm not brain-farting, I begin digging into the code to find that the main.js file has some functionality that has been code generated that is creating the error and that seemingly has nothing to do with the demonstration at hand. I comment that functionality out, and the demo runs without error.
Step Two involves importing the files that were created in Dashcode into Xcode. Suffice it to say this is quite a lengthy multi-step affair, that is not as simple as going to the File menu and selecting Import files. I say this for any one who has not used Xcode before. It is software that many HTML/CSS/Javascript developers will find daunting. If you've used Xcode before, no big surprises, though much time is spent undoing things and deleting things, moving files around, etc. It seems that a better written QCIP project template could have handled alot of that, but then again, I've never written an Xcode project template before and am a novice Mac programmer.
The authors explanations in Step Two already have my head spinning and I can see that I am going to need to go though this material very slowly. The authors instructions read like a run on sentence with no pauses in between "do this" and "then click on that", making it rather hard to follow along, especially given the small, IMO, font size and tight leading of the text. The structure of the steps and explanations could have been written in a format that made following them easier.
To qualify this review, I will state that I have been a web designer/developer for about 8 years, using HTML, CSS, PHP, Lasso, ColdFusion and JavaScript. I just got into iPhone development within the last couple of months and was hoping this book would provide that "Ah, Ha!" moment, allowing me to develop iPhone apps without having to learn Objective-C. Even though the book suggests this is possible, it's contents are full of Objective-C explanations, code and methodologies.
Searching the publishers website, I could not find an errata to help with the problems I was having, albeit the book was just published this week.
I do like the premise the author has created with his methods, along with the QuickConnectiPhone framework, he is obviously a very smart individual on the subject.
Perhaps, the book has been rushed to market. The again, perhaps too, is this review.
I will keep working with the material in this book and am hopeful it turns a corner somewhere. If so, I will be sure to revise this review. If not, I'll be taking at least one of my stars back.
Developing Hybrid Applications for the iPhone: Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Build Dynamic Apps for the iPhone Overview

Want to learn more information about Developing Hybrid Applications for the iPhone: Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Build Dynamic Apps for the iPhone?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now