HTML5 Ramble On (4)--HTML5 Application platform: PhoneGAP

1, what is PhoneGap?

PhoneGAP (http://phonegap.com), officially, is the HTML5 mobile application platform, which includes two parts:

1 Application Development Framework: The use of WEB/HTML5 technology to write applications, support equipment capabilities (such as GPS, gravity sensors, etc.) calls, support capacity plug-ins flexible expansion.

Figure 1 PhoneGap support device Capabilities API list

2 Mobile Application Creation tool: Will follow the PHONEGAP application framework written program conversion/encapsulation to generate the platform support mobile phone applications.

Figure 2 goes in a Web page that comes with a local application.

2. What is the use of phonegap?

1 with PhoneGap, HTML5 technology can also develop the traditional mobile phone local applications, while the use of JavaScript can invoke camera, location information and other equipment capabilities.

2 with PhoneGap, with HTML5 written program can generate multiple mobile phone platform version of the local application, currently supports 7 platforms: Android, IOS, WindowsPhone, HP WebOS, BlackBerry, Symbian, Bada.

Simply put, PhoneGap allows web programmers to develop mobile apps without having to learn again, to localize Web applications, and to significantly reduce development costs.

3, PhoneGap basic technical principle:

Mobile applications based on the PHONEGAP application framework are equivalent to displaying a particular browser for a Web application. PhoneGap the Web program into a system-supported mobile phone application format (convenient for distribution and use), which enables the application to run and interoperate by invoking the browser capabilities of the system.

1 Development of Language choice: WEB/HTML5 is almost the only mobile phone intelligent platform to jointly support the development of technology. Therefore, PhoneGap adopts HTML5 technology as program development language. This is also the technical foundation on which the same set of applications can operate on multiple platforms.

2 Application rendering: Each intelligent platform has and opens the browser function, therefore, PhoneGap realizes the application UI rendering and the business logic processing by calling WebView (browsing view, the component with basic browser function).

3 JS API Extension: PhoneGap for the webview of different platforms to do the expansion and encapsulation, so that applications can access various local device APIs through JavaScript.

4) Plug-in extension: A flexible plug-in extension framework is implemented, allowing developers to expand their ability to plug themselves.

Specifically: on the Symbian platform, PhoneGap is not a packaged Web application (SIS) but packaged as a widget application (WGZ) (equivalent to packing several pages into one file) because S60 V5, SYMBIAN3 Most handsets support the WRT (Web RunTime) widget format. This is very simple, but also avoids the more troublesome Symbian signature problem.

Fig. 3 The principle of device capability call

4. About PhoneGap

PhoneGap is a product of Nitobi company located in Vancouver, Canada.

In October 2011, Adobe acquired the Nitobi Company and donated the PHONEGAP project to the Apache Foundation (ASF). PhoneGap Free and open source (Follow Apache 2.0 License).

PhoneGap in Apache project name is called Cordova (originally called callback): (Website/source code: http://incubator.apache.org/projects/callback.html)

At present, based on PHONEGAP development and application has thousands of, application list: Http://phonegap.com/apps

5, the future of PhoneGap

Although PhoneGap has much room for improvement in application performance, application support functions, and the user experience of the application,
But its emergence will undoubtedly contribute to the development of HTML5 application.

In my opinion, the greatest value of phonegap is that it subverts the distribution of HTML5 applications, changes the business model of HTML5 applications, and accelerates the development of HTML5 applications.

The excitement it brings is probably just the beginning, let's see.