Synopses & Reviews
A Note from the Author and from O'Reilly Media about what this bookdoes--and doesn't--do:
Palm webOS is a brand new platform and represents a very different type ofoperating system where the web runtime is used as the basis for the UI andApplication model. Palm and O'Reilly felt that it was important to have abook available to help developers get a basic understanding of the new Palmplatform at the time that the SDK was released; this timing played a majorrole in the content and structure of the book.
Ideally this book would have been a complete reference of the new platformbut that wasn't possible since the content was written at the same time asthe software SDK was being developed by the Palm engineering team. The bookdoes provide a complete overview of Palm webOS, a thorough description ofthe application model and gives details on many key design concepts. Thereare descriptions and examples of UI widgets, services, storage,notifications, dashboards and background applications, serving as a greatintroduction but not as a definitive source.
The book uses a simple News reader application to illustrate the technicaldescriptions but the examples are not intended to serve as a cookbooktutorial. Experienced developers should be able to use the examples to buildup a working application chapter by chapter but others may not find theloose descriptions adequate for recreating the application unaided. Overtime, these different needs will be filled by other books, but in themeantime we hope that this book will serve a valuable role introducingdevelopers to webOS and giving them a way of getting started with webOSapplication development.
A second printing of the book will update any original coverage obsoleted bysubsequent Mojo SDK builds. For owners of the original printing of the book,all of these updates are posted on the "View/Submit Errata" link (please seeleft-hand column of this web page).
Thanks for understanding that book publishing and coverage of rapidly movingtechnologies can sometimes be an inexact science; we knew there'd be a needfor a book such as Palm webOS: The Insider's Guide to DevelopingApplications in JavaScript using the Palm MojoT Framework, and there'scertainly no better person to write that book that Mitch Allen; that said,we understand that because it is such a new operating system and SDK, therewould (and will continue to be) changes that at best can't be documented andexplored until new printings of the books are released. In the meantime wewill be diligent in posting updates to this book's O'Reilly Media catalogpage.
Description
This is the official guide to building native JavaScript applications for Palm's new mobile operating system, Palm® webOS™. Written by Palm's software chief technology officer along with the Palm webOS development team,
Palm webOS provides a complete tutorial on the design principles, architecture, UI, tools, and services necessary to develop webOS applications-including the Mojo JavaScript framework and Palm's SDK.
Palm webOS is designed to support a fast and superb user experience using established web standards, so if you're familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you're ready to build applications for any webOS-based device, including the Palm Pre. You'll gain expertise, chapter by chapter, as you build a working mobile application through the course of the book. You'll also learn how to extend existing web apps to work with the new generation of mobile phones.
- Get a thorough overview of the webOS platform and architecture
- Understand the critical concepts for application design: what separates webOS from other web and mobile platforms
- Learn the details of Mojo's development tools and SDK for building and testing mobile applications
- Examine best practices, important considerations, and guiding principles for developing with webOS and the Mojo framework
Synopsis
This official guide to building native JavaScript applications for Palm's new mobile operating system is written by Palm's chief technology officer and offers a complete tutorial necessary to develop WebOS applications.
Synopsis
Launched by iPhone's success and fueled by additional players in the market, mobile devices are taking off, and so are books on the subject. According to BookScan, books on mobile devices garnered more than $1.99 million in 2008, with big surge of sales in the final month. O'Reilly has several top sellers, including the first two editions of David Pogue's popular iPhone: The Missing Manual (9780596513740, 1st edition; 9780596521677, 2nd edition), and the first two editions of iPhone Open Application Development (9780596518554, 1st edition; 9780596155193, 2nd edition).
Synopsis
Written principally by Palm's CTO, this book is the official guide to building applications for Palm's new mobile operating system, Palm webOS. Since its announcement in January 2009, the Palm Pre smart phone -- which runs webOS -- has been widely discussed as the first true competitor to the iPhone. This tutorial provides the design principles, architecture, user interface, tools, and services necessary to develop webOS applications. Readers will learn, chapter by chapter, how to build an actual webOS application, using the Mojo JavaScript framework and Palm's software development kit (SDK).
About the Author
Mitch Allen is CTO of Software at Palm, Inc. where he has worked in various positions for 8 years starting with building and leading the software team at Handspring which conceived and developed the Treo smartphone. From webOS's conception to implementation, Mitch designed the early architecture of the webOS platform and led the development team through the initialdesign stage and as a result is intimately familiar with the capabilities of the platform and tools. He is currently leading the design of the developer SDK and toolsets, and working with initial developers in their use of the platform and SDK.
Previously, Mitch worked at Apple, after 15 years developing image and text processing systems at Kodak and Agfa Compugraphic. He holds a degree in Math and Computer Science from the University of New Hampshire.
Table of Contents
Foreword; Preface; Mobile Web Challenges; The Mobile Web Is the Web; About This Book; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; How to Contact Us; Safari® Books Online; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: Overview of webOS; 1.1 Application Model; 1.2 Application Framework and OS; 1.3 User Interface; 1.4 Mojo Application Framework; 1.5 Palm webOS Architecture; 1.6 Software Developer Kit; 1.7 Summary; Chapter 2: Application Basics; 2.1 Getting Started; 2.2 News; 2.3 Controllers; 2.4 Summary; Chapter 3: Widgets; 3.1 All About Widgets; 3.2 Using Widgets; 3.3 Buttons and Selectors; 3.4 Lists; 3.5 Text Fields; 3.6 Events; 3.7 Summary; Chapter 4: Dialogs and Menus; 4.1 Dialogs; 4.2 Menus; 4.3 Commander Chain; 4.4 Summary; Chapter 5: Advanced Widgets; 5.1 Indicators; 5.2 Scrollers; 5.3 Pickers; 5.4 Advanced Lists; 5.5 Viewers; 5.6 Summary; Chapter 6: Data; 6.1 Working with Cookies; 6.2 Working with the Depot; 6.3 HTML 5 Storage; 6.4 Ajax; 6.5 Summary; Chapter 7: Advanced Styles; 7.1 Typography; 7.2 Images; 7.3 Touch; 7.4 Light and Dark Styles; 7.5 Summary; Chapter 8: Application Services; 8.1 Using Services; 8.2 Core Application Services; 8.3 Palm Synergy Services; 8.4 Viewers and Players; 8.5 Other Applications; 8.6 Summary; Chapter 9: System and Cloud Services; 9.1 System Services; 9.2 Cloud Services; 9.3 Summary; Chapter 10: Background Applications; 10.1 Stages; 10.2 Notifications; 10.3 Dashboards; 10.4 Advanced Applications; 10.5 Background Applications; 10.6 Summary; Chapter 11: Localization and Internationalization; 11.1 Locales; 11.2 Localization; 11.3 Internationalization; 11.4 Summary; Palm webOS Developer Program; Philosophy; Palm webOS: Open Platform, Open Community; Benefits to the Developer; Resources and Community; What You Should Do; Quick Reference--Developer Guide; Widgets; Dialogs; Menus; Storage; Services; Controller APIs; Quick Reference--Style Guide; Scene Basics; List Basics; Containers; Dividers; Panels; Text; Widgets; News Application Source Code; News Application Directory Structure; Colophon;