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

“For those not ready to tackle the complexities of Objective-C, this is a great way to get started building iPhone apps. If you know the basics of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, you’ll be building apps in no time.”

—August Trometer, Owner of FoggyNoggin Software, www.foggynoggin.com

Discover the Easier, Faster Way to Build High-Quality iPhone Applications

Now, you don’t need to dive headfirst into Objective-C to write state-of-the-art applications for the iPhone. You can use web development tools and technologies you already know: JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. In this book, long-time web and mobile application developer Lee S. Barney shows you how to use the QuickConnect and PhoneGap frameworks to create secure, high-quality, modular hybrid iPhone applications.

Lee S. Barney walks you through the entire hybrid iPhone development process, from creating great user interfaces to compiling, deploying, and executing applications. Along the way, he introduces techniques and sample code designed to streamline development, eliminate complexity, optimize performance, and leverage all iPhone’s native capabilities—from its accelerometer and GPS to its built-in database. Coverage includes

• Using Dashcode and Xcode together to create unique, exciting hybrid iPhone applications
• Using the QuickConnect JavaScript API to perform tasks ranging from vibrating the phone to accessing the accelerometer and GPS location data
• Accessing native iPhone functionality using the PhoneGap JavaScript API
• Storing, retrieving, and managing data on the iPhone, even without network access
• Using XMLHttpRequest to access or synchronize remote data and use web services
• Creating Google-based maps for your own app that work like those you see in the iPhone’s Maps application

This book systematically lowers the barriers to iPhone development, enabling web developers to build any iPhone application they can imagine without long development cycles or steep learning curves!

Related Articles

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Where the Web and the Desktop Meet: An Interview with Lee Barney

Online Sample Chapter

Accessing iPhone's GPS, Acceleration, and Other Native Functions with QuickConnect

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 4 and Index)

Table of Contents

Preface     xiii

Chapter 1: Developing with Dashcode and Xcode     1

Chapter 2: JavaScript Modularity and iPhone Applications     25

Chapter 3: Creating iPhone User Interfaces     45

Chapter 4: GPS, Acceleration, and Other Native Functions with QuickConnect     75

Chapter 5: Hybrid Applications, GPS, Acceleration, and Other Native Functions with PhoneGap     95

Chapter 6: Embedding Google Maps     111

Chapter 7: Database Access     127

Chapter 8: Remote Data Access     155

Appendix A: Introduction to JSON     173

Appendix B: The QuickConnectFamily Development Roadmap     179

Appendix C: The PhoneGap Development Roadmap     183