Building Mobile Apps with Java on Non-Java Platforms Using GWT and PhoneGap

This is a technical 1hr session. Basic knowledge of Java programming is required.

Creating applications for multiple mobile operating systems is a challenge because each mobile OS has it’s own preferred development language and set of tools & APIs. 3rd party tools for tackling this issue can be quite expensive and hard to use. This sessions shows a completely free and open source solution using PhoneGap and GWT. GWT is a compiler and framework for building JavaScript web applications using the Java language and libraries. PhoneGap is a tool chain to turn web content into installable mobile applications for multiple operating systems. This session will show how to combine the two into a great development system for cross platform mobile apps.

• The Problem:
  • multiple mobile OSes
  • multiple languages,
  • multiple screen sizes
  • duplicate code
  • not the language of your choice

• The Solution:
  • GWT + PhoneGap
  • What is PhoneGap & how does it work?
  • What is GWT & how does it work?

• Getting started:
  • What to download
  • building a simple GWT app for web
  • converting to mobile app with PhoneGap
  • install on webOS & Android

• Deeper into GWT & PhoneGap
  • Standard Libraries
  • Java APIs
  • example code
  • cross device API mapping

• Building a real world application
  • app concept and UI mockups
  • fleshing out the screens
  • database & webservice hookup
  • restyling with CSS
  • HTML Canvas charts
  • using device APIs
    • accelerometer
    • GPS
    • local storage

• Making your life easier
  • adapting to multiple screen sizes
    • media queries and viewport tags
    • scaling with canvas
    • conditional code is a last resort
  • GWT tools
    • mobile GWT APIs