This document discusses IBM's use of PhoneGap for mobile application development. It provides an overview of IBM's PhoneGap team and goals, why PhoneGap was chosen, features and plugins developed by IBM, documentation and testing practices, considerations for customers and developers, and comparisons of native, hybrid, and web applications. It also touches on legal issues and introduces related IBM technologies like Mobile Dojo.

1. IBM, PhoneGap and
the Enterprise
July 29, 2011
Bryce Curtis
Mobile and Emerging Internet Technology
IBM Software Group
1

2. Overview
 IBM Team
 Why PhoneGap?
 Mobile in IBM
 Native vs Web
 Legal
 Cool Stuff
2

3. IBM Team
Android iOS
Blackberry
3

4. Mobile Landscape
 Exploding Mobile Demand
 2013 will bring us more Mobiles than Desktops
 Next Generation of Application – Always – On
 Using Services like Location, Notification,
Collaboration, etc…
 Different Cost Models / ROI
 Business app lifecycle = 3 months
 Consumer app lifecycle = 3 days (most people try
it only once)
4

5. Mobile Landscape
 Exploding market for Mobile Applications
 Consumers are demanding rich mobile access
across all their devices
• Phones, tablets, game stations, PCs
• Examples – Twitter, FourSquare, Pulse,
Collaboration
 Businesses expect their users to be able to access
important applications and data from multiple
devices
• Business brand accessed with similar function
• Examples – Mail, IM, Facebook, Google+,
Conferencing, Graphics
5

6. Why Is Mobile Different?
Mobile users require efficient and timely  Applications must still be usable when out
access to information. of wireless coverage.
Interactions are short and focused,  Timeliness of data must be
interruptions are common. communicated.
Devices are often exclusively touch-  Security is critical.
based.  Often used for monitoring as opposed
User interfaces must be easy and to active consumption.
obvious.  Social interactions are important.
• Screen real-estate is precious.  Mobile hardware and user interfaces
evolve much faster than the typical
• Typing should be minimized.
enterprise software cycle.
Mobile users today expect high-fidelity access to the same
information they have on the desktop, presented in an easy-
to-learn, mobile-friendly (often touch-friendly) format.
6

7. Why PhoneGap?
 Began working on mobile in early 2010
 Several options
 IBM research (x2)
 Appcelerator - Titanium
• Started out as hybrid, but changed to JS
 Ansca Mobile – Corona
• Ruby
 Rhodes – Rhomobile
• Lua
 QuickConnect
 PhoneGap
• HTML, JS, CSS
7

8. Why PhoneGap?
 Vision
 Meshes with IBM’s vision and strategy
 Hybrid framework
 Open source framework
 Standards based
 Goal is to become obsolete
8

9. 9

10. Desktop
Mobile
10

11. Why PhoneGap?
IBM Mobile Strategy
“Extend our platform to mobile based devices using open standards
and technologies targeting the broadest set of devices possible
leveraging the skills and infrastructure of our existing customers.”
-- Greg Truty, WebSphere Strategist
“Provide mobile tools and applications that leverage open, standards-
based web technologies when appropriate. This includes HTML5,
JavaScript, CSS, PhoneGap and Mobile Dojo.”
-- Bryce Curtis, Mobile Technologist
11

12. Why PhoneGap?
 Vision
 Platforms
 Supported more platforms
 iPhone, Android, Blackberry 4.x, Symbian
 More platforms added:
• Blackberry OS5/6, WebOS, Windows Phone, Bada
12

13. Why PhoneGap?
 Vision
 Platforms
 Architecture
 Great architecture
 Modular (Plug-ins concept)
 Extensible
13

14. PhoneGap Architecture
PhoneGap Application
Web App
PhoneGap Plug-ins
HTML JavaScript Accelerometer Geolocation
CSS Resources Camera Media
Compass Network
PhoneGap
JS APIs
Contacts Notification
HTML
APIs
File Storage
Custom Plug-ins
PhoneGap
HTML Rendering Engine (WebView) Native APIs
OS APIs
OS APIs
Services Sensors
Mobile OS
Input Graphics
14

15. Why PhoneGap?
 Vision
 Platforms
 Architecture
 MIT License
 Friendly licenses are a must to get through IBM legal
 GPL cannot generally be used for IBM products
 Many enterprise customers have similar legal guidelines
 Customers want indemnification from IBM
... claims licenses that Apple has with Lodsys don't cover use of its technology by
independent developers who use it in apps they make for the iPhone and iPad.
15

16. Why PhoneGap?
 Vision
 Platforms
 Architecture
 MIT License
 Community
 Large, active community
 Great user and developer forums
 Developer mindshare
500,000 Downloads
175,000 visits/month
6100+ forum members
Positive feedback from IBM and customers
16

17. A Look Back
 Platforms that IBM considered important a year ago
 iOS, Android 1.x/2, Blackberry OS 4.x/5/6
 Some interest in Symbian, Windows Phone
Cell phones are obsolete
after 6-12 months
17

18. A Look Back
 Platforms that IBM considered important a year ago
 iOS, Android 1.x/2, Blackberry OS 4.x/5/6
 Some interest in Symbian, Windows Phone
 Initial goals
 Consistent API
 Consistent support
 Good documentation
 Tests
18

19. Features
19

20. Documentation
20

21. Testing
 mobile-spec
 Significantly expanded test coverage
• Automatic tests
• Interactive tests
 Validate releases
 Eliminate regression
 Comprehensive test plan?
21

22. IBM Developers
 Features
 Barcode scanner
 Push notifications
 Calendar APIs
 Remote loading
Products are willing to write plug-ins for PhoneGap
and contribute back to community.
22

23. Remote Loading
Web Server PhoneGap Application
Shell App
Web App PhoneGap Plug-ins
Accelerometer Geolocation
HTML Load remote Loader
app over web Camera Media
CSS
Compass Network
JavaScript
PhoneGap
Contacts Notification
JS APIs
HTML
APIs
Resources
File Storage
Custom Plug-ins
HTML Rendering Engine PhoneGap Native
(WebView) APIs
OS APIs
OS APIs
Services Sensors
Mobile OS
 Loads web app over HTTP Input Graphics
 Application hosted on web server
– Easily updated IBM PhoneGap Browser
- anyone can write mobile app
– Personalization
– Same benefits of web app but with access to device features
23

24. IBM Developers
 Features
 Tooling/debugging
 Integrate with Eclipse & IBM RAD
 Development & Simulation without SDKs
 Multiple builds from single www directory
 Test plan & scenarios
 Documentation
 User manual
 IBM DeveloperWorks papers
24

25. IBM Developers
 Features
 Tooling/debugging
 Test plan & scenarios
 Documentation
 Globalization
 Plug-ins for iOS, Android and Blackberry
 Security
 Secure stores
 Encryption
 Enterprise apps sandboxed
25

26. IBM Developers
 Features
 Tooling/debugging
 Test plan & scenarios
 Documentation
 Globalization
 Security
 PhoneGap is part of the bigger picture
 MEAP
 Analytics
 Mobile device and app management
 Back-end connectors
 VPN
26

27. IBM Customers
 Easy development
 Tried native
 Web based
Native worked ok the first time.
But... then came more versions and more phones
Native development cost = 2-3x Web cost
+ Maintenance cost
Customers are realizing benefit of mobile web.
27

28. IBM Customers
 Easy development
 Tried native
 Web based
 Works with existing
servers
 Works with existing
services
 Ajax/XHR
 REST
28

29. IBM Customers
 Easy development
 Tried native
 Web based
 Works with existing servers
 Works with existing services
 Ajax/XHR
 REST
 End-to-end solution
 Customer access to existing services
 Employee access to internal services
 Moving cautiously (investigating)
 Security is critical
 Distribution
 Distribute on App Store
 Get around Apple’s App Store
29

30. Native vs Web
 This discussion is ongoing
 One solution does not fit all
 Trade-offs
 Not everyone agrees
30

31. Native vs Web
 This discussion is ongoing
 One solution does not fit all
 Trade-offs
 Not everyone agrees
“By 2015, mobile Web technologies will have advanced sufficiently such
that half of the applications that today would be written as native apps
will be, instead, delivered as Web apps.”
– Gartner Predications 2010: Web Technologies Will Evolve in Multiple Directions
“If you can build your app with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, then you
probably should.”
- Johnathan Stark
31

32. Comparison
Web Hybrid Native
Dev cost Reasonable Reasonable Expensive
Dev time Short Short Long
App portability High High None
Native speed if
Performance Fast
needed
Very Fast
Native No All All
functionality
App store No Yes Yes
distribution
Extensible No Yes Yes
32

33. Legal
That depends upon what your definition of “is” is.
-- President Bill Clinton
33

34. Legal
 License agreements
 MIT, BSD, Apache
• Grant the end-user permission to do anything they wish with the
source code.
 GPL, LGPL
• Copyleft license
• Modifications made and redistributed by the end-user must include
the source code for these
• End-user is not allowed to re-assert the removed copyright back over
their derivative work.
• The modified software is must be made publicly available for further
modification by any user.
• Linking GPL libraries may not be allowed.
• Not usually acceptable for products.
34

35. Legal
 Inbound license or Contributor License Agreement (CLA)
 Defines the terms under which intellectual property has been contributed
to a company/project
 Contributor agrees they have the right to contribute code
• Originator/author
 Apache Software Foundation:
• The purpose of this agreement is to clearly define the terms under
which intellectual property has been contributed to the ASF and
thereby allow us to defend the project should there be a legal dispute
regarding the software at some future time.
 Protects PhoneGap project and anyone who uses it.
35

36. Legal
 JSON
 The license includes this restriction: "The software shall be used for
good, not evil." If your conscience cannot live with that, then choose a
different package.
 Apple iOS SDK License
 Potential for contamination by proprietary information
 Unlimited liability for user, extremely limited liability for Apple
 Restrictions on distribution
 App acceptance subject to Apple’s rules
 IBM teams have segmented development
 iOS developers cannot write code for other devices
 Android, BB developers cannot look at iOS SDK docs
 iOS apps cannot be ported – must go other direction
36

37. Cool Stuff
 phonegap-simjs
 PhoneGap development using JavaScript simulator
37

38. Cool Stuff
 phonegap-simjs
 PhoneGap development using JavaScript simulator
 phonegap-java
 Desktop version of PhoneGap
 Based upon Java for cross-platform
 Ported Android code
38

39. Cool Stuff
 phonegap-simjs
 PhoneGap development using JavaScript simulator
 phonegap-java
 Desktop version of PhoneGap
 Based upon Java for cross-platform
 Ported Android code
 Dojo Mobile
39

40. 40
Mobile Dojo (dojox.mobile)
 JavaScript toolkit and widget set for creating mobile applications
 Optimized for mobile browsers
 Lightweight, minimal dependencies
 Native look
 CSS themes for both iOS and Android-based devices
 iOS and Android-style controls and widgets
40

41. 41
Mobile Dojo (dojox.mobile)
 CSS features used to optimize webkit-
based browsers
 Animation, gradient colors, rounded
rectangles
 Animation
 Uses CSS3-based animation where
possible
 Can use JavaScript animation for clients
with don't support CSS3 animations
 Flip, slide, fade
 Responds to both orientations as well
orientation changes
 Complete mobile widget framework
 Switch, buttons, headings, tabs, lists,
icons, containers
41

42. 42
Dojo Mobile – iPhone Theme
Heading with a back button Round Rectangle List Round Rectangle List Edge-to-Edge List
(Variable Height)
Tab Container Icon Container Switch RoundRect
42

43. 43
Mobile Dojo - Widgets
 Charts
 Optimized for mobile
 Themes adapted to small screens
 iOS, Android, Blackberry
 Touch support for scrolling and
panning
 Gauges
 Several new predefined styles
 Touch support for changing value
 iOS, Android, Blackberry
http://chrism.dojotoolkit.org/mobile-0.2/make_samples/dojo-samples/demos/mobile-gallery/demo.html
43

44. 44
Mobile Dojo – View Navigation
PageA
PageB
44

45. Thank you!
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