Ed2Go - Creating Mobile Apps w/HTML5

Do you want to make mobile apps that run on iPhone and iPad, as well as on Android, and Windows Phone? Sure you do! Do you want to learn five different programming languages? Of course you don't!

Fortunately, you're about to discover a better way to build apps. In this course, you'll learn how to imagine, design, build, and optimize a cross-platform mobile app using the very latest HTML5 standards. The result will be a mobile app that's fast and runs on just about any smartphone or tablet computer.

Course Lessons

  • Lesson 01 - The Basics of Mobile Apps and App Design
  • What are the compelling reasons for developing mobile apps with HTML5? And why are some of the Web's biggest players—including Google, Facebook, and Twitter—moving all their apps to the mobile Web? Today you'll learn four principles for designing great mobile apps, and you'll get acquainted with the concept of "mobile first" Web development. By the end of this lesson, you'll be ready to start writing an app.

  • Lesson 02 - Building Your First Mobile App
  • Today you'll follow the progress of employees at a fictitious company as they build a mobile app. In the process, you'll set up your tools and get your hands dirty with some real HTML5 code.

  • Lesson 03 - Introducing HTML5
  • HTML5 is the latest version of the markup language of the Web. In this lesson, you'll learn why Web developers and mobile developers are so gung-ho for HTML5. More importantly, you'll find out how you can use it to write your own webpages. By the end of the lesson, you'll understand the basics of markup languages and HTML5 syntax.

  • Lesson 04 - Formatting HTML5 With CSS3
  • CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) will make your Web apps workable on the largest number of devices, and it'll make your code easier to maintain. In this lesson, you'll use CSS to format HTML documents. This lesson also looks at the new capabilities that are possible with CSS version 3.

  • Lesson 05 - Scripting With JavaScript
  • JavaScript is the programming language of the mobile Web. In this lesson, you'll learn to use JavaScript to add interactivity to mobile apps.

  • Lesson 06 - Jump-Start Your App With jQuery Mobile
  • Today's lesson is all about getting things done faster, better, and with less effort! You'll use jQuery Mobile to make your HTML5 apps feel at home on mobile devices. You'll also use JavaScript libraries and frameworks to get more done in less time.

  • Lesson 07 - Accessing Device Features and Storage
  • By accessing built-in device features such as offline storage and location services, you can make your mobile Web apps much more dynamic. In this lesson, you'll learn what's possible and how to do it.

  • Lesson 08 - Web APIs and Mashups
  • No Web app is an island. Hundreds of app developers have made certain features of their software available using Web Application Programming Interfaces. By using these APIs to retrieve data and then combining different data sources, you can create endless combinations called mashups.

  • Lesson 09 - HTML5 Graphics and Animation
  • Graphics and animation can really spice up your mobile apps. The mobile Web has special requirements and technologies that you need to be aware of, however. In this lesson, you'll learn to optimize your graphics for the mobile Web.

  • Lesson 10 - Optimizing for Mobile Devices
  • Smartphones and tablets come in different shapes and sizes. In this lesson, you'll learn to make your Web app look good on the largest possible variety of devices. You'll also add some meta tags that will give your app more polish on iPhone and Android, and then focus on touch-enabling your app.

  • Lesson 11 - Maximizing Mobile Performance
  • A responsive app doesn't keep the user waiting. In this lesson, you'll learn tools and techniques to make your app responsive.

  • Lesson 12 - Convert Your App to a Native App
  • Native apps give you access to more device features and to the distribution power of an app store. Learn how to use PhoneGap to convert your Web app into a native one for multiple mobile operating systems.

Class Projects

  • WatzThis?, Class Project Site
  • These WatzThis project pages were created for and intended to be viewed on a small view port such as a phone or tablet. Resize to a smaller window if viewing on a larger device to see the pages as intended.

***Important Notice***

(A large part of the information, tutorials and layout templates have been gathered and displayed from the Ed2go, The Missing Manual, and the For Dummies web sites are for non-profit educational purposes only).

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