[Devoxx Morocco 2015] Apache Cordova In Action

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Apache Cordova In

Action

Hazem Saleh

#DevoxxMA @DevoxxMA

About meexperience More than ten years of experience in Java enterprise and mobile

solutions.

Apache Committer.

Author of four technical books.

DeveloperWorks Contributing author.

Technical Speaker (JavaOne, ApacheCon, Geecon,JavaLand, Devoxx …etc)

Advisory Software Engineer in IBM.

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AgendaApache Cordova Introduction

Configurations

Cordova Command Line

Cordova APIs Overview

Memo Application Demo

Hello World Demo

Integration Tips with jQM and Ionic

General Performance Tips

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Apache Cordova Introduction

Platform

HTML CSS

JS

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Apache Cordova IntroductionDevice native functions examples:

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Apache Cordova Introduction

Hybrid Application (Cordova) Native Application

Can be uploaded to App Store Yes Yes

Technology HTML + CSS + JavaScript Native platform Programming Language

Cross-mobiles support Yes No

Development Speed Faster Slower

Uses Device Native Features Yes Yes

Hybrid vs Native Application

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Apache Cordova IntroductionCordova is supported on the following platforms:

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Apache Cordova IntroductionChallenges of the current mobile apps development:

Many platforms and devices.

Different skills needed.

Different problem types.

Huge Development and Testing Effort to have a single application on these platforms.

For Android: Java skills needed.

For iOS: Objective-C (or SWIFT) skills needed.

For Windows: C# skills needed.

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Apache Cordova IntroductionWho can use Cordova?

If you are a web developer and wants to develop a mobile application that can be deployed on the different app store portals.

If you are a mobile native developer and wants to develop a single application on the different mobile platforms without having to re-implement the

application code on every platform.

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Configurations




Hello World Demo



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Configuration

1 2 3Prerequisites:

Node JS.

Target SDK.

From command line:

> sudo npm install -g cordova

To know the installed version of Cordova:

> cordova -vGIT

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Configurations




Hello World Demo



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Cordova Command LineTo create an application:

> cordova create <<app_dir>> <<project_id>> <<app_title>>

To add a platform (from the app folder):

> cordova platform add <<platform_name>>

To build Cordova project:

> cordova build

To deploy the app on emulator:

> cordova emulate <<platform_name>>

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Configurations




Hello World Demo




Hello World Demo

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Configurations




Hello World Demo



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Cordova APIs OverviewNative device functions are represented as plugins that can be added and

removed using the command line.

Adding camera plugin example:

> cordova plugin add https://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/cordova-plugin-camera.git

Removing Camera plugin example:

> cordova plugin rm org.apache.cordova.core.camera

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Cordova APIs OverviewDevice

An object that holds information about the device hardware and software.

Device information is mainly about: Device name. Device Platform. Device Platform version. Device model.

“deviceready” event is an indicator that Cordova finishes loading and Cordova APIs are ready to be called.

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Cordova APIs OverviewCamera

An object that provides an access to the device camera. It can be used for:

Capturing a photo using the device’s Camera. Picking a photo from the device’s gallery.

navigator.camera.getPicture(onSuccess, onFail, { quality: 50, destinationType: Camera.DestinationType.DATA_URL});function onSuccess(imageData) { var image = document.getElementById('myImage'); image.src = "data:image/jpeg;base64," + imageData;}function onFail(message) { alert('Failed because: ' + message);}

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Cordova APIs OverviewMedia

An object that allows recording and playing back audio files on the device.

var my_media = new Media("someFile.mp3", onSuccess, onError);my_media.play();

function onSuccess() { console.log("playAudio():Audio Success");}function onError(error) { alert('code: ' + error.code + '\n' + 'message: ' + error.message + '\n');}

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Cordova APIs OverviewNotification

An object that displays visual, audible, and tactile notification.

// Show a native looking alertnavigator.notification.alert( 'Cordova is great!', // message 'Cordova', // title 'Ok' // buttonName);// Beep four timesnavigator.notification.beep(4);// Vibrate for 3 secondsnavigator.notification.vibrate(3000);

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Cordova APIs OverviewStorage

Provides an access to the W3C Web Storage interface:

window.localStorage.setItem("key", "value");

var value = window.localStorage.getItem("key");

window.localStorage.removeItem("key");window.localStorage.clear();

- Local Storage (window.localStorage).- Session Storage (window.sessionStorage).

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Cordova APIs OverviewStorage

Provides an access to the device Web SQL Database (Full featured database). Cordova supports IndexedDB for WP8 and Blackberry 10.

function populateDB(tx) { tx.executeSql('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS DEMO'); tx.executeSql('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS DEMO (id unique, data)'); tx.executeSql('INSERT INTO DEMO (id, data) VALUES (1, "First row")'); tx.executeSql('INSERT INTO DEMO (id, data) VALUES (2, "Second row")');}function errorCB(err) { alert("Error processing SQL: " + err.code);}function successCB() { alert("success!");}var db = window.openDatabase("Demos", "1.0", "Cordova Demo", 200000);db.transaction(populateDB, errorCB, successCB);

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Accelerometer (Capture device motion)

Compass (Get the device direction)

Connection (Get the device connection)

Contacts (Access to device contacts database).

File (Access to device File system based on W3C File API)

Globalization (Access to user locale information)

Events (Handle Apache Cordova life cycle events).

Geolocation (Know your mobile location. API is W3C based)

More APIs:

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Configurations




Hello World Demo



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Ionic and jQuery Mobile are:

Two popular and powerful User Interface frameworks for building Mobile Web applications.

Are based on HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.

Compatible with most of the mobile and tablet browsers.

Ionic has the following advantages:• Powered by AngularJS which is a powerful MVVM framework for creating structured

JavaScript applications.• Powered by command line tooling and UI templates.

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Cordova does not restrict using any specific JavaScript library but using a JavaScript library will save you a lot of time creating your own widgets from scratch.

jQuery Mobile is used in the demo application with Cordova to create the Memo utility.

There are also many cool frameworks you can use in your Cordova mobile apps such as:

Dojo mobile Sencha Touch Bootstrap

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jQuery Mobile IntegrationWindows Phone 8 Issues:

Fixes:

Trimmed header title.

Footer is not aligned to bottom.

Set ui-header and ui-title classes’ overflow to visible.Hide System Tray using app config (shell:SystemTray.isVisible = “False”).

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jQuery Mobile IntegrationiOS 8 (and 9) Issues:

One of the possible workarounds:

Collision between jQM header title and iOS device status bar.

Hide the status bar by adding and setting two properties in the app's .plist file:1. The Status bar is initially hidden property set to the YES value.2. The View controller-based status bar appearance property set to theNO value

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jQuery Mobile Integration

iOS 9 Issues:


Popups are suddenly closed after the first opening time!

Use data-history="false” for the data-role="popup” component

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jQuery Mobile IntegrationiOS 9 Issues:


Back buttons are broken due to UIWebView bug in iOS 9:https://openradar.appspot.com/22186109

if (device.platform === "iOS" && parseInt(device.version) === 9) { $.mobile.hashListeningEnabled=false;} /* when the device is ready */

https://openradar.appspot.com/22186109

https://openradar.appspot.com/22186109

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jQuery Mobile Integration

In order to boost the performance of jQuery mobile with Cordova, it is recommended to disable transition effects as follows:

$.mobile.defaultDialogTransition = 'none’;

$.mobile.defaultPageTransition = 'none';

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jQuery Mobile Integration•Use cordova-jquery-npm module to speed up adding ready-made jQuery mobile templates to your existing Cordova project. Available templates are:

• Multiple pages.• Persistent Navigation bar for three pages.• External Panel Template.

•Install it using npm as follows:> npm install –g cordova-jquery

•All what you need to do is to run cordova-jquery command from your project root and follow the template creation Wizard. •cordova-jquery-npm module is an open source project that is available in:

• https://www.npmjs.com/package/cordova-jquery

https://www.npmjs.com/package/cordova-jquery

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Ionic Integration

Use Native Scrolling instead of JavaScript scrolling for gaining the maximum performance.

$ionicConfigProvider.scrolling.jsScrolling(false); (Enabling native scrolling for all app views)

overflow-scroll=“true” (for a single ion-content)

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Configurations




Hello World Demo



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General Performance TipsCache Application Data as much as possible to avoid the network access delay.

Possible ways to cache application data:

Web Storage (Local Storage), if data size is less than 5 MBs. Database (IndexedDB / Web SQL), if data size is larger than 5 MBs. File System.

Always cache static data, and define proper caching policies for dynamic data.

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General Performance TipsAvoid the 300ms click event delay on mobile browsers:

Mobile browsers have to wait 300ms to determine if this is a click or a double tap event.

Can make your user feel that your app is slow!

Possible Solutions: If you do not use a specific framework that handles this delay, Use

FastClick: https://github.com/ftlabs/fastclick

If you are using jQuery mobile, use “vClick” event: https://api.jquerymobile.com/vclick/

If you are using Ionic, use “ngTouch” module: https://docs.angularjs.org/api/ngTouch

https://github.com/ftlabs/fastclick

https://github.com/ftlabs/fastclick

https://api.jquerymobile.com/vclick/

https://api.jquerymobile.com/vclick/

https://docs.angularjs.org/api/ngTouch

https://docs.angularjs.org/api/ngTouch

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General Performance TipsMinimize DOM Access and Insertions.

Do not do:$("#myButton").on("click", someClickEventHandler);$("#myButton").css("text-decoration", "underline");$("#myButton").css("color", "blue");$("#myButton").attr("href", "#");

Do not use JavaScript for layout creation.

Instead Do:var myButton = $("#myButton”);myButton.on("click", someClickEventHandler);myButton.css("text-decoration", "underline");myButton.css("color", "blue");myButton.attr("href", "#");

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Configurations




Hello World Demo




GitHub URL:https://github.com/hazems/cordova-mega-app

Memo Application

https://github.com/hazems/cordova-mega-app

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JavaScript Quiz<script>

var someVar = "1";

var someObject = {

someVar: 2,

someMethod: function () {

var someVar = 3;

var _this = this;

setTimeout(function() {

var result = _this.someVar + this.someVar;

alert(result);

}, 10);

}

};

someObject.someMethod();

</script>

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Questions

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