…That’s ‘Positive Mental Attitude’ for ‘Progressive Web Apps’…
We keep on getting requests to cover PWA/RWD’s and because we’re not DJs or that small band at the back of the bar that’s playing ‘only originals’, we’re taking those requests…and 5-6-7-8…
So a PWA is a progressive web app and an RWD is a responsive web design. How are the two related? Well first off, “RWD is basically writing your HTML5 and your CSS code so that the layout of the site will flex and change depending on the size of the screen of the web browser that is visiting your site. So if you have a smartphone or a 75 inch flat panel TV, a properly coded responsive website or web app will look just fine.” So the idea being that fonts, images, layout, etc. will change size depending on the size of the screen you’re viewing them on. As you can imagine, with the way consume data and media, it was a pretty big deal.
Okay, but where does the PWA come in? “…A PWA is basically taking RWD to its ultimate highest level. Essentially…you can think of it as RWD on steroids, because it brings in all the power that comes with native HTML5 and CSS (and you throw in some JavaScript to add some extra capabilities, of course…).” “The big advantage of using a PWA over native is you have one code base, so instead of having to write one app in iOS with SWIFT, and then having to write the whole app again from scratch for android in JAVA or KOTLIN. PWA is a lot cheaper to get your app out there, and [while] you don’t get the full benefit with a PWA that you get with native, you get a lot of the benefits.”
Now the VLOG will go into really good detail weighing the pros and cons of PWA or native (and believe me there are way more pros), but as a dev or a freelancer you should always be thinking about where businesses are coming from. Most of the time they’re not interested in the “nerd” implications of the languages, frameworks, etc. that you use, they just want to get up and running fast and get the product or service out there and PWA is your best bet. -ENJOY
Mobile app development has moved toward hybrid apps, using the web stack (HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript,) and frameworks like Phonegap or React Native.
But when it comes to the development of high demand (in terms of performance) mobile apps, using native languages like Swift for iOS and Java for Android is still the way to go. This might change with Googles Flutter framework.
I decided that (once again) I had to walk my talk and explore a new programming language. Swift is a good one to learn for several reasons:
Swift is an ultra modern language. It’s always good to be clued into the cutting edge.
Swift will open up the doors to speedy iOS programming. There’s good money in them Apples!
It looks like a lot of fun!
So there you have it PHP nerds. If you are looking to stimulate your programmatic brain or maybe expand the type of (programming) work you can do, Swift is something worth learning.
Not web design related but I’m a nerd and I do have both the iPad 2 and the Blackberry Playbook. Before I get into my tablet review, please let me point out that I am a big-time Apple user. I have the MacBook Air and it is hands-down, the best computer I’ve ever used.
I rate tablets on the following criteria:
1. Quality of the OS
2. Quality of the hardware
3. The tablet’s ecosystem … apps!
The Playbook has superior hardware and the OS is better. iPad’s OS is clunky by comparison. Blackberry has a smaller screen (7inch vs. iPad’s 9 inch) making the Playbook easier to hold and handle but less attractive when viewing big pages.
That said, I use the Playbook all the time to browse the web. Oh yea, Playbook runs Flash with NO problems. Finally, the Playbook’s OS is much more stable (I’ve crashed the iPad 2 three times within 4 days) and the navigation is superior.
iPad’s Ecosystem is Amazing
iPad on the other hand, has a big advantage with the Apps. There are so many cool apps for the iPad, that no one else can compete in that regard. Playbook being very new, has just a little more than none.
Conclusion – should you get iPad 2 or the Playbook?
It is really use-case specific; if you plan on casually browsing the web and watching videos etc … then the Playbook. If on the other hand, you are interested in games and maybe apps related to education etc … then iPad.
Oh yea, Playbook has MUCH better sound. For reasons unknown (drunkenness perhaps?) Apple choose to put the speaker on the BACK of the iPad!! And finally, the Playbooks screen is sharper.
I personally got the Playbook for fun and the iPad for work.
A few months ago, I warned web designers against rushing into new technologies before their time. I was talking about HTML 5 and CSS 3 and how for the typical web browser, they would not be widely adopted for years.
Things change …
But now, just a few months later, with the crazy success of the iPad and iPhone along with the growing buzz for the soon to be released Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet (among many others), it has become clear to me that web designers need to start looking in this … especially if you are thinking about the mobile Web.
* XHTML and HTML5 Compared
* Looking at HTML5 Tags
* CSS3 Gradients
* Page Layout With HTML5
* Floats, Sidebars, and Overrides
* Working With Fonts
* Advanced Backgrounds
* Video
* Introducing The Canvas Tag
* Visualizing Data With Canvas
Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere on the moon, you know that iPhone and now the iPad have a lot of users and are effectively a market that web developers and designers have to pay attention to – you might be asked to build or design something for these popular devices some day.
To help get you going, I got my nerd brother Richard to put together an article that introduces iPad and iPhone programming – this is a view from 10 000 feet …. so even web designers might learn something as well.
A quick quote from the article to entice you:
The introduction of the iPhone by Apple a few years back caused a lot of excitement among both consumers and developers. The iPhone was arguably the first mobile device that made both mobile computing and web surfing practical. The iPad (which runs on iPhone OS) has been met with skepticism in some quarters. But so far it appears to be selling well and attracting a lot of interest from content creators.
Apple originally intended that the main source of third-party applications for the iPhone would be web applications, and there are of course many of these. But something funny happened when Apple released the iPhone SDK and an App Store to go with it – people came. Developers developed and consumers consumed.
