Article by Dave F Hudson
What is PhoneGapIt is ‘free open source’ and so companies and developers can use it for mobile apps that are commercial, free, open source, or any permutation of these. It was developed by Nitobi Software; in October 2011 Adobe acquired Nitobi.PhoneGap allows developers to build mobile apps with languages that they are used to; HTML (5), Javascript and CSS(3), as opposed to less used languages e.g. Objective-C.Built apps are not completely native and do not have full access to the device API (Application Programming Interface).PhoneGap allows apps to be developed for all the important mobile operating systems, typically Apple iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Nokia Symbian OS, BlackBerry and HP webOS. As new operating system versions are released, PhoneGap support is developed, examples are BlackBerry 5 & 6, Windows Phone 7 and Bada for the Samsung Wave S8500. PhoneGap is a HTML5 app platform which allows developers to create native apps with web technologies.
What is HTML5HTML5 is the building block on which todays mobile browsers are built and is revolutionising iphone, android, Windows mobile and BlackBerry internet devices; it can play video without a plugin (e.g. Flash). There are a number of web browsers available on the Android marketplace. Some are mobile versions of Desktop browsers (e.g. Opera and Firefox). The most popular are Firefox, Dolphin Mini, Stock Android xScope,Skyfire, Dolphin HD and Opera Mobile.
What Is DrupalDrupal is described as the free open source equivalent to programs such as Dreamweaver, Frontpage and Expression Web. It also has 11,000 contrib modules (free community based addons). It is a Content Management System (CMS) that is versatile and modular. It is increasingly being used by the whole business spectrum ranging from giant multinationals to the self employed tradesperson.It does not need a webmaster, and content is added almost as easily as a blog. Whilst it is easy to maintain a Drupal website, the initial construction is best left to the experts. Examples of drupal sites can be seen on Aeondada. If a company needs a new website, then as it will increasingly be displayed on mobile devices, consider a company that is familiar with drupal, android development and HTML5 compilers.
What Is Drupal PhonegapIt is GPL (General Public License), this means it is a free, copyleft (as opposed to a copy ‘right’) license for software and other kinds of works.The Drupal PhoneGap project has two components:-1) A module for Drupal which can be found on drupal.org/project/phonegap2) An app for Android, based on the Phonegap libraries. For a link to download the source code see later.These two components work together, allowing content from a Drupal website to be seen on a mobile device. The content is supplied by a “view” on the Drupal site; this gives enormous flexibility and power when selecting and supplying mobile content.For a link to the phonegap source code click on ‘Drupal Phonegap’. This source code can be used with Phonegap to create native apps for Android, BlackBerry and iPhone.
The author, Dave Hudson s a former University lecturer and has written numerous articles on Drupal and HTML5. Technical assistance from adappt is acknowledged, who also have a webpage ‘What Is Drupal’.
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