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Poll: What mobile HTML5 framework do you use?

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Re: Poll: What mobile HTML5 framework do you use?

#41
Since this is about html5 frameworks, phonegap and titanium don't really fit in. those work well to wrap around the html5 content (also GameClosure)

Approach seems to break down to JS driven app development vs. a more dom/html starting point. ember.js, sencha2, and possibly enyo seemed great for a component driven dev approach, but hard to deeply modify the UI behavior without fighting with the framework. These frameworks are for making your html app look like the apple UI guidelines, and "just like native". We are building games, so actually don't want to look just like other apps... So for us using backbone (+mustache) gives a lower-level approach to code structure + binding, combined with a UI module for when you need a touch-UI widget (which is a pain to code by yourself). I'm sure other folks more experienced with ST2 may disagree but thats what we found.

Since we are doing non-wifi browser based distribution, the OTA download size is also a concern. If you're packaging/bundling for the app store this shouldn't be a concern.

=== appmobi / jq.mobi

http://www.jqmobi.com/

PROS: lightweight, self-contained, plug-in support

CONS: animation + ajax bugs when we tried. seems like a single company product

HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3470946

   4k  jqmobi
  15k  jq UI 
 =19k  total
=== zepto + jqtouch

http://jqtouch.com/

PROS: lightweight, small download, decent functionality, backbone support right off. very easy to work with.

CONS: missing many basic UI components tho plugins may exist. zepto animation.fx is limited. BIG problem: very slow on mobile? we had problems with transitions on iPod/HTC devices. Sencha seems much faster. jqmobile isnt really active project - main dev is now on sencha touch? tho commits are trickling thru https://github.com/senchalabs/jQTouch/network

   9k  jqtouch.min.js
  20K  zepto.min.js
 =29k  total
=== jquerymobile + jquery

PROS: very active project, extensive functionality

CONS: dependency on jquery, then also plugins eg for CSS animations. supports lots of non-webkit devices we dont need to support, so not needed code. had some problems with creating copies of pages in the DOM when you navigate. transition code is based on jqtouch, tho performance seems improved? http://jquerymobile.com/demos/1.0a2/#docs/pages/docs-transit...

  24KB jquery.mobile-1.0.1.min.js (24KB
  30k jquery.min.js.gz
 =55k total (+plugins?)
So we are currently digging into the transitions+DOM issues on the last two, and deciding if the 40k is a killer given 2G networks in many places... but would be interested to hear what others think.

Re: Poll: What mobile HTML5 framework do you use?

#43

jQuery Mobile here. My startup also makes jQuery Mobile development tools (drag-and-drop builder) and services: http://codiqa.com/ Beta invite for HN here: http://codiqa.com/beta/feb

Sounds good :) We have delivered over 100 apps to clients last year with jquery-mobile/phonegap so if your tools can make it easier this would be great. So can I have a beta account? I'll be very critical :]

Re: Poll: What mobile HTML5 framework do you use?

#45
I've been turned off of all these mobile frameworks. Tried many, but no one has "felt right". Some got completely different design patterns (Sencha Touch), some are almost dead (jQTouch), some are large, ugly and bloated (jQuery Mobile), use non-standard stuff (Jo framework), etc. Sencha is really close to emulating a native feel, if that's what you're looking for, and jQTouch is really easy to get started with. Pros and cons.

HP's Enyo framework seems really interesting though, as does Mulberry. But sometimes the best framework is no framework at all - Backbone + Zepto can take you a long way (but lacks fancy mobile UI widgets). It all depends on the project.

Re: Poll: What mobile HTML5 framework do you use?

#49

We've been building up on Sencha Touch 2 since the first PR. It was hard to convince devs on team to make this choice. It takes some time to get into Sencha way, being familiar with ExtJS helps. Some benefits - * a faster development process once you're clear on the concepts * along with conventions, a lot of configuration is possible * the new class system makes it easy to build custom UI components and write mainta…

It's only free as in free beer if it's free as in GPL, otherwise you have to pay for a commercial license. GPL means you have to provide source if you distribute the app. And isn't there also an incompatibility with Apple's App Store terms and the GPL (VLC case)?
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