Phonegap Diaries: Summary

Here's a bullet point summary of my lessons learned.

Bright Spots

• Phonegap lives up to its promise
• JQuery Mobile also lives up to its promise.  It game me a better UI and excellent portability
• Translation from Java to Javascript is not too difficult.
• There exist real unit testing tools for Javascript

Disappointments

• <audio> tag and its API had spotty implementation (not working on iPad2 and Galaxy devices).  Why it works on some devices (iPhone4 w. iOS6) is beyond me.
• JQM documentation needs significant improvement
• Apple process for releasing to iTunes store is both lengthy and bizarre
• Lost all i18n capabilities using HTML5 / javascript

Gotchas

• iOS upgrade on a device is irreversible
• stackoverflow.com is good source of info but can mess you up:
•             right answer to a different problem
•             right answer for a specific version of JQM (or phonegap, or css, ...)
• javascript type system is tricky.  
• For example $mobile.changePage("problem_screen?newProblem=false") cases a transition to the problem screen.  The parameter passed is 'false'.  But 'false' evaluates to true.  Huh? 'false' is a string that needs to be converted to Boolean false.

Unsolved problems

• Can all information for platform generation emanate from "config.xml?"
• What is the best way to detect and report javascript errors?
• What can be done to speed up application load time (5-8 seconds)?

Plans for the Future

I plan future versions of Twentyfour Challenge that include these features:

• a new level using four numbers
• a "give me a hint" function during game play

And I'm waiting for feedback from a couple of middle school math teachers whom I know.

Other postings:

• Phonegap Diaries: Intro to 24 Challenge
• Phonegap Diaries: Tools
• Phonegap Diaries: Process
• Phonegap Diaries: Technologies
• Phonegap Diaries: Summary