Life Michael

WP7 Hybrid Applications Using jQuery Mobile

If you have experience developing native applications and games for mobile telephones then you are probably already aware of the difficulties in developing different versions of the same application for the different platforms and for the different phone models.

The possibility to develop a web application surely exists. Yet, when doing so, in most cases, we are still limited when trying to use the device native special capabilities (e.g. sensors, camera etc). The solution for this limitation can be developing an hybrid application, which is a native application that includes a web browser based user interface component that renders the application user interface, executes most of its logic implemented in java script and interacts with the native part of the application for getting access to the device native special capabilities (e.g. sensors, camera etc).

The WebBrowser class allows us to develop an hybrid application for windows phone 7. Its implementation is based on the windows phone 7 web browser (Internet Explorer 7) and therefore it is expected to be compatible with most (if not all) of the jQuery Mobile framework controlls. In my Windows Phone 7 fundamentals course, available for free personal usage at www.abelski.com I explain how to use this class and I present more than a few code samples.

Whether you aim for developing a mobile web application or a mobile hybrid application you will surely be happy to know about jQuery Mobile, a touch optimized web framework for smartphones and tablets. More info about this new framework can be found at www.jquerymobile.com.

The following screenshots (were taken from jQuery Mobile web site) present some of the planned user interface component for mobile telephones.

The following screenshots (were taken from jQuery Mobile web site) present some of the planned user interface component for tablets.

The first release of jQuery Mobile is scheduled for late 2010.

SMKB WP7 Course Final Projects

Towards the end of the 'Applications Development for Windows Phone 7' course I taught in SMKB during 2010 summer semester, my students started to work on their final projects. They were asked to develop either an educational game or an educational application for the windows phone 7 platform. The following screenshots present a glimpse of their work. Ravid Hasid chose to develop a small educational game that uses graphics, sound and video and assists young children in learning the english letters.

Leon Segal and Yuri Shkalenko developed the classic educational memory game. They chose to use Silverlight over XNA.

Dror Ozeri chose to develop an application that teaches SQL. His application includes short video clips, SQL sample code and short explanation.

Alisa Malinsh and Roza Savina Kleinrock chose to develop a small educational application for children in the age 2-4 that teaches them the sounds of animals. Great application for every parent who finds himself in a need to hand over his mobile to his young children from time to time.

Scala. Bridging The .NET and Java EE Worlds.

Scala is an object oriented and a functional programming language. If you already know Java or C# you will find Scala an easy to learn and a powerful one. Most of the new features that were added in C# (comparing with Java) exist as well, and apart of enjoying the power of OOP you will also get to enjoy the power of Functional Programming. There are many advantages for using Scala. However, the one I find as the most interesting one from a business perspective is the ability to compile code written in Scala either into intermediate language code or into java byte code. Companies, that maintain two versions for their products, one for the .NET platform and one for the Java EE platform, can use Scala for maintaining the core modules of their products in one version. The Scala version. Given the scalability related unique adavantages of Scala (comparing with Java and .NET), doing so can also assist with implementing the required changes set by the dynamic business environment in which we operate.

You can do your first steps learning Scala taking the Scala Fundamentals course I have developed for free personal and academic usage at www.abelski.com.

Threads Pool in C#

The ThreadPool class allows us to manage a pool of threads. The following video clip shows and explains how to use it.

More video clips can be found at www.abelski.com and at www.CSharpBook.co.il.

Delegates in C#

Working with delegates in C#, most of us tend to forget that we actually work with objects. The following two video clips (hebrew) explain that. If you are new to C# I believe you might find them useful.

Hanoi Towers Recursive Function Solution

One of the topics I always find interesting to teach is recursion. One of the recursive problems I included in my recent C# Programming course in the Technion was the Hanoi Towers. Following the request from some of my students I created a short video clip (hebrew) that tries to explain the recursive solution.

Please don't hesitate and post your comments via YouTube comments system so I could improve the video by adding annotations accordingly.

Dynamic Functions in C#

The C# programming language allows us to write code that creates new methods during its execution. These methods are known as dynamic functions, and once created we can use delegates to treat them just as any other ordinary function.

The following video clip explains how to use the System.Reflection.Emit classes in order to create a new simple dynamic method in C#.

Windows Phone 7 Fundamentals

I have just updated the first version of the my 'Windows Phone 7 Fundamentals' course. This course is available for free personal and academic usage at www.abelski.com. During the coming weeks I will continue to develop this course and add more topics, concurrently with the release of additional technical documents from Microsoft.

The topics currently covered include the following:
Introduction to WP7
Graphics User Interface
The Isolated Storage
The WebBrowser Control
The Application Bar
Location Services
The Accelerometer
Playing Video
Networking and XML
Application Life Cycle
Security
XNA Games Development

More info about the commercial full version of this course can be found at www.xperato.com.

Parallel Programming in C#

One of the new additions .NET 4.0 introduces is the ability to develop code that executes in a parallel way. The following video clips show and explain how we can develop code that executes in a parallel way.

You can find more video clips and more training material browsing at www.abelski.com.

TCP IP Client Server Application in C#

The C# programming language allows us to develop TCP/IP client server applications. The following video clip presents and explains a simple example for a client server application developed in C#.

This video clip was developed as part of the 'C# Fundamentals' course available for free personal usage at www.abelski.com. You can find the source code as well as many more code samples browsing at www.abelski.com, where you can find many more courses available for free personal and academic usage.

Please don't hesitate and place any question you have regarding this clip through the YouTube comments system and I will update the video clip accordingly.