Re: Android Development for the IBM i -- WEB400

And if WebKit lets an app get down to the hardware of a device, I think

that will be a vector for viruses. Does Android also allow apps to have
access to the hardware like WebKit/WebOS ?

Note it only goes down to the hardware API capabilities. You do NOT have
root access (as far as I know). You only have the same amount of access
(and actually a little less) as the Android SDK provides. So the potential
for viruses would be the same in my mind. Note the app still gets
digitally signed before going to the App Market/Store where people
download/install it (if you are concerned about the package contents
changing).

Here's a Android SDK Java example of obtaining GPS services:

public class Sychtk extends Activity implements LocationListener {

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
LocationManager locMngr = (LocationManager)
getSystemService(LOCATION_SERVICE);
}

public void onLocationChanged(Location loc) {
System.out.println(loc.getLongitude() + ' ' + loc.getLatitude());
}
}

While that amount of code is small (and omits other Android app environment
complexities), if you don't know Java it can be a lot of work. To
accomplish pretty much the same thing using PhoneGap you would do the
following in Javascript:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Device Properties Example</title>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"
src="phonegap.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

function onDeviceReady() {
navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(onSuccess, onError);
}

function onSuccess(position) {
var element = document.getElementById('geolocation');
element.innerHTML = 'Latitude: ' + position.coords.latitude + '<br
/>' +
'Longitude: ' + position.coords.longitude +
'<br />';
}

function onError(error) {
alert('code: ' + error.code + '\n' +
'message: ' + error.message + '\n');
}

</script>
</head>
<body>
<p id="geolocation">Finding geolocation...</p>
</body>
</html>

Aaron Bartell
www.MowYourLawn.com/blog
www.OpenRPGUI.com
www.SoftwareSavesLives.com

On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 9:14 AM, Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 9:45 AM, Dean, Robert <rdean@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The view layer and logic are written using HTML/JS/CSS and packaged

using the platform SDK or other tool capable of building a "native" bundle
for the platform. HTML5 has the capability to store things on the client
device. If you're not familiar with the improvements, you'll want to take
a look at one of the HTML5 sites.

As far as WebOS, the problem with that product was not the underlying

technology, but the way the product was built. I'm skeptical of the
opinion of architects and designers who produced what essentially amounts
to a demoware product. They would benefit by deflecting blame from their
own shoddy performance. WebKit isn't the reason the product took so long
to develop and didn't perform well. Palm and then HP were focused on
creating the applications and infrastructure, but neither had developers
spending significant time with a profiler to make the system and apps run
fast.

I do not know much in this space. So really just asking question. HP
paid $1.2 Billion for PalmOS, renamed it as WebOS, and then shut the
whole thing down. There has to be more of a reason than shoddy work by
Palm and HP. And if WebKit lets an app get down to the hardware of a
device, I think that will be a vector for viruses. Does Android also
allow apps to have access to the hardware like WebKit/WebOS ?

-Steve
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