Chapter 1
Introducing IOS Development Using Web Technologies
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER:
- Using Safari on IOS as a development environment
- Developing touch-oriented apps
- Setting up your development environment
The introduction of the iPhone, and the subsequent unveilings of the iPod touch and iPad, revolutionized the way people interacted with hand-held devices. No longer did users have to use a keypad for screen navigation or browse the Web through “dumbed down” pages. These mobile devices brought touch screen input, a revolutionary interface design, and a fully functional web browser right into the palms of people’s hands.
Seeing the platform’s potential, the developer community jumped on board. Although native applications may receive most of the attention, you can still create apps for IOS devices without writing a single line of Objective-C. In fact, the Safari on IOS browser provides a compelling application development platform for web developers who want to create custom apps for IOS using familiar web technologies.
DISCOVERING THE SAFARI ON IOS PLATFORM
An IOS web application runs inside the built-in Safari browser that is based on web standards, including the following:
- HTML/XHTML (HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.9, XHTML mobile profile document types)
- CSS (CSS 2.1 and partial CSS3)
- JavaScript (ECMAScript 3 (ECMA 262), JavaScript 1.4)
- AJAX (for example, XMLHTTPRequest)
- SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) 1.1
- HTML5 media tags
- Ancillary technologies (video and audio media, ...
