There must be something out there?
I’ve been developing a workshop focussing on HTML5 app features like UI, localStorage, devicemotion, geolocation, as well a bit of phoneGap, so students can add additional featurs like camera support, and package it all up as an app.
If you’d like to see the app in progress I’m basing the workshop on, it’s here (BTW, it’s a work in progress, and various features will only work on some devices etc).
Now, when I do workshops, rather than a series of abtract exercises, I do like students to be able to buuild something of some real world value. So, I was keen with the workshop to have the students come away at theend of the course with smething that felt remotely like an app, even if just a prototype.
So, I was in search of a framework that meant the students didn’t have to spend a tonne of time learning the framework, and because the workshop is focussed on students who don’t necessarily have super strong JavaScript skills, this also meant the search was for a framework that uses HTML, rather than JSON or other JavaScript based approach to templating. Even for skilled JS develoeprs these have enough of a learning curve that most of the course would end up being abotu the framework, not the stuff I actually want to cover in the course.
So, this precluded KendoUI, SenchaTouch, Ember and so on.
This is also not a workshop on architecting and building single page apps, client side templating, etc etc. I just want students ot be enthused as they learn new features of HTML5, and feel this will happen more if what they build doesn’t just look and feel like a completed series of exercises.
So, we are left with something that uses HTML as its templating language. Frameworks like JQTouch, JQuery Mobile, and, frankly very little else.
I wanted something that isn’t a dead end, something students might ultmately be able to use in real world projects, so there are frameworks oth there that have come and gone, which are essentially the undead, and I don’t feel it’s appropriate to expose students to these.
JQTouch, as useful as it is, needs a lot of work. Very common UI features, like tabbars, and even fixed footers don’t really work.
JQuery Mobile is the most feature rich, but it’s performance is frankly dreadful on an iPhone 4. There’s also quite some disconnect between the HTML you create and the DOM that’s created, and a terrible mush of HTML/CSS/JavaScript all doing each others job.
So, is there anythign out there that meets the criteria of being
a mobile app focussed framework
uses HTML based templating
has a decent set of core UI patterns/elements/widgets
doesn’t have diabolical performance
Or do I just go back to rolling my own?
what am I missing?
