Home ›

Augmented Reality with HTML5

Issue 203

From Issue #203
March 2011

Apr 30, 2011  By Rick Rogers
 in
How far can HTML5 go when writing mobile applications?
So What Does All This Mean

I've shown how to write hybrid applications with HTML5 and Dalvik. It's relatively easy to set things up so JavaScript can call Dalvik methods, and Dalvik can call JavaScript methods. I've shown that you can create rather advanced applications that composite the Dalvik and HTML5 user interfaces so they look like one to the user.

But you could just as easily have written the whole application in Dalvik, so what is the advantage of writing part in HTML5? Here are the advantages:

  1. If you were writing a real application, the HTML5 part would be (relatively) portable to other platforms. You wouldn't have to rewrite it to port to, say, the iPhone. In the example, the HTML5 part is pretty small, but in principle, it could be much larger.

  2. You could have kept the HTML5 part of the application on a remote HTTP server, to be updated whenever the app is run, without requiring the user to download an update.

  3. If your application displayed information from the Web, it could be argued that HTML5 is a more natural place for Web interaction than Dalvik.

Hybrid applications, such as the example here, can be a valid way to create mobile applications that combine the power of HTML5 and the native platform. As long as the platform gives you a way to interact between JavaScript and the native application environment, there really doesn't seem to be any barrier to the kinds of applications you can write.

Compass card graphics adapted from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Compass.svg.

Rick Rogers has been a professional embedded developer for more than 30 years. Now specializing in mobile application software, when Rick isn't writing software for a living, he's writing books and magazine articles like this one. He welcomes feedback on the article at portmobileapps@gmail.com.

______________________

Rick Rogers has been a professional embedded developer for more than 30 years. Now specializing in mobile application software, when Rick isn't writing software for a living, he's writing books and magazine articles like this one.

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Missed the latest developments?

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 06:31.

It's a shame that you seem to have missed this:

http://my.opera.com/core/blog/2011/03/23/webcam-orientation-preview

HTML5 is awesome!

Mathuseo's picture
Submitted by Mathuseo (not verified) on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 05:43.

Absolutely awesome what HTML5 makes possible. As webworker I'm happy about the features that will follow in next years! Nice posting, I will twitter the post here.

White Paper
More Resources
Fabric-Based Computing Enables Optimized Hyperscale Data Centers

Today’s modular x86 servers are compute-centric, designed as a least common denominator to support a wide range of IT workloads. Those generic, virtualized IT workloads have much different resource optimization requirements than hyperscale and cloud applications. They have resulted in a “one size fits all” enterprise IT architecture that is not optimized for a specific set of IT workloads, and especially not emerging hyperscale workloads, such as web applications, big data, and object storage. In this report, you will learn how shifting the focus from traditional compute-centric IT architectures to an innovative disaggregated fabric-based architecture can optimize and scale your data center.

Learn More

Sponsored by AMD

White Paper
More Resources
Red Hat White Paper: Using an Open Source Framework to Catch the Bad Guy

Built-in forensics, incident response, and security with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Every security policy provides guidance and requirements for ensuring adequate protection of information and data, as well as high-level technical and administrative security requirements for a system in a given environment. Traditionally, providing security for a system focuses on the confidentiality of the information on it. However, protecting the data integrity and system and data availability is just as important. For example, when processing United States intelligence information, there are three attributes that require protection: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Learn more about catching the bad guy in this free white paper.

Learn More

Sponsored by DLT Solutions