Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa

Objective C and Cocoa, the main programming language for the Iphone are just not intuitive enough for the novice programmer. Apple also has very restrictive rules about apps and rejects numerous ones. Objective C quite frankly is beyond my programming capability, and I was inclined to find a solution. While browsing through Amazon I came across Johanthan Stark's "Building Iphone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript". These aforementioned skills are within my range of ability. Contrary what many at Apple believe this opens up the Iphone to more individuals. Finally, the skills learned to design traditional websites can be utilized for designing apps for the Iphone.This book is setup in a similar fashion to Stark's other book "Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript". Finally, it seems there is an opportunity for programming for both the Iphone and the Android.To tell you the truth I was getting tired of animosity between the Android and Apple world. With books like these there is now a common ground that can be reached. Actually it is amazing how similar each book is and further proof that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are indeed universal markup languages.One thing I have noticed is that many Iphone users are clueless when it comes to actually programming their own apps. Objective C is simply beyond the ability of the average mobile phone user. However, with this book at least now more Iphone users will be able to design simple apps. I am not saying these apps are going to be Earth shattering, but now Iphone users will have an opportunity to learn the basics of designing an Iphone App.This is a perfect book for those who love the Iphone, but have novice experience in programming apps. Actually, to be able to produce apps on both the Iphone and Android I suggest you also get the Android version of this book.

I have always used my iPod Touch religiously since the moment I got one. I've always wanted to build apps for it - but these were my obstacles:(1) I don't have Mac OS(2) I can't afford to invest hundreds of dollars into something I'm not sure is the right choice yet (Mac OS, Apple Developer program, books, etc)(3) I build in VB.NET/ASP.NET, I use Visual Studio .NET. I curse them daily, but I like them.(4) Have you heard what developers are saying about the App Store? It doesn't sound very friendly. I built apps on Facebook before, it doesn't feel that great to have a huge company telling you what you can and can't do. It's their right, of course, but an obstacle for me.This book really surprised me - because it basically has the answers to the above obstacles. Namely, a web-based application approach. There are negatives, sure (I would say animation being the biggest one) - but the absolute beauty of this approach is that those negatives will eventually become less important over time. A big part of this approach is a reliance on open source jQuery plugins. Stark introduces these open source authors and projects succinctly and with full respect.Before you go down the Objective-C route, give this book a shot. It made me seriously rethink a bunch of assumptions that I had made about an iPhone application. That alone was well worth price. Plus - look at what this book covers in the first few chapters, then compare that to the Objective-C/Cocoa books. This is a faster approach if you already have a web application in place.On a side note, this books (with some tweaking) could make a good high school textbook. Teenagers today have a good grasp of HTML and CSS (see: Tumblr), and can be introduced to more advanced topics like jQuery and data storage if they see a benefit to actually learning it.

I found this book to be quite informative and helpful as I was trying to get a handle on how to use technologies I already use and understand to move into the new world of smartphone programming. Stark has an easy writing style and he does a generally good job of code commentary that makes his examples easy to understand.One thing I really like in programming books is the use of a reasonably interesting and complex example. Stark met that expectation very well.My only real criticism -- and it's pretty minor -- is that the author chose to treat some subjects a little unevenly. For example, even though JavaScript turns out in iPhoneSpeak to mean "JQuery and JQTouch," he does very little to explain how to install and get your mind wrapped around these two very complex libraries. In addition, the discussion of jQTouch's various panels and their customization would have been very helpful as I experimented with the code he provided. Finally, his treatment of PhoneGap is a little cavalier and shallow but PhoneGap's docs are pretty good so you can ultimately figure it out.If you're interested in tackling the world of iPhone app development and you don't want to build simply Web-based apps but you also don't want to try to master a C dialect, this book is as good as I've found at helping you get up that learning curve fairly quickly and easily.