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Okay, today I'm here to talk to you about building mobile apps with Rhodes.
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Unlike the previous session, these are native mobile apps, not mobile web apps.
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Rhodes is an open-source framework that allows you to build native mobile apps for all shipping smartphones: iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Symbian, and Android. You can write the code once at a very high level.
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Briefly on the Rhodes mission: our mission is to allow you to mobilize applications very rapidly with a great user experience. We want to provide the high level productivity and portability of web programming but still deliver the device optimization and offline capability of native mobile apps.
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I actually like that we followed Brandon Lim's presentation from earlier because, if you want a mobile web app, it's a great way to do it. If you want to write a native mobile app, that's what we're all about.
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However, we’re still allowing you to have a web programming experience. Something I typically clarify is this: while we will let you write your app mostly in HTML, it's all now native mobile apps.
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This means taking advantage of device capabilities such as the camera, SMS, GPS, and also allowing you to work with data offline.
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Of course, it's all open source for rapid adoption by developers. This open source aspect drives adoption, but another pleasant surprise has been the substantial amount of user contributions we've received.
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Smartphone sales are exploding across five major smartphone operating systems, yet the difficulty for developers lies in determining what to target.
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The growth leaders, iPhone and Android, are also the ones with the largest installed bases. This is especially true for enterprise apps.
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The iPhone is a great device, and I love my iPhone, but its footprint within enterprises tends to be much smaller.
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With apologies to Brendan, I really like those guys, and we've actually discussed providing services around Rhodes. We're just completely focused on building our framework.
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We see a lot of demand for services. For those interested in offering services, we have a Roads Developer Network that provides referrals to developers using our platform.
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With the emergence of the iPhone App Store, native apps have pretty much won the day. Users prefer apps that run locally on their devices.
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Certainly, this trend is evident in enterprise app scenarios where you're working with data.
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Part of my background is in managing engineering for server-based technology, specifically Good Technology.
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We had the first AJAX-based browser technology called GoodAccess, which had 8,000 companies using it.
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However, we found it challenging to make those companies interactively change data through the browser.
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Even though we had a really good product, I remember that when we looked at these companies, none of the 8,000 were using it to change data with the browser.
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This experience led me to realize that there needed to be a better way—a platform that facilitated broader access.
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Though we were requested to extend to all operating systems, we struggled even to achieve basic mobile compatibility.
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That formative experience motivated the creation of Rhodes.
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Rhodes enables you to write an app once, and it will run everywhere while emphasizing its focus on native apps.
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We built Rhodes as a framework that allows you to quickly build apps using HTML and Ruby.
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It's structured as a Model View Controller (MVC) framework, very similar to Rails.
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Despite our affinity for Rails, it's important to note that Rails is one to two orders of magnitude too large for mobile devices.
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Therefore, Rhodes is a lightweight version that works better on mobile platforms. It shares similarities with Rails but takes a more versatile approach.
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For example, it has a lightweight ORM instead of Active Record, focusing on small size and efficiency.
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The challenge set before the team was that the entire framework plus the user's app must fit within three megabytes on these devices.
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I was impressed by an article that showcased a Windows Mobile app developed using Rhodes, where the executable size was only 2.39 megabytes.
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Rhodes also facilitates synchronization of local data and exploits device capabilities such as GPS, camera, and SMS.
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Everything is available open-source at github.com/mobile, and we engage actively in our Google group for community contributions.
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With a development team spread across time zones, we typically respond to feedback within 24 hours.
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The components of Rhodes include a micro-framework for building locally optimized mobile apps.
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Developers can use an app generator similar to the Rails scaffolding generator and edit HTML templates as needed.
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Though developers can change the controller in Ruby if necessary, they typically spend most of their time on HTML templating.
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This framework also contains the first mobile Ruby implementation, which might excite some of you.
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People sometimes ask if this means Rhodes is a mobile Ruby company. While we're big fans of Ruby and believe it will be prevalent across all devices, Rhodes focuses on providing a native app framework.
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Additionally, we're in discussions with the Ruby community to integrate our mobile Ruby capabilities into broader development efforts.
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The team has made significant strides in execution speed through several engineering tricks drawn from enterprise Rails.
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Rhodes manages data efficiently, with a RoSync client that synchronizes offline data.
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The RoSync client manages data transmission between the device and backend efficiently, ensuring that developers deal primarily with local data.
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Local data management allows developers to avoid concerns about network connectivity.
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The RoSync client communicates with the RoSync server using an optimized JSON format.
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This architecture allows for seamless interaction between the application code and data storage.
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A small embedded web server manages local views, allowing you to write the app's visual components in HTML.
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This design choice has made a significant difference; it allows developers to access useful third-party components.
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The browser control on the device helps render the HTML components and provides a familiar development experience.
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While the framework's internals matter little to users, the app generator creates a boilerplate for the essential objects, making development straightforward.
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For example, if you're creating a CRM app, the generator can create models like accounts, employees, opportunities, and contacts.
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You simply need to provide object names, and Rhodes will generate a controller and basic HTML templates for you.
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You won't often need to modify the auto-generated controller because it handles basic Create, Read, Update, Delete operations.
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However, modifying HTML templates allows you to create a more personalized user interface.
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Our generated HTML is quite generic, consisting of basic tags, and you can style it in whatever way you prefer.
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We provide a styling library that varies by device, allowing your iPhone apps to resemble native applications.
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The use of libraries such as iUI helps achieve this objective significantly.
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The iUI framework enables us to incorporate different styles and interactions, making the app feel native to each platform.
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Users can enhance the style and interactivity of apps, ensuring a consistent branding experience across platforms.
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Overall, Rhodes allows you to access device capabilities and synchronize local data while providing a framework that looks good on all devices.
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This systematic approach offers practical advantages, especially compared to traditional web-based applications.
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Let's take a closer look at the app we built using Rhodes.
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The development flow involves generating the app, creating models, and defining functionality.
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As we progress, I'll demonstrate each step. The first action is to install Rhodes using the gem command.
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You run 'gem install roads' to get started. Once installed, you gain access to the utility command line and its various options.
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With options to generate apps, models, or sources, you'll typically start by generating an app.
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For this demo, I'm going to generate a simple app called 'LA Ruby Contacts'.
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After generating the app, you can navigate into the app directory.
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Next, I will generate a model. The model requires a name, a source URL, and a set of attributes.
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For our contact model, I'll input relevant fields like name, phone number, and city.
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After specifying those details, Rhodes generates all necessary components for the model.
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This automation resembles Rails development, making the configuration and initial setup very straightforward.
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You'll find the controller and templates ready to use without significant modifications.
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As you check your contact directory, you'll see the CRUD operations pre-configured for easy management.
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All HTTP methods behave similarly to Rails; however, some subtle differences exist due to varying browser behaviors.
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The HTML generated by Rhodes can be extensively modified to fit your design requirements.
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Once you've built your app, the build script generates executable files for each target device.
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This ensures your app works efficiently across different operating systems like Blackberry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile.
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When happy with your changes, you can perform a build to create a runnable application.
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Let’s take a look at the application running. I'll demonstrate creating a new contact.
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After creating a new contact, it appears on the list, showcasing the basic functionality developed.
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It's worth noting that we recently announced an updated version of Rhodes that supports all smartphone operating systems.
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We've also added camera support, which has generated media coverage and interest.
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Alongside this, we're launching a hosted mobile app development service analogous to Heroku.
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This initiative allows users to develop apps without needing to install development kits or environments.
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The Rhodes framework will be hosted, enabling developers to focus on building rather than deployment.
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Lastly, I would like to announce an extension of our mobile app development contest deadline to May 24th.
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Participants will have the chance to win prizes by developing an app using Rhodes and sensibly open-sourcing their work.
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The app must be completed by the deadline, and we offer a total of $10,000 in prizes.
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Among the submitted applications, there will be many smartphones and related accessories for at least the top 10 entries.
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I'm thrilled about the amazing projects currently in development and those yet to come.
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To conclude, I encourage everyone to explore the possibilities with Rhodes.
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We're committed to a framework that is more productive and accessible than traditional mobile development.
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If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
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I'll be happy to help with anything concerning the Rhodes framework or mobile development.
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Thank you for your attention. Let's continue to shape the future of mobile development together.
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And remember, Rhodes is here to help you make that journey as easy and productive as possible.
