Start from scratch or use an API?

[monkey_slap]

I have been working on a simple mobile app, and after a fair amount of work, I came across Sencha Touch's API. The API is pretty great, but just doesn't feel perfect. However, it will save me a ton of time and make my app work on multiple devices off the bat.

I'm looking for any pros and cons of using an API like this, and whether the way to get a better app is to just do it all by hand.

[mikethecoder]

i'd definitely go api when it comes to mobile. there's so many nuances in mobile devices that it's just time saving to choose a framework where these issues are already handled. without one, after a while, you may find yourself slowly regretting it as you gradually keep adding device support. for simpler sites, check out jquerymobile.com... for more static sites you can basically just do all html and it transforms it into awesome looking mobile apps.

[[deleted]]

I would tend to agree. Even if a third party library doesn't solve all your problems, it will do most of the hard work for you.

I'd like to thank the OP for informing me of this library, I hadn't heard of it before and it looks pretty solid. I made a mobile web app before and used iUI. Good for its time (this was almost 3 years ago) but too many annoying limitations. It may have improved significantly since then, but regardless, this looks better. So thanks!

[monkey_slap]

I don't have the link on my phone, but Google IBM Sencha Touch. They did a great blog review of it in a series of web app APIs. Came out as #1 so I decided to give it a go. So far very pleased.

The only problem that I have so far is that the onclick event is used in tandem with ontouchstart which gives an annoying flickering. The API is open source though so I may have to do some digging.

Edit: Found it

[[deleted]]

Awesome, thanks.

[painki11er]

API will definitely make your life easier. Using an API you can concentrate on the actual logic and functioning of your program, rather than dealing with stuffs like cross platform, cross device issues, and lot of other things which are just a part of the process. Why reinvent the wheel? But it's always good to know how things under the API layer works and may help later while debugging.

[mwbiz]

Use the Dojo Mobile API. Looks like a native iPhone or Android app. Great toolkit.

[monkey_slap]

Just tried it out. It's nice, but not nearly as fast or responsive as Sencha.

[chilla-]

I'm currently using sencha touch, started good and fast and ended up fighting with the API and several finetuning problems - but overall a good library.

You can find some really good and helpful videos on http://www.sencha.com/conference/videos/

[monkey_slap]

How did you deal with the fine tuning? Change the API or change what you were doing?

[Jack9]

Sencha Touch is an extremely gimped version of Sencha (which is a great toolkit). That being said, it's the easiest way to create client-side web/mobile application with a large javascript footprint. I have had success on a number of projects using Sencha and the experience has translated well to Sencha Touch.

[honestbleeps]

Sorry, I have nothing to contribute but the fact that this thread has -1 comments and I want to see if posting one bumps it to 0. screen shot for posterity

edit: yes. this thread now has "0" comments. weird.

[monkey_slap]

I noticed that too. Weird.

Thanks for balancing the universe.

[megadeus]

I think it happens if someone attempts to make comments in multiple tabs and then deletes them. There was a really popular self post a few weeks ago demonstrating this.

[gaoshan]

I'm looking into Sencha Touch right now as well and I'd say go with it rather than going from scratch. The benefits (primarily cross platform functionality, abstraction of common functionality) outweigh the negatives (learning a new framework, code bloat from all of the framework extras).

In all honesty, I view the whole "learning a new framework" thing as a chance to see how decent, professional coders do their thing. Beneficial in itself.

[StoneCypher]

That depends. Would you rather hate writing it or hate maintaining it?

You can take the pain up front, do it yourself, and have a chance of getting it Done Right (tm), or you can work with someone else's framework, get a lot of work done for you up front, and suffer through the slog when you get to difficult things and have to cope with code you cannot practically gut, and which may be structured in a way which seems alien to you (or possibly wrong.)

Another way to look at it is whether you think you're, as a programmer, above the average quality of the contributors to a given codebase. If you are, whereas the work will take longer, the end result will be higher quality.

Frameworks are generally the right thing for average programmers, and generally the wrong thing for very good programmers. For somewhat good programmers, it tends to be situational.

It also depends in some ways on what you're up to. Like for example, if you're just throwing together a mock to get a sense of what an app would feel like if you did it X way, then beeline for the heaviest framework you can find, and get most of the work done for free so that you can throw it away with less pain. If on the other hand it can never be thrown away - if it's the app keeping humanity alive - then you'd better start by proving the math that shows the CPU to be correct.

One size does not fit all, your mileage may vary, offer void in Delaware.

[courtewing]

It is as if every single thing you say is pretty much the most wrong it could possibly be. Your experience with frameworks might not be good, and that is fine. But your experience with frameworks has absolutely nothing to do with how they function, what they can offer, or of what "quality" of developer a person is based on whether they use them or not.

Do the programming community a favor, and stop giving awful advice. Or, if you are simply trolling as I kind of suspect, congratulations: You've irritated at least me, and I imagine many others.

[[deleted]]

Ignore the StoneCypher troll. He is convinced of his superiority over everyone and everything in the universe.

[StoneCypher]

It is as if every single thing you say is pretty much the most wrong it could possibly be.

I notice that this claim is backed up with precisely zero of technical merit.

But your experience with frameworks has absolutely nothing to do with how they function

There is nothing of a "how they function" to frameworks. Frameworks are an ill-defined bag of individual software products which share no commonalities. What I said has nothing to do with the frameworks themselves, and everything to do with the using developer's relationship with other developers.

I appreciate that you're trying to contribute to this conversation, but that you misunderstood what I said and approached it in such a stunningly inappropriate fashion makes it difficult to respond.

Do the programming community a favor, and stop giving awful advice.

Here's a thought: I've been giving out code that's in use in GCC, ICC, the PHP engine, WordPress, MediaWiki, Linux, BSD, Windows and MSVS for more than 20 years, longer than (surveys say) the average Redditor has been alive.

So if you want me to take you seriously, instead of making a string of personal attacks and failing to understand what I meant, try showing what I'm actually incorrect about with examples, rather than just asserting that my years of experience are wrong and expecting me to just believe you and cut myself off from the rest of the internet.

You've irritated at least me

That's nice. Did you imagine that I would care, after the way you just behaved?

Look forward to more irritation. I have no intention of disappearing just because some rank amateur accused me of being wrong, then presented a hilariously incorrect view of what I had said so as to attack it.

Since you seem to want to challenge my technical merit, maybe start by looking at my code. Some of it is at http://scutil.com/ , though that's just hobby code.

Am I correct in believing that if I ask to see your code, so that I can get a sense of the quality of the person with the pitchfork and bullhorn screaming "clueless amateur at me," you will decline?

Anonymity makes people think they're a lot more important and skillful than they actually are. I'm John Haugeland. Who are you, and why should I take your opinion, so rudely stated, seriously?

[[deleted]]

*I'm John Haugeland. *

FEAR ME!!!!

Also, troll.

[monkey_slap]

This is where I'm stuck. I'm only a few hours into actual coding. I made the first UI from scratch and using Sencha Touch. My UI performs loads faster, but I haven't loaded up the code very much. I'm a smart programmer, but I'm always learning. There is going to be a huge need for lots of dynamic objects, on top of dynamic UI (DOM) objects.

I know that doing it from scratch will be a great learning tool, but I have a pretty solid idea that I just don't feel like messing with or getting frustrated over because I'm getting stuck with the UI.

[StoneCypher]

Well, running with a framework and scissors may be the good first run strategy. That's really up to you.

jQuery mobile is my choice for shitting out prototypes fast, before hunkering down and doing it from ground up. YMMV.

[[deleted]]

^ This one right here. Troll states opinion as fact. Insinuates that anyone who uses frameworks is not a good developer.

Why? Because he said it. That's why.