When I talk to college or high school students about my job as a software developer, I often encounter the question “how do I get started creating apps?” As a software guy, I want to encourage students to become makers. I love the craft of making software and building apps. Therefore, I wanted to share some information about a tool that will provide a gentle introduction to building mobile applications for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
PhoneGap is a free tool that allows you to create simple mobile applications using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. You should check out this tool for the following reasons:
- Using PhoneGap Build, you can build apps using one step without owning a Mac or other expensive programming tools.
- A friend of mine is building a small mobile phone game using Canvas and JavaScript. It’s amazing that this works!
- As you grow in your HTML and JavaScript skills, you can use more advanced features of your mobile platform like the accelerometer, camera, geolocation and more.
- You can build apps like these – http://phonegap.com/app/
- I believe in taking baby steps in life. While it would be cool to start learning Java and Objective C to build mobile apps, PhoneGap helps you start the learning process using tools that are simple and engaging.
- If you start investing time in learning PhoneGap, you’re building skills to become a web developer too. The demand for these skills is only increasing.
If you don’t know HTML, JavaScript, or CSS, no problem! There are fun places to get started learning.
HTML/CSS
- CodeAcademy
- W3Schools.com
- Search on YouTube!
JavaScript
- CodeAcademy
- Eloquent JavaScript – Nice free book on writing JavaScript
- Khan Academy for computer science – https://www.khanacademy.org/cs
How do you get started with PhoneGap Build?
Here’s a quick video giving you an overview of how PhoneGap Build works from LearnToProgram.tv . In future blog posts, I hope to provide more teaching regarding the design process of building a mobile app, getting started with HTML5 and JavaScript, and more.
Reference Links:
What kind of app would you like to create? We would love to hear from you!! Leave a comment and let us know how we can help you.
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- 5 reasons to love Khan academy for computer science
Photo taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/witer/4908036684/sizes/m/in/photostream/