IBM DeveloperWorks recently published an article by Joe Lennon titled Get started with Dojo Mobile 1.7, in which he does a good job of explaining the new mobile features in Dojo 1.7. Using Dojo is a great way to develop once for multiple browser support; the Mobile features extend this to iOS, Android and BlackBerry and other WebKit enabled devices. It does degrade gracefully to other devices that don’t support WebKit.
Hello World from Dojo Mobile
Here are some of the key features of Joe points out in his article.:
- Lightweight loading of widgets due to the Dojo Mobile parser
- CSS3 animations and transitions for native-like application experience on high-end iOS and Android devices
- Themes included for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry look-and-feels.
- Compatibility with non-CSS3-compatible devices and browsers
- Full declarative syntax allows for easy learning curve
- A large suite of UI widgets and components, providing a wide variety of options for mobile-friendly interfaces
What about native applications?
No, Dojo Mobile does not create native applications. But, you can use PhoneGap to build native applications from your Dojo Mobile enabled application. Joe does a good job of explaining how to build a native application using PhoneGap and the Dojo Mobile features.
The nice people at dojotoolkit.org have built a nice showcase site to display all the nice features that Dojo Mobile has to offer. You can view the showcase on a regular browser or on you phone.
