Re: i and mobile

LANSA has a product called Long Range that allows RPG/DDS or LANSA to run
on mobile devices. I know some customers that were part of the beta and
they are very happy with the product.

I use LANSA most every day as a developer/customer.

Jack

On Thu, Oct 2, 2014 at 11:14 AM, Pete Helgren <pete@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

(This again rejected for encoding errors last night...don't know why
that happens but here is a repost...)

Mike,

In my opinion, the best approach is a responsive mobile web app rather
than a native app but it really depends upon what you are delivering in
the app. Most business apps (inventory inquiry, sales data, customer
access) really don't use any native function at all so going to the
trouble of developing a native app for both iPhone and Androids would be
overkill. Plus you have the hassle of getting approval from Apple or
perhaps Google to deliver the app through their stores. A web app
eliminates that. You update your server and you are done.

If you need some native functions (Camera, Microphone, etc) then you'll
have to look at alternatives to web apps. Something like
PhoneGap/Cordova allows you to develop using HTML5 and CSS but then
deploy (compile, basically) to multiple platforms. You end up
maintaining a single code base with multiple deployment targets which
keeps the code simple. You will pay a performance penalty and you won't
get all of the native function without adding plugins but it can be
pretty easy to develop and deploy. Native development is costly and
time consuming and you have the deployment hassles to deal with. But
"true" native apps will be the most stable and will perform better.

There is a middle ground that is relatively new and that is seen in a
tool like Bridgeit (http://bridgeit.mobi/) this is actually the way I
think things will eventually end up in the mobile space. Basically you
write a web app that is served by your server but it uses a hybrid
application layer on the device that is platform specific and is
installed on demand when someone accesses your application. Bridgeit
currently has quite a ways to go before it has enough native
functionality across devices to be really useful, but it is getting
there. Eventually, I think mobile devices will have browsers that
support native function across devices in a standard way, much the way
browsers handle HTML5 standards. Web apps written to that standard will
hook into the native device functions in the browsers. My guess is that
such standards are already being considered. Eventually the idea of a
"native" app will go away, much like the "fat client" apps of the 90's
have disappeared.

All my mobile apps run on i, served by i and use data and programs on
i. I use PhoneGap/Cordova and most of my apps have little native
functionality so tend to the web app side of the divide. If you have
strong HTML5/CSS/JSON skills, writing a mobile web app, and even
deploying it native using PhoneGap/Cordova is a snap.

IMHO....

Pete Helgren
www.petesworkshop.com
GIAC Secure Software Programmer-Java


On 10/1/2014 8:02 PM, Mike Cunningham wrote:

I would be interesting in hearing from anyone who has IBM i running your
business and you are also into mobile app development or about to go there.
I would be interested in your approach (browser apps using HTML5, native
apps that are fully installed, hybrid with some parts installed and some
obtained real-time from back end server (IBM i or Windows). What tool(s)
you're using, are you doing it in house, did you retrain existing staff or
had to hire new to get the skills. I need to make a choice for our
direction soon. Most recent tool we look at was IBM Worklight. There are
so many options and choices in this arena, and its changing weekly, it
makes for a tough decision.

Thanks for any input

Mike Cunningham

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