[caption id="attachment_19508" align="alignright" width="160"] Copyright (c) Pivotal Labs[/caption]I recently started using Jasmine to write my JavaScript tests. I really like it - it made writing tests actually kind of fun. I especially love that you can write tests with mocks in a similar manner as you would using Mockito in the Java world. A mock is basically a lightweight object that imitates the API and (to...
Read MoreEver since the release of Internet Explorer 9 Microsoft has put a very noticeable effort into catching up to other browser (specifically Chrome and Firefox) in terms of compatibility and performance. The results haven't been half-bad, especially considering they added HTML5, CSS3 and SVG support seemingly overnight. Of course, MS easily has the resources to do such a thing - and then pay for a...
Read MoreOne of the bigger changes in the RAP 2.0 API is the introduction of client services. These are features that interact with the client, but aren't directly related to the widget toolkit. Since there are now multiple types of clients that can be connected (mainly our default WebClient, Tabris for iOS and Tabris for Android), as well as different environments (browser, OS version, hardware), not...
Read MoreOverall, mobile browsers are an appealing alternative to native applications: They support most modern web standards like HTML5 and CSS3, and you don't have to set up and learn using multiple SDKs. The technical limitations that do exist will hopefully get fewer as time goes on (or get patched otherwise), while performance and stability will improve. Sure, native apps will always have some advantages, but...
Read MoreI love Android, but its default browser is terrible. For relatively simple, static websites it's okay, but i'm talking about complex HTML(5)/JavaScript applications here. And while Safari for iOs is considerably faster, it's has almost as many quirks and bugs. A great alternative to native apps or Flash this ain't (yet). My frustration comes from one specific topic I had to deal with, and that's scrolling...
Read MoreIndustry experts have predicted that mobile computing is going to have a huge impact on the software industry. I agree. That’s why we asked ourselves if OSGi, RAP and Eclipse RT can help overcome some of the challenges in mobile app development. Some of the most common problems involved in mobile development include dealing with multi-platform, security and maturity of the available platforms. But does multi-platform...
Read MoreConsider this: I measured the time needed to create 200 Buttons in RAP 1.4 and RAP 1.5M3, and it shows a considerable performance boost (at least for the browsers i tested). One reason for this is that we changed from quirksmode to standard rendering in IE9, which among other things, finally allowes us to use its new HTML5-features (in this case SVG and CSS3). I expect...
Read MoreRAP already offers advanced styling features including customizable cross-browser gradients, rounded borders and animations. We now complete this feature set by introducing advanced, configurable shadows, giving your RAP application a modern, subtle 3D-look. Unlike other frameworks, RAP does not rely on pre-rendered images to create those effects. Instead it does all the rendering itself based on CSS declarations, using multiple browser-native technologies for drawing. Up until...
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