How does one get started with web development for mobile devices (including phon

Question

How does one get started with web development for mobile devices (including phones)? I know some old good HTML & JS, but I'm wondering what the modern way is.

To make it concrete, I need to implement a client for an enterprise app. Think of a login-protected dashboard for managers.

Given that I only have basic knowledge and have never implemented such applications, what do I need to take into account when choosing platform and technology?

Shall I go for Android / iPhone, or HTML & JS, or HTML5? What are the general pros and cons that I need to consider?

How can I test an Android app on desktop without using a phone?

Same question about testing HTML/JS or HTML5 (the mobile version needs to be different from desktop, and I would like to see it exactly as if it was a phone).

What resources (preferably online) do you recommend for learning the rudiments? I mean especially HTML & JS: What does the site need to be like to work great on smartphones (and not only on desktops)? I mean possible UI glitches, limited support for some HTML/JS features, page size, and whatever other important details are there.

Explanation / Answer

If this is an enterprise app targeted at a segment of the enterprise (CxO ?) - find out what phone devices they use. They could well be issued with BlackBerries - find out what types.

Install the Android SDK and use the emulator that comes with it.

I think HTML5/JS (don't forget jQuery) would be the most flexible, but you should try to avoid doing UI and other stuff yourself and elevate existing libraries and frameworks.

Check out iUI for a simple library mimicking iPhone native UI. More complex and hard to learn, but more advanced library Sencha (AFAIU it can generate native-looking UI for different platforms). There are also solutions like rhomobile where you write your app in ruby and they generate your app with embedded web server in it.

PhoneGap is probably the only decent complementary framework to work with hardware functions from HTML5 apps. Also you can check out AppMobi for app distribution and updates management. ApiGee if your app needs to talk to other webservices.

For native apps (not HTML-based) check out CoronaSDK.

Lots of info, I know. But you will save dev time by doing research and reusing libraries.

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