HTML5 App Development Is Moving Us Closer To A Universal Platform

With cross-platform html5 app development, Linux developers are beginning to standardize the way they create apps.

With cross-platform HTML5 app development taking the programming world by storm, Linux developers are beginning to move away from creating their own operating systems from scratch. Rather than using valuable time and money to create unique operating systems, programmers are simply building upon existing frameworks like Android and Tizen. Because HTML5 is supported by most web browsers and works on almost all handheld devices, it is helping to standardize the app development world. At the same time, Qt is rising in popularity for mobile handheld devices and can work simultaneously with HTML5.

Along with the proliferation of mobile and touchscreen devices, embedded Linux developers have shifted away from building their own operating systems from scratch. Instead they’ve been moving over the past few years toward frameworks such as the Yocto Project, Tizen or Android.

“We build upon existing frameworks and just extend with our hardware abstraction and with an application for user interaction,” said Jan-Simon Moeller, a Linux Foundation trainer in embedded Linux.

Standardization has now also moved up to the application layer as developers adopt tools that simplify and speed UI creation. Instead of building from scratch with Java, Objective C or C++, developers build on top of a stack of pre-defined software that limits the need to rewrite the application’s common functionality.

The holy grail is an application framework that works across all devices and platforms, Moeller said.

“Traditional embedded development typically didn’t have such nice UIs,” Moeller said. “Now every device needs a display and needs a nice UI so (standardization) is a hot topic.” Click this link to finish reading HTML5 and Qt, Two Popular Tools for Embedded Linux Application Development.

Although neither Qt or HTML5 are able to work across all platforms and devices, developers believe HTML5 is getting us closer to that reality. Read more about HTML5 and Qt in this article from The Linux Foundation.

Author: Jay Fisher

I'm a product guy focused on building great consumer experiences. Gathering quick feedback and building internal consensus by iteratively improving on minimally viable products. My background is in consumer products and finance, I greatly enjoy tackling the challenges involved in financial services and technical product management I love making new professional acquaintances. Reach out (public@jayfisher.info) if you want to talk technology, business, product management, or agile. View all posts by Jay Fisher