Since the I-Phone’s release, the “general public” has been switched on to mobile computing in a new way. Previously expensive, high end, “smart phones”/mobile-devices were marketed to business users and geeks. Now the landscape has changed: devices are springing up from many manufacturers and Apple’s App Store model is popular across the board.
It seems logical that, as these devices become more widely used, the way users interact with web services will incorporate the mobile platform as a core method of interaction.
Next time I’m building a new service that needs to be accessible on multiple platforms I think it would make sense to build an API before a website. Until recently I’ve planned projects around browser based distribution, now the browser may become less dominant.
Having useful services open to many developers over an API will aid proliferation of the tool. Developers would be free to provide the applications for the various platforms (as Twitter have done, I suppose that’s why the next step on from “hello world” is becoming the Twitter client on many SDK tutorials). I know this is nothing new, but as mobile becomes more embedded into daily life: the way developers build services on the web will need to shift to accommodate it.
This isn’t really a “proper post” more of a stream of consciousness; I’m about to make the shift from Web Developer to Mobile Developer and am very excited about the new possibilities.
Summer is here, and in a few days I’m off on holiday. Aside from the eating, drinking, sleeping, sight-seeing and reading: it may be a good chance to hone my problem solving and Python skills.
I’ll be travelling light, taking in the east coast of Spain. So, any coding has to be done in the most portable/light-weight fashion.
Here is my pocket sized kit list for an ultra-portable programming environment:
This list is weighted towards to those of you with Symbian phones, but most smart phones have some sort of access to a programming language.
The one of the most appealing aspects of this kit: it is super cheap. The phone was “free” on a 1 year £25 p/m contract, the O’Reilly Book is about £6, pen and notebook another three quid: that’s a cheap way to learn some valuable skills.
I’m sure there are a ton of alternative setups (Android, Windows Mobile, Palm, I-Phone?). A bare minimum set of requirements could be: a text editor and a web browser capable of parsing JavaScript (this may be possible on not so “smart phones”).
If you’re using an alternative setup, or have another way to program on the move, please add it to the comments.
