PhoneGap Build —— Developing Cross Platform Mobile Applications in the Cloud

I chose this book because I wanted something focused solely on "BUILD" the cloud based service from PhoneGap. While not a bad book, I chose poorly. Needs the 'look inside' feature!!! Disclaimer: I ended up skimming about half the book because I had already used traditional PhoneGap via Xcode plugin, as well as the various sensors on the phone and I only develop for iOS really. I was exclusively interested in PhoneGap Build which is a cloud based service that by-passes much of the need for Xcode and other dev tools. I also skimmed sections dealing with features I wasn't interested in. So take the review for what it is... really a review of half a book. I just wanted a solid data driven app development path using Build, some database tools, and a text editor. Something to show me how quick and easy it really was. And I wanted a book to spell it out for me because I am tired of giving myself migraines. Maybe I was unrealistic. I'm kinda luke-warm on it overall but can see its value in some settings. Pros: The author explains things well. I was worried about spending $55 on a book to find that the writing style or communication difficult to understand. I was happy to find that this was not a problem. A lot of subjects are covered that I would have found very informative when I was first starting out with app development. Now, its kind of a reference book for me I guess. It does go into some of the aspects of data management but not deep enough in my opinion. I would have also liked to see different data scenarios; like interacting with cloud data services. It does do some physical web server with Sencha touch but there's one paragraph on OS X and a couple pages on IIS so, again, by this time I was kind of worn out on doing the extra leg work (OS X user). I'd say its a great book for someone who is newish to Android app dev. Cons: Its almost exclusively deals with Android in mind. I'd find many dead ends as there were references to android based Java Activity Files that I wasn't finding reference to in my iOS environment. I'll spend time later on tweaking it so it works for me but I'll probably have to pull it into Xcode (my comfort zone) to do it, and the whole point starting out was to not have to do that. So a little extra explanation on "if you are developing for iOS do this instead..." would have gotten an additional star from my rating. Its pretty expensive for a book that didn't let you peek inside first. A gamble. I'd much rather have seen a paper cover slimmed down version with more focus on the subject at hand. And a peek at the table of contents. Conflicted: I'm mostly conflicted about the overall content. The vast majority of the book is not about PhoneGap BUILD. Nor is it much about multi platform, but it mentions some info and features for each platform. The subjects it covers are nice (like a large tutorial on jquery mobile that integrates well with the subject) and I felt it was a nice refresher for me. So I liked that and found it useful, but on the flip side, I would have just bought a jquery mobile book in that event. If someone else does a review that has actually read the whole thing cover to cover, you should probably listen to them instead but those were my thoughts.

I really liked this book. this my first time that I develop for smart devices as a hybrid app. I would've gave it five starts but 'unfortunately' the phonegap build support for iOS7 was at 3.1 and this book was mainly using 2.9 or older version. the 3x has many changes in its configurations that made it almost a new framework for me.on chapter 5, getting to read the contacts was a nightmare. it is not the author's fault, it is a combinations of new additions and a buggy process to add the contacts plugin in phonegap 3.1. I highly recommend getting this book. the author made it so simple to read and understand for so much information to grasp. he was even kind enough to send me the link to the source code: [...] to configure your environment to work on 3.1 version instead of [really] old 2x, you may want to follow these steps: -Ensure that you have NodeJS installed:[...] -On the command prompt: >npm install -g phonegap@3.1 <================ build supports up to 3.1 as of [5/2/14] >npm install -g phonegap <================== default is the latest >phonegap create my-app >cd my-app my-app >phonegap run android <============== performs both the build, install and run operations in one line >[verify you have 'android platform is created] >C:\my-app\platforms\android >[eclipse-ADT] >click on new 'Android' project >select 'Android Project from Existing Code' >root dir: C:\my-app\platforms\android >select project to import 'HelloWorld' >make sure 'copy project into workspace is [un-checked] >right-click on lib\cordova-3.1.0.jar to 'build path'.. add it to the classpath for chapter5, I ran into lots of problems because I had to upgrade to phonegap 3.1 in additon to file phonegap.js was missing a proxy configurations: >cd my-app my-app >phonegap local plugin add [...] my-app >phonegap build android >-if you get some type of 'proxy' file not found add the following to phonegap.js file, use the last commemnted line as a mark on where to add: //add the following to phonegap.js to support contacts //got it from phonegap.js [3.4] //zak [5/2/2014]============================= // // file: src/common/exec/proxy.js define("cordova/exec/proxy", function(require, exports, module) { // internal map of proxy function var CommandProxyMap = {}; module.exports = { // example: cordova.commandProxy.add("Accelerometer",{getCurrentAcceleration: function(successCallback, errorCallback, options) {...},...); add:function(id,proxyObj) { console.log("adding proxy for " + id); CommandProxyMap[id] = proxyObj; return proxyObj; }, // cordova.commandProxy.remove("Accelerometer"); remove:function(id) { var proxy = CommandProxyMap[id]; delete CommandProxyMap[id]; CommandProxyMap[id] = null; return proxy; }, get:function(service,action) { return ( CommandProxyMap[service] ? CommandProxyMap[service][action] : null ); } }; }); //zak [5/2/2014]============================= // file: src/common/init.js >you may need to change the index.html file to match your book example and change index.js to: var app = {}: anyway. I hope this really helps and good luck. -Zak

I have never rated a book before because ,so far, I have been able to find some value added in those I have purchased even if they did not fully met my expectations. But this book is different. The title is misleading as it has only one, out of the 9 chapters, that relates to the Phonegap Build Service. The Phonegap Build Service allows to create apps for various platforms without the hastle of installing SDKs for each one but this book dedicates at least two chapters to the installation/use of such SDKs as well as chapters dedicated to libraries as Sencha Touch and JQuery Mobile that, though may be helpful, are not needed to build apps and of course not needed by the Phonegap Build Service. The API plugins coverage is very poor. All the information contained in this book may be found on the Internet easily and free, starting by both Phonegap and Phonegap Build websites and their forums. Potential customers may benefit from being able to see the contents before purchasing, so Amazon do your customers a favor and add the look inside feature. Buying this book was a compete waste of money and I do not recommend it.

I chose this book because I wanted something focused solely on "BUILD" the cloud based service from PhoneGap. While not a bad book, I chose poorly. Needs the 'look inside' feature!!! Disclaimer: I ended up skimming about half the book because I had already used traditional PhoneGap via Xcode plugin, as well as the various sensors on the phone and I only develop for iOS really. I was exclusively interested in PhoneGap Build which is a cloud based service that by-passes much of the need for Xcode and other dev tools. I also skimmed sections dealing with features I wasn't interested in. So take the review for what it is... really a review of half a book. I just wanted a solid data driven app development path using Build, some database tools, and a text editor. Something to show me how quick and easy it really was. And I wanted a book to spell it out for me because I am tired of giving myself migraines. Maybe I was unrealistic. I'm kinda luke-warm on it overall but can see its value in some settings. Pros: The author explains things well. I was worried about spending $55 on a book to find that the writing style or communication difficult to understand. I was happy to find that this was not a problem. A lot of subjects are covered that I would have found very informative when I was first starting out with app development. Now, its kind of a reference book for me I guess. It does go into some of the aspects of data management but not deep enough in my opinion. I would have also liked to see different data scenarios; like interacting with cloud data services. It does do some physical web server with Sencha touch but there's one paragraph on OS X and a couple pages on IIS so, again, by this time I was kind of worn out on doing the extra leg work (OS X user). I'd say its a great book for someone who is newish to Android app dev. Cons: Its almost exclusively deals with Android in mind. I'd find many dead ends as there were references to android based Java Activity Files that I wasn't finding reference to in my iOS environment. I'll spend time later on tweaking it so it works for me but I'll probably have to pull it into Xcode (my comfort zone) to do it, and the whole point starting out was to not have to do that. So a little extra explanation on "if you are developing for iOS do this instead..." would have gotten an additional star from my rating. Its pretty expensive for a book that didn't let you peek inside first. A gamble. I'd much rather have seen a paper cover slimmed down version with more focus on the subject at hand. And a peek at the table of contents. Conflicted: I'm mostly conflicted about the overall content. The vast majority of the book is not about PhoneGap BUILD. Nor is it much about multi platform, but it mentions some info and features for each platform. The subjects it covers are nice (like a large tutorial on jquery mobile that integrates well with the subject) and I felt it was a nice refresher for me. So I liked that and found it useful, but on the flip side, I would have just bought a jquery mobile book in that event. If someone else does a review that has actually read the whole thing cover to cover, you should probably listen to them instead but those were my thoughts.

I really liked this book. this my first time that I develop for smart devices as a hybrid app. I would've gave it five starts but 'unfortunately' the phonegap build support for iOS7 was at 3.1 and this book was mainly using 2.9 or older version. the 3x has many changes in its configurations that made it almost a new framework for me.on chapter 5, getting to read the contacts was a nightmare. it is not the author's fault, it is a combinations of new additions and a buggy process to add the contacts plugin in phonegap 3.1. I highly recommend getting this book. the author made it so simple to read and understand for so much information to grasp. he was even kind enough to send me the link to the source code: [...] to configure your environment to work on 3.1 version instead of [really] old 2x, you may want to follow these steps: -Ensure that you have NodeJS installed:[...] -On the command prompt: >npm install -g phonegap@3.1 <================ build supports up to 3.1 as of [5/2/14] >npm install -g phonegap <================== default is the latest >phonegap create my-app >cd my-app my-app >phonegap run android <============== performs both the build, install and run operations in one line >[verify you have 'android platform is created] >C:\my-app\platforms\android >[eclipse-ADT] >click on new 'Android' project >select 'Android Project from Existing Code' >root dir: C:\my-app\platforms\android >select project to import 'HelloWorld' >make sure 'copy project into workspace is [un-checked] >right-click on lib\cordova-3.1.0.jar to 'build path'.. add it to the classpath for chapter5, I ran into lots of problems because I had to upgrade to phonegap 3.1 in additon to file phonegap.js was missing a proxy configurations: >cd my-app my-app >phonegap local plugin add [...] my-app >phonegap build android >-if you get some type of 'proxy' file not found add the following to phonegap.js file, use the last commemnted line as a mark on where to add: //add the following to phonegap.js to support contacts //got it from phonegap.js [3.4] //zak [5/2/2014]============================= // // file: src/common/exec/proxy.js define("cordova/exec/proxy", function(require, exports, module) { // internal map of proxy function var CommandProxyMap = {}; module.exports = { // example: cordova.commandProxy.add("Accelerometer",{getCurrentAcceleration: function(successCallback, errorCallback, options) {...},...); add:function(id,proxyObj) { console.log("adding proxy for " + id); CommandProxyMap[id] = proxyObj; return proxyObj; }, // cordova.commandProxy.remove("Accelerometer"); remove:function(id) { var proxy = CommandProxyMap[id]; delete CommandProxyMap[id]; CommandProxyMap[id] = null; return proxy; }, get:function(service,action) { return ( CommandProxyMap[service] ? CommandProxyMap[service][action] : null ); } }; }); //zak [5/2/2014]============================= // file: src/common/init.js >you may need to change the index.html file to match your book example and change index.js to: var app = {}: anyway. I hope this really helps and good luck. -Zak

I have never rated a book before because ,so far, I have been able to find some value added in those I have purchased even if they did not fully met my expectations. But this book is different. The title is misleading as it has only one, out of the 9 chapters, that relates to the Phonegap Build Service. The Phonegap Build Service allows to create apps for various platforms without the hastle of installing SDKs for each one but this book dedicates at least two chapters to the installation/use of such SDKs as well as chapters dedicated to libraries as Sencha Touch and JQuery Mobile that, though may be helpful, are not needed to build apps and of course not needed by the Phonegap Build Service. The API plugins coverage is very poor. All the information contained in this book may be found on the Internet easily and free, starting by both Phonegap and Phonegap Build websites and their forums. Potential customers may benefit from being able to see the contents before purchasing, so Amazon do your customers a favor and add the look inside feature. Buying this book was a compete waste of money and I do not recommend it.