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to the code: Rebecca Murphey, Remy Sharp, Fil Maj, Alex Sexton, Joe McCann, and
many others. So, point being, sometimes it helps to judge a project's value by who the
contributors and founders are opposed to how many followers it has (
Figure 3-18
).
Table 3-3
outlines its stats.
Figure 3-18. xui github stats, June 2012
Table 3-3. xui
Platform support
WebKit, IE Mobile, BlackBerry
License
MIT
Programming model
Clean, familiar (jQuery-like), chaining syntax; plug-ins support
Wrapped or polyfilled HTML5 APIs
None
100% JavaScript Driven
If you prefer to create your user interface programmatically, without touching much
markup, then the 100% JavaScript-driven approach may be your best option. Out of this
approach, Sencha Touch, Wink Toolkit, and The-M-Project are three of the top projects.
Sencha Touch
An HTML/CSS3/JavaScript framework,
Sencha Touch
offers a variety of native-style
widgets, flexible theming via SASS/Compass, data-feature-like models, stores, and
proxies. Enhanced touch events and a strong data model give this framework a bit of an
enterprise edge without a ton of coverage across devices (see
Table 3-4
). Although not
in a github repository, Sencha Touch currently has around 800 followers on Twitter. (See
If you choose Sencha Touch, be aware it is a specific way of life for mobile developers.
Much like GWT or JSF, you are tied to a specific development model for creating user
interfaces. In jQTouch or jQuery Mobile, you write specially structured HTML. When
it loads, the library reconfigures the page and turns your regular links into AJAX-based
animated ones. With Sencha, you basically don't write HTML at all, but instead, you
build your UI and app with JavaScript, so be prepared for a learning curve.
Table 3-4. Sencha Touch
Platform support
Android, iOS, and BlackBerry (from Sencha 1.1)
License
GPLv3, Limited Touch Commercial License
Programming model
Very little HTML; relies on writing, subclassing, and instantiating JavaScript objects
Wrapped or polyfilled HTML5 APIs
Geolocation, Web Storage
