I think one of the bigger problem is the lack of really good solid non-hackish and up-to-date examples.
Examples that can be used as both good tutorials and starting points for new web apps. Other platforms usually ship with template projects. For example when I want to create a list based (master/detail) app on iOS I select that template and 5 seconds later I have something decent running. Of course there are lots of blanks to fill in but it is a real blessing to not have to start with a completely empty project directory. How about this: Digital Ocean, a large VPS provider, recently started a program where they give people in their community $50 (or Digital Ocean credit) when they write a good tutorial. This was hugely successful ... there are now dozens and dozens of tutorials like 'how to setup a mail server' or 'how to host a ruby app on your VPS'. Maybe we should do something similar. Tell people, we want solid examples (article + code) of how to write (Firefox OS) web apps, how to use our Web APIs, how to use interesting frameworks on Firefox OS. We could even steer it in the right direction by making a list of preferred articles and putting a bounty on those. :-) S. ----- Original Message ----- > Hello everyone! > > For developers, building apps on the Web platform can pose a > fragmentation problem: For every development concern, there are often a > dozen or more possible options to consider, without clear pros or cons. > Web developers can feel intimidated not simply by their choices, but by > how _similar_ their choices are. > > While this openness and community is a virtue, it leads to "choice > paralysis" and the wrong impression that the Web is a harder platform to > develop for than more restrictive alternatives. > > However, by making strong, informed recommendations to developers, we > can help turn the variety of development tools available on the Web from > a daunting proposition into an empowering one. > > A great example of this is the significant attention[1] tofumatt's > localForage[2] project has received. It provides a cross-platform, > asynchronous storage library that "just works". With its straightforward > API, it _removes_ an entire monotonous development choice for > developers. The community honored this drastic simplification with > almost 2000(!) "stars" on github in just a few days. > > Furthermore, we have a responsibility to our developers to ensure that > certain frameworks, libraries, etc., have been tested and work well with > our own and (eventually) other target platforms. > > Our developer-facing groups (Apps Engineering, Developer Relations and > Developer Tools in particular) are collaborating to expand this effort > systematically across the various parts of the development experience. > > > Some projects that are already in flight include: > > - web-components-based (featuring Brick) app templates that work out of > the box > - additional such components for hard, yet common problems such as > scrolling of large lists > - Mozilla-endorsed framework and tool chain for apps > - using the Firefox App Manager to start a new project from a template > and allow developing on it right then and there, no other tools needed > - submitting an app straight to the Marketplace from the App Manager > - an updated "MDN Apps Zone" experience focusing on developer concerns > and our materials and recommendations for each case > > > If this whetted your appetite, great! 2014 is an exciting year to be an > apps developer! All this and more is coming--step by step--to a > developer experience near you. > > If you have any question or comments, speak up, or step by #apps on IRC! > > Thanks, > Fred Wenzel > > > [1] https://hacks.mozilla.org/2014/02/localforage-offline-storage-improved/ > [2] https://github.com/mozilla/localForage > _______________________________________________ > dev-gaia mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-gaia > _______________________________________________ dev-webapps mailing list [email protected] https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-webapps
