Using JavaScript and CSS to write true native-quality mobile applications is an appealing, but elusive, goal. The NativeScript mobile framework provides a uniquely-powerful solution that simplifies the web-to- mobile divide without compromising features, performance, or design. With NativeScript, you write your apps in standard JavaScript and CSS. However, rather than translating JavaScript into lookalike elements, NativeScript directly calls the native platform components, so that your apps look exactly as iOS and Android intended. You can directly manipulate the native APIs with your JavaScript code, and it’s a snap to write custom plug-ins to extend the NativeScript feature set.
NativeScript in Action teaches readers who know JavaScript and CSS how to create native iOS and Android apps using NativeScript. You’ll begin learning how mobile applications differ from web applications, and discover how NativeScript bridges the gap. Then, by following progressively more complex and interesting examples, you’ll develop apps in JavaScript that will run natively on your mobile platforms. Along the way, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the iOS and Android SDKs to write beautiful native apps, master mobile dev best practices, and learn countless NativeScript tips and techniques that will make you instantly more productive.
Part 1: The basics
1. Why NativeScript
1.1. Introducing NativeScript
1.2. What You Will Learn in This Book
1.3. What NativeScript Means to Mobile Development
1.3.1. Different Types of Mobile Apps
1.3.2. Why NativeScript is Important
1.3.3. What types of apps can be built with NativeScript
1.4. How NativeScript Works
1.5. Summary
2. Your first app
2.1. Hello world
2.1.1. NativeScript CLI
2.1.2. Using the CLI to scaffold your project
2.1.3. Initial platform and development tools
2.1.4. Adding and removing platforms
2.1.5. Running your app in an emulator
2.2. NativeScript apps
2.2.1. The NativeScript runtime
2.2.2. JavaScript virtual machines
2.2.3. JavaScript virtual machines in NativeScript
2.3. Establishing your development workflow
2.3.1. Building NativeScript apps
2.3.2. Livesync
2.4. Summary
2.5. Exercise
2.6. Solutions
3. Anatomy of a NativeScript app
3.1. Exploring the structure of a NativeScript app
3.1.1. The root application folder and files
3.1.2. The node_modules folder
3.1.3. The platforms folder
3.1.4. The app folder
3.2. Understanding app startup
3.3. Understanding NativeScript conventions
3.3.1. File-naming conventions and pages
3.3.2. Platform-specific conventions
3.3.3. Screen size conventions
3.3.4. Screen orientation conventions
3.4. Style guide and app organization
3.5. Summary
3.6. Exercise
3.7. Solutions
Part 2: Structuring your app
4. Pages and navigation
4.1. Creating a multi-page app
4.1.1. Creating the Home page
4.1.2. Adding content to the Home page
4.2. Creating another app page
4.2.1. Creating the About page
4.3. Navigating between app pages
4.3.1. Adding a button to the Home page
4.3.2. Button events
4.3.3. Applying transitions to page navigation
4.4. Summary
4.5. Exercise
4.6. Solutions
5. Understanding the basics of app layouts
5.1. Understanding NativeScript layouts
5.1.1. Layouts and screen pixels
5.2. Stack Layout
5.2.1. Adding content to the Tekmo app using Stack Layouts
5.2.2. Scrolling pages
5.2.3. Using textboxes and providing feedback to users
5.3. Summary
5.4. Exercise
5.5. Solutions
6. Using advanced layouts
6.1. Introducing the grid layout
6.2. Adding content to a grid layout
6.2.1. Adding a single UI component to a grid cell
6.2.2. Adding multiple UI elements to a grid cell
6.2.3. Spanning UI elements across multiple rows and columns
6.3. Controlling grid layout rows and columns
6.3.1. Understanding percentage sizing in the Tekmo app
6.3.2. Using automatic sizing for rows and columns
6.3.3. Additional layout containers
6.4. Summary
6.5. Exercise
6.6. Solutions
7. Styling NativeScript apps
Part 3: Refining your app
8. Working with data
9. Native hardware
10. Advanced user interface techniques
11. Plugins
Part 4: Interacting with mobile devices
12. Native devices
13. Adding gestures into your app
14. Using Angular 2 with NativeScript
Appendixes
Appendix A: Setup tips
Appendix B: Android emulator tips
Appendix C: Supported cascading style sheets
Appendix D: Common events
Appendix E: UI widgets reference
What's inside
- Create cross-platform designs that look and run like platform-native apps
- iOS and Android-specific UI practices
- Single and multi-page apps
- Several fully-functioning reference applications in GitHub
- MEAP combo $44.99 pBook + eBook
- MEAP eBook $35.99 pdf + ePub + kindle
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