tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post8132107243289394781..comments2024-02-19T19:53:01.688-08:00Comments on Cathode Tan: Why Doctorow Not Buying An iPad ... Is Not NewsJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04260309971152360156noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post-48196667694247157042010-04-06T08:54:23.211-07:002010-04-06T08:54:23.211-07:00Indeed - Firebug > Safari Inspector > (barel...Indeed - Firebug > Safari Inspector > (barely) Chrome Inspector. Rumor mill has it that Chrome is getting a Firebug extension, but I'm not holding my breath. I do still rely on Firebug to untangle some scenarios.<br /><br />The HTML5 cache offers a hack backwards kind of filesystem - add PNG to web project, add to manifest, point browser and it's stored. But you're right, it's not even nearly the same as just juggling resources around and currently has curious notions of handling/updating elements.<br /><br />I don't think web apps are equivalent to native apps in many ways, but I do see a lot of iPhone apps which probably could have been developed more quickly, more stable and more cross platform had they been. But I don't plan on creating that awesome Defender clone I was once considered in it :) Not yet at least...Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04260309971152360156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post-21600376232704702882010-04-06T08:41:35.273-07:002010-04-06T08:41:35.273-07:00I can use the Android emulator as well, but these ...I can use the Android emulator as well, but these days anything less than Firebug just feels primitive. My experience with Webkit's Inspector (via Chrome) is that it's better than IE, but it's not quite there.<br /><br />DB storage is nice to finally have on devices, but it's helpful to be able to drop .json or .png files into a directory and access them during testing. I don't think it's really possible to throw away the filesystem yet, at least for developers (and quite possibly for users--non-heirarchical storage didn't scale well on classic PalmOS, if I remember correctly).<br /><br />I think this is a fine incentive, however, for something like Bespin to really kick into high gear. People talk a good game about HTML5 web applications being just as good as their native counterparts, but have we reached the point where we can bootstrap a web application from itself? That'd be very cool.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08947215225025651626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post-35669088222750009612010-04-06T08:21:04.829-07:002010-04-06T08:21:04.829-07:00On OS X you can get access to the Alpine emulator ...On OS X you can get access to the Alpine emulator - which offers a decent broad stroke of how the iPhone will handle it. And Mobile Safari has a javascript error log, but it is pretty basic (and no inspector).<br /><br />But I forego the emulator these days. I cross-test in Safari and Chrome, and then test on the phone with the developer log on.<br /><br />And I understand why they don't offer real filesystem access, but you do have a decent DB implementation in 5 these days. I'm currently using it for a robust offline JSON storage functionality which allows for nearly seamless online to offline functionality.Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04260309971152360156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9611352.post-74782941661253952732010-04-06T08:15:12.348-07:002010-04-06T08:15:12.348-07:00Good points. I can only add that it would be nice ...Good points. I can only add that it would be nice if A) Mobile Webkit (any of its variations, including Android) offered an inspector and a console, and B) there were access to the file system. As it is, you can write applications via the browser for these platforms, but you still can't actually do it on the device, and debugging web apps on the device really sucks.<br /><br />As someone who had an actual C compiler on his Palm III (and wrote working code with it), I miss the days when you could write and run on the go. I always hoped that the adoption of .NET on Windows CE would mean that you could do it there, but I don't think it ever came true. And on Android, there's shell scripting and the ability to write web apps on the device, but no way (at this time) to compile to binaries.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08947215225025651626noreply@blogger.com