Building Effective and Rapid Applications with IBM MobileFirst Platform.

1. © 2015 IBM Corporation
Building Effective
Applications with the IBM
MobileFirst Platform
Andrew Ferrier
andrew.ferrier@uk.ibm.com
Technical Lead, IBM Cloud Lab
Services EMEA

2. Agenda
• Review of IBM MobileFirst Platform
• Tips:
• #1: Choose your client-side architecture wisely
• #2: If you’re going hybrid, think about your tools
• #3: Do Continuous Integration
• #4: External properties for environment promotion
• #5: Think about deployment to phones
• #6: Consider your tests
• #7: Consider adapter versioning
• Further Learning
1

3. What is MobileFirst Platform?
Mobile Enterprise Application Platform =
A platform for construction of hybrid and
native mobile applications, along with
supporting mobile backend services such as
service adapters, unified push
notifications, a unified security and
authentication framework, operational
analytics, and so on.
2

4. 3

5. 4

6. JMS Queue /
Topic
Web / RESTfil
service
DB
HTTP (REST, SOAP)
SQL JMS
HTTP (CAST IRON)
JSON
Adaptors
MobileFirst
SERVER
Cloud
Service
WindowsAndroid Blackberry
Apple
Adapters

7. Tip
#1:
Choose
your
client-­‐side
architecture
wisely

8. 3
different
ways
to
write
the
client-­‐side…
(we’re
not
considering
Windows
Mobile,
Blackberry)
NaFve
(aka
NaFve
API)
Xamarin
HTML5
(aka
Hybrid)

9. Hybrid
• (aka
Web,
Cordova,
etc.)
• Core
skills:
HTML,
CSS,
JS,
and
a
JS
toolkit
8
MFP Studio
Xcode
Android Studio
HTML CSS JS
Framework / Toolkit
Your App
MFP CLI

10. • Apache
Cordova
-­‐
hSp://cordova.apache.org/
• Previously
known
as
PhoneGap
• Provides
a
wrapper
around
web
content
to
make
it
appear
as
a
naFve
app
• Also
provides
access
to
device
APIs
Cordova enables Hybrid

11. JS
Toolkits
• AngularJS + Ionic
• Dojo Mobile
• jQuery + jQuery Mobile
• Sencha Touch
• Many many others…

12. • ‘What
all
the
cool
kids
are
using’
• Maintained
by
• Focus
Areas:
• One-­‐page
applicaFons
• MVC
–
strong
data
binding
capabiliFes
• Not
specifically
focused
on
mobile
applicaFons,
so…

13. • AngularJS
+
Ionic
is
a
good
‘default’
choice.
• There
are
established
paSerns
and
examples
for
using
it
with
MobileFirst
Pla_orm:

14. • Open-source toolkit, IBM has some
involvement in development.
• ‘All-in-one’ toolkit answer
• Latest version (1.10.x) brings iOS 8
support
• Strong support for structuring large
applications
• e.g. AMD, Class system (dojo/
declare), dojox/app
• Good option for multi-channel or desktop
apps
• Good option for Blackberry or other
esoteric platforms

15. • NOT
• Focuses
on
‘core’
funcFonality:
• DOM
traversal
and
manipulaFon
• Event
Handling
• AJAX
/
XHR
• Mobile
Framework
separate:

16. Tip #2: If you’re going hybrid, think about the tools…
• Frameworks such as Bootstrap, Ionic, etc. can help a lot in
creating the quality and performance you need for hybrid
15
• Module
systems/Loaders:
RequireJS/AMD,
Dojo/
AMD,
CommonJS,
ExtJS
define,
Flight/AMD,
YUI.use()
• Package
manager:
Bower,
Dojo
Packages,
CPM,
Volo,
yeoman
• Build
systems:
r.js(requirejs),
dojo
build,
Component,
ClosureBuilder,
Shiger,
grunt
• Templates:
AngularJS,
Hogan.js,
Mustache.js,
Handlebars,
Dijit
templates,
UnderscoreJS,
Lo-­‐
Dash,
Y.Template.Micro
• Data
Binding:
ReacFve,
Rivets,
Knockout,
Backbone,
AngularJS,
Flight,
Dojo
Observable
• Rou>ng:
dojo/router,
Backbone
• App
Controllers:
dojox/app
(+ISSW),
Backbone,
AuraJS
• Sync:
component/model,
AngularJS
services,
Dojo
Object
Store,
YUI,
Backbone
Sync
• Widgets:
Closure
Library,
Dijit,
Dojo
mobile,
jQuery/jQuery
Mobile,
etc.etc.,
Bootstrap
(jQuery),
YUI,
Sencha,
EXTJS
• Bower - Package
Management –
bower.io
• Grunt – ‘Task
Runner’ –
gruntjs.com

17. Android
NaFve
• Use
Java
to
code
against
Android
SDK
• Use
Android
Studio
(hSp://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html)
-­‐
based
on
IntelliJ
• Eclipse
plugins
(ADT)
will
likely
be
phased
out

18. Android
NaFve
-­‐
Concepts
= OR

19. iOS
NaFve
-­‐
UIKit
• On
iOS,
you
broadly
have
two
technology
choices:
• ObjecFve-­‐C
–
Older,
harder
to
learn
• Swig
–
Only
introduced
in
2014.

20. iOS
NaFve
• For
all
apps
(not
just
naFve),
you
need
to
register
to
deploy
to
“real”
devices
• Also
need
Xcode
development
environment
(only
supported
on
Mac)

21. How
can
we
mix
all
of
these?
• Two
basic
styles:
• Hybrid
web
container
is
master
-­‐
in
MobileFirst
Pla_orm,
this
is
a
Hybrid
applicaFon
(i.e.
Cordova)
• NaFve
code
is
master
-­‐
in
MobileFirst
Pla_orm,
this
is
a
Na>ve
API
applicaFon

22. Xamarin
• Build applications natively in C# for Android and iOS
• Develop business logic in C#
• Develop UI design either in Xamarin.Forms (common cross-
platform) or in native tools/code
21

23. Summary
–
so
which
is
best?
• AngularJS
+
Ionic
is
a
good
default
choice
for
those
with
web
skills
• Maximises
cross-­‐pla_orm
compaFbility
• Disadvantages:
tuning,
Android
variants
• iOS
NaFve
and
Android
NaFve
are
best
for
those
looking
for
the
most
sophisFcated
cupng-­‐edge
UX
• Disadvantages:
Typically
requires
more
in-­‐depth,
specialised
skill.
• Xamarin
suitable
for
naFve
developers
with
C#
skill

24. Tip
#3:
Do
ConFnuous
IntegraFon
MFP Server

25. Key artifacts
Server-side
• .war
• (aka Project / customisation
WAR – not to be confused
with MFP administration
WAR)
• .wlapp
• Per-application content,
a.k.a. application
understanding
• .adapter
• Per-adapter
24
Client-side
• .ipa
• Application for iOS
• .apk
• Application for Android

26. Building Artifacts
• MFP provides the <war-builder>, <app-
builder> and <adapter-builder> ANT
tasks
• Only builds the Server portion of the projects -
the .war customisation file, the .wlapp file, and
the .adapter files.
• You will need to build the .apk and .ipa files
using platform-native process.
• You need a Mac for iOS

27. Tip #4: Externalise properties for environment
promotion
• worklightserverhost in <app-builder>
task – also can be exposed through user
screen:
<iphone bundleId="com.ibm.myapp" version="1.0”>!
!<worklightSettings include="true"/>!
…!
</iphone>!

28. Tip #4: Externalise properties for environment
promotion
• server/conf/worklight.properties!
!
!
!
worklight.properties contains:!
!
myadapter.path = /mypath/somerestservice!
!!
Which becomes JNDI property:
<property name="myadapter.path" value="/myserver/somepath/service"/>!
27
For more
information:
http://
tinyurl.com/
losx42b)!

29. Tip #4: Externalise properties for environment
promotion
• domain, port for the backend service in adapter.xml
28

30. Deploying
• Deploy the .war using relevant application
server method
• Deploy the .wlapp and .adapter server-side
portions of the application using <app-
deployer> and <adapter-deployer> ANT
tasks.
• Deploy JNDI properties.

31. Tip #5: Think about deployment to phones
• You still need to get the native
application (.ipa, .apk, etc.)
onto your user’s phones.
• Dev Time/Small/Adhoc
Projects: Manual install
• Testing lifecycle:
AppCenter - comes with
MobileFirst server editions
– Install via AppCenter Web or
AppCenter App

32. Tip #5: Think about deployment to phones
• B2C: public App Stores (Apple App Store, Google
Play Store)
• B2E: IBM Endpoint Manager (MaaS360) or similar
31

33. Tip #6: Consider your tests
• Typically you’ll want to test:
• Manual UI on physical phones
– Coverage across devices
• Automated UI
– e.g. MobileFirst Test Workbench
• (MFP) Adapters – unit / integration
performance tests

34. Automated Adapter Testing
33
MobileFirst Server Backend
Adapters

35. Automated Adapter Testing
• Uses HTTP RPC API to drive adapters:
• (good tools are and )
• Unit Testing can be achieved by driving individual adapters with
stubbed backends
• Store properties in worklight.properties, use them in
the .js to find URL
• Integration Testing can be achieved by connecting adapters to
a real backend
• Performance Testing can be achieved by driving adapters hard
over an extended period and plotting the results
34

36. Tip #7: Consider Adapter Versioning
• Two mechanisms for versioning MFP Adapters:
• Renaming them
• Provide a version as additional metadata on each adapter call:
myAdapterProcedure(options, a, b…)
var options = { version: { major: 1, minor: 0, patch: 0 } }
WL.Client.invokeProcedure({
adapter : "RSSFeed",
procedure : "getData",
parameters : [options, "myTopic"]
});

37. Tips - Review
• #1: Choose your client-side architecture wisely
• #2: If you’re going hybrid, think about your tools
• #3: Do Continuous Integration
• #4: External properties for environment promotion
• #5: Think about deployment to phones
• #6: Consider your tests
• #7: Consider adapter versioning
36

38. Find out more…
37
https://developer.ibm.com/mobilefirstplatform/

39. Further Learning – Other Resources
• http://ibmmobiletipsntricks.com/
• MobileFirst Test Workbench: http://tinyurl.com/m8n32ry
• Using AngularJS and Ionic: http://youtu.be/a89W_atlhjg
• IBM Worklight AngularJS + Ionic template: http://git.io/AffP
• CI & Automated Testing with Worklight: http://tinyurl.com/nzng5lc
38

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