Build Mobile Websites and Apps for Smart Devices

There is some really good information in this book in regards to developing for mobile. There is a example project that is presented for the readers to follow along and create. Unfortunately, I found myself being incredibly frustrated trying figure out what to do next and at what point in regards to the project. The book is organized in such a way that the steps for the tutorial (to actually do what the text is talking about in theory) is so hard to find and follow, I gave up after the fifth chapter.The authors should have presented clear numbered or easy to follow steps to give the reader a clear path to accomplish what the text is referring to. Most people learn by doing.This seems to be the case with most of these Site Point books, good info but very difficult to discern how to actually implement example projects in a logical step by step way.

I've only started reading this book, and so far it seems ok. However, the Kindle version is difficult to read because all the text appears in BOLD. I don't think the issue is on my end, since I tried viewing it both on my iPhone as well as on the cloud. Regardless, trying to read all this heavy type is exhausting. Will this be fixed? Or is there some reason why, which I don't get?

Overall I'd have to say that I was not overwhelmed with this book. It provides a good amount of examples, online resources, and real-world situations. I was a complete beginner to building mobile websites but I did have experience with iPhone applications and objective c. I'd say overall this is a decent book to do as a book club for your work. Which is the situation I used it for.

When it comes to purchasing any sort of book for web design, I've learned to only buy things published by SitePoint Books. Why? Because I know that they will explain things in a way that I understand. This book is no different. I've been trying to wrap my brain around mobile web design, but the authors made it so simple. I'm well on my way to a mobile version of my site. Thank you so much for the hard work you put into your book, gentlemen!

I agree with another reviewer on this book. Very disorganized code samples that don't end up looking like the figures assigned to the samples. If you don't already know what you're doing don't buy this book. This is the second sitepoint book I have purchased and have been disappointed.

I believe this book is a great book for knowledgeable beginners or intermediates looking for a fast track into HTML for mobile beyond the basics, e.g., full-featured mobile web apps.To me, the most striking feature of this book is how the authors cover so much material in such a powerful step-by-step fashion. The structure of the book is very elegant in leading the reader up a mountain with many steps (coding examples), perfectly placed plateaus (self-contained chapters), and satisfying views (very practical and useful content). I love how so many topics (basic HTML ... CSS ... jQuery ... mobile interfaces ... native device feature support ... and native app support (PhoneGap)) are interwoven so smoothly and progressively. The book covers a lot of ground while making it seem like an easy trek, but it's really a quite steep learning trajectory made to feel simple and easy. The chapter titles lay out the climb clearly, and some chapters (e.g., Chapter 5 "Using Device Features from Web Apps") contain some pleasant surprises along the way (e.g., geolocation, offline web app use, etc.). The journey is both delightful and fruitful.I have not tried the code yet, but I feel quite confident it will work as expected. Another striking feature of the book is that it was written by three authors but feels like it's written by one extremely experienced web dev author. The authors, the editors, and the publisher have done a superb job meshing all the text into one cohesive whole.The authors also do not jump blindly onto the HTML5 bandwagon, but seem to take a very practical and measured approach to new technologies. The one "big" technology they assume is jQuery (not jQuery Mobile). They refer to the others in passing and, while not dismissive, avoid them due to lack of adoption. Also, jQuery can be used for desktop as well. Everything (including UI) they build along the way... so it's a very thorough learning experience for anyone appreciative of seeing a web application from the ground up (again, modulo jQuery), skillfully avoiding and bypassing technical hurdles, and touching on the reasoning behind the technical decisions along the way.One big advantage of the focus on mobile web apps is that the authors deftly sidestep many of the past issues of browsers (e.g., old PCs running ancient IE browsers). Instead the authors focus on a modern baseline of technology, provide cutting-edge optional techniques, and (when appropriate) focus on performance challenges. While I don't have web-dev experience to validate their judgement calls, they seem to know what they're doing. If so, this book is a treasure trove of wisdom and a very good starting point for pragmatic mobile web development.Bottom line: If you're interested not just in mobile web development, but in mobile web apps... with native features... and even native apps based on web apps (i.e., PhoneGap), this book provides a smoothly accelerated journey that will fast track you through the technical milestones to your ultimate destination, web apps way beyond the basics. Highly recommended.

I am a professional web developer with over 7 years experience. There are several topics in this book that are not new to me but overall it covers all the bases and serves as another resource when i am building a new site or setting up an existing site to be mobile compatible.

This was a thorough and well written book but for those looking to get their mobile website off the ground quickly, I found  How To Build Your Own Mobile Web Site In One Day Or Less  to be a very user-friendly, cut to the chase book on getting up and running with mobile marketing fast.

I knew almost nothing about mobile web development, so I've learnt a lot from that book. It's well written and beautifully laid out.However it's sometimes a bit superficial. Local storage is not illustrated in the context of the running example project and they don't talk about how to synchronize local data with the server. Therefore the presentation of HTML5 off-line features doesn't really bring any practical value. Responsive web design is only mentioned very briefly. The focus is on building for mobile only. On the other hand, some of the stuff presented in that book is not really specific to mobile, for example a detailed presentation of a CSS sprite technique based on pseudo-elements (nonetheless interesting).So it's not perfect but it's definitely worth the money and the time spent reading it!

This book is everything I needed and a bit more, have now lent it to a colleague who will be working with me on some mobile web projects so really looking forward to putting it into practice.