Not content with being a popular web page Javascript framework, jQuery is now taking on the mobile platform and hopes to iron out any differences in browsers. This is a much tougher job.

The first alpha release of the jQuery Mobile project is available for download.  jQuery Mobile is a user interface framework, built on top of jQuery, designed to simplify the process of building applications that target mobile devices.

To reach a full alpha in just two months since the project was announced is good progress. jQuery Mobile contains components, layouts, and theming tools to simplify the process of building a mobile application that will run on as many platforms as possible. The guiding principle being the principle of progressive enhancement and is designed to be functional in all HTML-capable mobile browsers.

Currently it supports  iOS devices, Android devices, Blackberry OS 6, webOS, Fennec, and Opera Mobile with a few problems but with more serious problems on lesser browsers. It attempts to use the most up-to-date HTML5 and CSS3 features but attempts to degrade without crashing and indeed while providing the best possible user interface in reduced environments.

One feature of the new system that won't please everyone is that it is entirely markup driven.You can also make use of themes to change the look of your app. An automatic Themeroller will be made available to make customisation even easier. As well as making sophisticated web pages you can also create apps that can be downloaded from the app store.

It also claims a small footprint at 12KB (compressed) for the alpha but you also need a 6KB CSS file.

Some components have been left out of the alpha - date picker, progress bar, spinner - and the Themeroller isn't complete.

Query Mobile 1.0a1 Demos and Documentation

and more general info at:

http://jquerymobile.com/

Further reading -Book Reviews

jQuery in Action (2nd ed, Manning, 2010 )

jQuery Cookbook (O'Reilly, 2009)

JQuery: Visual QuickStart Guide (Peachpit Press, 2009)

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