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This is quick guide explaining how I created my first JavaFX application using the Gluon Scene Builder in the IntelliJ IDEA IDE.
Read the full article here: https://fearby.com/article/creating-your-first-java-fx-app-and-using-scene-builder-in-the-intellij-idea-ide
This is quick guide explaining how I created my first JavaFX application using the Gluon Scene Builder in the IntelliJ IDEA IDE.
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I have a number of guides on moving away from CPanel, Setting up VM’s on UpCloud, AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean along with installing and managing WordPress from the command line. I created this blog post on creating a Java GUI app with the older Swing technology (Java FX replaces Swing). I now want to create a JavaFX app to control my UpCloud VM’s.
If you have not read my previous posts I have now moved my blog etc to the awesome UpCloud host. Sign up using this link to get $25 free credit.
Do read: Preparing for JavaFX Application Development: https://wiki.openjdk.java.net/display/OpenJFX/Building+OpenJFX#BuildingOpenJFX-Mac
Downloading Java
Download and install Java SE 8 or higher from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html
Download Intelli J IDEA IDE
Goto https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/
Click Download
Download the community edition
Install Intelli J IDEA IDE
Install Scenebuilder
I downloaded the Java Scene Builder (1.1 or 2.0) from here.
Install the Scene Builder (open the installer and drag it to your applications folder).
Configure the Scene Builder in IntelliJ IDEA IDE
You can now create a JavaFX project an have a workign scene builder GUI.
After you create a JavaFX project open your JavaFX fxml file in Scene Builder (right click on the .fxml file and select Open in Scene Builder)
Extended Scene Builder from Gluon
I read that there is a better Scene builder GUI available from https://gluonhq.com/products/scene-builder/
Read some of the Java Scene Builder v Gluon Scene Builder history here at Reddit for the latest on why.
I am going to download the Gluon Scene Builder from http://gluonhq.com/products/scene-builder/
Download and install the Gluon Scene builder (at the time of writing requires Java 9 or higher).
Now open IntelliJ IDEA IDE and open the preferences and change the scene builder path from “/Applications/JavaFX Scene Builder 2.0.app/” to “/Applications/SceneBuilder.app/“.
Save the IntelliJ IDEA preferences and Right click on your projects “fxml” file again and click “Open In Scene Builder” , do verify it is indeed the Gluon Scene builder by opening the about menu.
Designing your first JavaFX app
Now you can design and code a JavaFX application with Gluon Scene Builder.
I am not an expert at java apps so i’d highly recommend you follow this guide to learn how to build a well-structured JavaFX panel layout (just ignore that it is using the standard Scene Builder, it works with the gluon one).
You should now have a working Java FX App
The scene builder will save changes to your fxml file
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <?import javafx.geometry.Insets?> <?import javafx.scene.control.Button?> <?import javafx.scene.control.Label?> <?import javafx.scene.control.Menu?> <?import javafx.scene.control.MenuBar?> <?import javafx.scene.control.MenuItem?> <?import javafx.scene.control.TextArea?> <?import javafx.scene.control.TextField?> <?import javafx.scene.control.TreeView?> <?import javafx.scene.layout.BorderPane?> <?import javafx.scene.layout.HBox?> <?import javafx.scene.layout.Region?> <?import javafx.scene.layout.VBox?> <BorderPane maxHeight="-Infinity" maxWidth="-Infinity" minHeight="-Infinity" minWidth="-Infinity" prefHeight="400.0" prefWidth="600.0" xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/9.0.4" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1" fx:controller="sample.Controller"> <top> <VBox BorderPane.alignment="CENTER"> <children> <MenuBar> <menus> <Menu mnemonicParsing="false" text="File"> <items> <MenuItem mnemonicParsing="false" text="Close" /> </items> </Menu> <Menu mnemonicParsing="false" text="Edit"> <items> <MenuItem mnemonicParsing="false" text="Delete" /> </items> </Menu> <Menu mnemonicParsing="false" text="Help"> <items> <MenuItem mnemonicParsing="false" text="About" /> </items> </Menu> </menus> </MenuBar> <HBox spacing="8.0"> <children> <TextField promptText="ip" /> <TextField promptText="Username" /> <TextField promptText="Password" /> <Button mnemonicParsing="false" onMouseClicked="#loginButtonClicked" prefHeight="27.0" prefWidth="68.0" text="Login" /> <Region HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" /> <Button mnemonicParsing="false" onMouseClicked="#settingsButtonClicked" text="Settings" /> </children> <padding> <Insets bottom="8.0" left="8.0" right="8.0" top="8.0" /> </padding> </HBox> </children> </VBox> </top> <left> <TreeView prefHeight="200.0" prefWidth="200.0" BorderPane.alignment="CENTER" /> </left> <center> <TextArea prefHeight="200.0" prefWidth="200.0" BorderPane.alignment="CENTER" /> </center> <bottom> <HBox BorderPane.alignment="CENTER"> <children> <Label text="Label" /> </children> <padding> <Insets bottom="2.0" left="2.0" right="2.0" top="2.0" /> </padding> </HBox> </bottom> </BorderPane> |
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You can add functions into your controller class
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | package sample; public class Controller { public void loginButtonClicked(){ System.out.println("Login"); } public void settingsButtonClicked(){ System.out.println("Settings"); } } |
Instaling Gluon JavaFX Templates
Close your test project and create a new project, but before you do click Configure then Plugins
Now lets open In the following screen click Browse Repositories.
Search the repository for and install the “Gluon” plugin
Restart IntelliJ IDEA IDE then you can use templates when creating a project.
Get your own VM
If you have not read my previous posts I have now moved my blog etc to the awesome UpCloud host. Sign up using this link to get $25 free credit.
Packaging a Java app for distribution on OSX
I will show how you can package your app to run on a Mac by using this.
Coming Soon
I will add more guides soon on using a custom JavaFx app to allow you to manage your own UpCloud server and perform Deploy/Init/Setup/Configure/Operate actions. Running CLI commands to deploy and manage a server is fun but is very tedious.
I blogged recently about using the UpCloud API and setting up a subdomain recently (I will use this server to test and prove the Javmanagementnt app).
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Links
I hope this guide helps someone.
Ask a question or recommend an article
Revision History
V1.6 Jenkov Tutorials
V1.5 Reddit java help
V1.4 added java widgets link
V1.3 added javafx examples link.
V1.2 added Java learning paths
V1.1 added offical Javafx examples
v1.0 Initial post
Here is a quick guide that shows how you can create and compile your first Java app with Net Beans.
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I have a number of guides on moving hasting away form CPanel, Setting up VM’s on AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean along with installing and managing WordPress from the command line. Updating the serves is a pain so I am writing a java app for Windows and OSX to help me manage the server by telnetting in on port 22 and performing routine actions from a button click in Java.
Installing Java and NetBeans IDE
Goto https://netbeans.org/downloads/index.html and click “JDK with NetBeans IDE Java SE bundle”
Download Netbeans and Java SE bundle
Install Netbeans and Java SE bundle
Creating your first GUI Java Application
Create New Project (Java Application) in NetBeans, Click Next
Name the project and set the main class as “main”
Add a new file, a “Swing GUI Form/JFrame form“.
Name the J Frame Form and click Finish.
Adding GUI elements in NetBeans IDE
In the Net Beans IDE, you can simply drag and drop elements. I like to move my properties screen to the bottom centre.
Set the panel at the default startup element
Add the following code to the main.java file
> framemain form = new framemain();
> form.setVisible(true);
Compile the App
The app compiles 🙂
Add an action to a button
You can add button actions (events) in the design mode.
Add Hello World alert box code to the button
Add the following to the Panel code file
> public static void infoBox(String infoMessage, String titleBar)
> {
> JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, infoMessage, “InfoBox: ” + titleBar, JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
> }
Add this to the action (event)
System.out.println(“Hello World”);
> frame1.infoBox(“Hello World”, “Hello World”);
Build
To build right-click on the project and click Clean and Build
The result is an app you can run by double-clicking the jar file.
I hope this helps someone.
Making an OSX APP file from the JAR file
Coming soon
Making a Windows EXE file from the JAR file
Coming soon
I hope this guide helps someone.
Ask a question or recommend an article
Revision History
v1.0 Initial post
How do you start up a project idea? How much time and effort do you put into product planning, prototyping, product development and product support?
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Below is a rough guide to how you should start up a project (exec summary: start with defining the problem(s) and solution(s)).
I have blogged about app workflow here (mostly for public apps).
Choose a Methodology
Early on you should choose a project management methodology, Agile is a popular (no lock-in) methodology compared to the older/less-flexible Waterfall or PRINCE2 methodologies.
I am a fan of the Agile methodology as it allows for inevitable frequent and required pivots over the more rigid locked down methodologies of the past.
Agile Software Development Manifesto
Agile Methodology and Practices (Stages)
1. Inception Phase
2. Construction Phase
3. Transition Phase
4. Ongoing Goals
First, you will need to define the problem(s)
First, decide on what the problem(s) are and are aiming to solve? After the problem(s) are known you can discuss and validate possible solutions before any coding is done (billed). The business requirement will drive the technical requirements/directions,.
Letting technology goals drive the project is a bad idea. Why do you need XYZ? Is an app required after all? Does an “off the shelf solution” exist already? Can existing processes or software be tweaked?
You will need stakeholders (or stakeholder proxies)
Choose customer stakeholders (or customer proxies) that are engaged and positive, build a team of about 5 people who can drive the decisions and who understand the problems. Involve key stakeholders early and capture problems in a formal setting
Improving a process or product should be measurable and agreed. The main aim of a customer/stakeholder is to create validated user stories that define the problem(s) and solution(s) from the end users perspective.
Example user story formats (snip)
Whiteboarding
Whiteboarding is a great way to get everyone on board (and on the same page). One person may assume that something is a certain way but another person from the trenches may say it is not the case at all. It is key that problems reported lower down the managerial structure are listen to and be valued. Accept any problems and add them to the backlog (prioritizing comes later).
Whiteboarding should build a backlog of ideas and common understanding of what the landscape of issues are. I use a tool called Mind Node from https://mindnode.com/ to map things electronically. Within minutes you can have a map of connected or not connected areas of interest.
Backlog
A backlog is a place where you can document issues and break issues down into tasks. I have blogged before about Developing software and staying on track. You can use software like Trello, JIRA or Excel or notepad.
Backlogs should have crazy ideas and things that will never be developed. Agile development iterations should only pick the best items to work on.
Trello offers basic shared lists management
Jira offers a more complex Agile backlog management suite
Mockup Prototypes
It is important that you develop validate ideas with on device/screen with mockups/prototypes before coding something.
I use Platforma web and Platforma mobile prototyping tools with Adobe XD to prototype before development.
Agile Terminology in Backlogs
Whiteboarding and Backlogs can allow you to capture Epics, Stories and Tasks. Once tasks are prioritized they can be picked up and complete in Agile work sprints.
Prioritize the Backlog Often
Prioritize items in the backlog often using the MoSCoW Method.
Do not work on won’t have and focus on Must-Haves first.
Define the Solution and Minimum Success Criteria
The following graphic is well known within the Project Management community.
How would you feel as the customer knowing that you have not been understood and that you may not get what you need?
How would you feel as the developer not knowing fully what you need to deliver?
No one likes to double back or waste time and resources unnecessarily. Define and plan early. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Benjamin Franklin
Technology Requirements
The backlog will drive the requirements; e.g:
Knowing the requirements drives the technology. Technology drives the work and the budget.
TIP: Be wary of contractors that quote before listening to your full requirements. I was once told by a contractor that their main job was to “Con” “and Insult” you. If you accept a quote before saying what you need is a guarantee that you are paying a load of profit.
Now What
If you have defined the problem well, have good user stories and validated with stakeholders you are on the right path.
Be prepared to pivot and set frequent milestones to launch value (RERO).
Obviously centralised web-based technology is easily updatable compared to compiled and distributed mobile apps so choosing the right technology early is key to success.
Security and Quality
This is the project triangle where you can choose two sides (not three)
Quality is a given so you must choose that, the other given is secure in my opinion. I have blogged before about securing Ubuntu in the cloud (checklist), running security audits, installing WordPress WordFence Firewalls and WordPress Anti Malware plugins along with updating OpenSSL and applying kernel patches to protect against Spectre and Meltdown securing issues. Supporting an app is serious stuff and often deployment is the start of the real work.
Maintenance
Will you need to recompile apps to meet iOS or Android requirements?
How often will you release updates? What percentage of devices do you want to reach?
What “service level” will you set for concurrent users, uptime and failover? What priority will you give to backups and snapshots of the environment in case you need to restore to a previous state?
Past Lesson learned
Obviously, the larger the project and higher levels of storage/reliability/security the more checks and balances need to happen.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics contracted IBM to handle the Australian online census in 2016 and the major failure and report into what the identified problems were was an interesting read.
As a minimum, you should plan and discuss early on about the performance, reliability and uptime targets for any app. Personally I have moved between multiple cloud providers (CloudAnt, Digital Ocean, AWS and Vultr) to comfortably meet cost v performance (each app WILL have different requirements)
Type of app
The type of app (Web, Desktop, Mobile) you will need will come after discussing the problem, focus on the problem(s) and not the solution(s).
Conclusion
Do’s
Don’t
I hope this guide helps someone.
More Reading
Making your first cross-platform mobile app
Making your first cross-platform app with Electron
Ask a question or recommend an article
Revision History
v1.1 added More Reading
v1.0 Initial post
Below is my blog post on setting up a hello world app on Heroku that is powered by a database (e.g Client requests a page, the page reads a database and return hello world).
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I found IBM/Cloudant would cost multiple thousands a month to run a good NoSQL database backend, I moved to a self-managed server on Digital Ocean in Singapore but the distance of the server killed latency and maximum throughput in Australia. I moved to a dedicated AWS EC2 instance with a Mongo DB cluster on AWS in Australia and it was great but pricey. A self-managed server (on Digital Ocean or Vultr) allows you to install whatever you want (e.g PHP, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, SSL Certificate, Mail or WordPress) and configure what you want (but at what cost?).
Heroku say: “Get straight to building apps – Setting up, operating and maintaining your own platform is not where the race is won. Avoid the risk and complexity, and dedicate your energy to what really matters: building great apps.”.
Having setup serves on IBM Cloudant, Digital Ocean, AWS and Vultr (and even managing with RunCoud and Webmin) and not focusing on a self-managed server-issues like security, backup, security audits, upgrading PHP, updating ssl, setting up distributed mysql, updating https certificates etc sounds like the holy grail.
Let’s put that to the tets and build a Hello World App.
About Heroku
Heroku have a page here about what they offer.
Sign up for Free: https://signup.heroku.com
Programming Languages (Ruby, PHP, Python, NodeJS, Java, Cloujure, Scala, Go etc). I so wanted to select “I’m not a developer” but I won’t. I selected NodeJS.
Next: Verify your email, enter a password and you’ll find yourself here.
Now we can create an app?
Help
Ok, let’s skim the NodeJS help before we start: https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/getting-started-with-nodejs#set-up
Let’s download the Command Line tools
Installing Heroku CLI on OSX was uneventful
I clicked the “I have installed the Heroku CLI” button.
Heroku wanted me to clone a repo but I logged in to Heroku the Heroku CLI and created a local Heroku folder first (in my local Terminal).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | Last login: Sat Nov 25 18:54:43 on ttys000 192-168-1-200:~ username$ mkdir ~/Desktop/heroku 192-168-1-200:~ username$ cd ~/Desktop/heroku 192-168-1-200:heroku simon$ pwd /Users/username/Desktop/heroku 192-168-1-200:~ username$ heroku login heroku-cli: Updating to 6.14.38-9bfc11a... 12.7 MB/12.7 MB Enter your Heroku credentials: Email: removed@removed.com Password: ******************************************************* |
I checked the Heroku Version
1 2 | heroku --version heroku-cli/6.14.38-9bfc11a (darwin-x64) node-v9.2.0 |
I checked Heroku Help
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 | heroku --help Usage: heroku COMMAND Help topics, type heroku help TOPIC for more details: access manage user access to apps addons tools and services for developing, extending, and operating your app apps manage apps auth heroku authentication authorizations OAuth authorizations buildpacks manage the buildpacks for an app certs a topic for the ssl plugin ci run an application test suite on Heroku clients OAuth clients on the platform config manage app config vars container Use containers to build and deploy Heroku apps domains manage the domains for an app drains list all log drains features manage optional features git manage local git repository for app keys manage ssh keys labs experimental features local run heroku app locally logs display recent log output maintenance manage maintenance mode for an app members manage organization members notifications display notifications orgs manage organizations pg manage postgresql databases pipelines manage collections of apps in pipelines plugins manage plugins ps manage dynos (dynos, workers) redis manage heroku redis instances regions list available regions releases manage app releases run run a one-off process inside a Heroku dyno sessions OAuth sessions spaces manage heroku private spaces status status of the Heroku platform teams manage teams update update CLI webhooks setup HTTP notifications of app activity |
I ran the advised commands
1 2 | git clone https://github.com/heroku/node-js-getting-started.git cd node-js-getting-started |
At this point, I followed the steps at https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/getting-started-with-nodejs#deploy-the-app
Ran
1 2 3 | heroku create Creating app... done, ⬢ fathomless-anchorage-##### https://fathomless-anchorage-##removed##.herokuapp.com/ | https://git.heroku.com/fathomless-anchorage-70974.git |
The website is up
Where is this app located
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | traceroute fathomless-anchorage-70974.herokuapp.com traceroute: Warning: fathomless-anchorage-70974.herokuapp.com has multiple addresses; using 54.243.121.236 traceroute to us-east-1-a.route.herokuapp.com (54.243.121.236), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets 1 192-168-1-1 (192.168.1.1) 1.045 ms 1.121 ms 0.727 ms 2 10.20.23.227 (10.20.23.227) 34.415 ms 30.378 ms 26.927 ms 3 syd-gls-har-agr11-be-12 (202.7.205.13) 42.363 ms 42.957 ms 35.670 ms 4 203-221-3-3 (203.221.3.3) 37.517 ms 203-221-3-4 (203.221.3.4) 29.832 ms 203-221-3-67 (203.221.3.67) 29.412 ms 5 10ge4-11.core1.sjc1.he.net (72.52.101.37) 208.270 ms 213.679 ms las-b24-link.telia.net (213.248.95.232) 181.162 ms 6 las-b21-link.telia.net (62.115.136.46) 173.171 ms 100ge1-1.core1.sjc2.he.net (184.105.65.114) 208.705 ms 10ge7-2.core1.sjc2.he.net (72.52.92.118) 212.061 ms 7 dls-b21-link.telia.net (62.115.137.106) 205.615 ms 100ge2-1.core4.fmt2.he.net (184.105.213.158) 204.186 ms dls-b21-link.telia.net (62.115.123.136) 204.317 ms 8 a100us-ic-303626-dls-bb1.c.telia.net (62.115.36.38) 332.192 ms 205.536 ms 100ge11-1.core1.dal1.he.net (184.105.64.222) 241.649 ms 9 176.32.125.172 (176.32.125.172) 209.481 ms 176.32.125.212 (176.32.125.212) 223.887 ms 176.32.125.164 (176.32.125.164) 205.608 ms 10 176.32.125.169 (176.32.125.169) 205.849 ms 176.32.125.150 (176.32.125.150) 274.887 ms 176.32.125.167 (176.32.125.167) 230.285 ms 11 * 176.32.125.241 (176.32.125.241) 232.125 ms * 12 * * 54.240.229.175 (54.240.229.175) 231.710 ms 13 * 54.240.229.171 (54.240.229.171) 239.321 ms * 14 * * * 15 *^C |
Traceroute times out but appears to be in the eastern United States (AWS).
Q1) Can I change to Sydney Australia?
Waiting for an answer from Twitter.
Virginia is a long way away.
It’s all good apart from on weak cipher (“TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA (0xa) WEAK (112)“).
A shodan scan of the IP reveals an open port 80 and 443 (as expected, nothing out of the ordinary)
Pushing Changes
I ran this to push the app.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 | cd /Users/username/Desktop/heroku/node-js-getting-started git push heroku masterCounting objects: 488, done. Delta compression using up to 8 threads. Compressing objects: 100% (367/367), done. Writing objects: 100% (488/488), 231.76 KiB | 231.76 MiB/s, done. Total 488 (delta 86), reused 488 (delta 86) remote: Compressing source files... done. remote: Building source: remote: remote: -----> Node.js app detected remote: remote: -----> Creating runtime environment remote: remote: NPM_CONFIG_LOGLEVEL=error remote: NPM_CONFIG_PRODUCTION=true remote: NODE_VERBOSE=false remote: NODE_ENV=production remote: NODE_MODULES_CACHE=true remote: remote: -----> Installing binaries remote: engines.node (package.json): 8.9.1 remote: engines.npm (package.json): unspecified (use default) remote: remote: Resolving node version 8.9.1... remote: Downloading and installing node 8.9.1... remote: Using default npm version: 5.5.1 remote: remote: -----> Restoring cache remote: Skipping cache restore (not-found) remote: remote: -----> Building dependencies remote: Installing node modules (package.json) remote: added 49 packages in 1.686s remote: remote: -----> Caching build remote: Clearing previous node cache remote: Saving 2 cacheDirectories (default): remote: - node_modules remote: - bower_components (nothing to cache) remote: remote: -----> Build succeeded! remote: -----> Discovering process types remote: Procfile declares types -> web remote: remote: -----> Compressing... remote: Done: 17.7M remote: -----> Launching... remote: Released v3 remote: https://fathomless-anchorage-#####.herokuapp.com/ deployed to Heroku remote: remote: Verifying deploy... done. To https://git.heroku.com/fathomless-anchorage-#####.git * [new branch] master -> master |
I ran this to ensure the app was running
1 2 | heroku ps:scale web=1 Scaling dynos... done, now running web at 1:Free |
I ran this to open the app
1 | heroku open |
This opened the apps URL in a browser.
A nice help page was pushed to my app.
I changed the contents of “node-js-getting-started/views/pages/index.ejs” and repushed.
1 2 3 | git push heroku master heroku ps:scale web=1 heroku open |
It reported “Everything up-to-date“???
I tried to force a push (just in-case something on the server was changed)
1 2 | git push --force heroku master Everything up-to-date |
???
Ok, let’s pull and see what’s new?
1 2 3 4 | git pull heroku master From https://git.heroku.com/fathomless-anchorage-##### * branch master -> FETCH_HEAD Already up-to-date. |
I edited “./index.js” and made the entry point “pages/index2.ejs” and tried to push and no luck.
1 | Everything up-to-date |
I tried running push under sudo too (no luck)
Googling revealed I can go to https://dashboard.heroku.com/apps/YOUR-APP/deploy/heroku-gi and see what the issue is.
I logged into the app and could not find how to delete or edit it?
At this point, I would have just ssh’ed in and restarted the node process in pm2 or node on my own self-managed server and edited remote files locally in sublime on my local machine.
Personally, I like to know where files live and not delve into another designers management interface.
I’ll come back to this guide later until then I’ll stick with Digital Ocean or Vultr
Linking to your own Domain on Heroku
It looks like I can use custom domains via Namecheap to link a domain to a heroku app.
Or you can setup a domain sub domain to point to a heroku app with a DNS C Name record.
Database Setup
Todo..
Node talking to the database.
Todo..
App Cost on Heroku
todo: After Hello World is deployed. Digital Ocean (is as low as $5 a month) or Vultr (is as low as $2.5 a month)
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Revision History
v1.4 added custom domain, database, CNAME info
etc
I have blogged about using Adobe XD to prototype mobile apps. Recently, I found an attractive collection of ready to go Wireframe screens from Proforma to use alongside Apple UI Kit elements in Adobe XD
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Check Out Platforma
Platforma has been in the industry for years providing developers with prototype products for Mobile, Web and HTML templates. Check out https://greatsimple.io/ for other prototyping products.
You can buy (or try) versions of Platforma at https://platforma.ws/#buy Below are screenshots from the Bundle version.
Performa has loads of ready to go samples screens that you can use in Adobe XD like..
Adobe XD, Platforma and iOS Prototypes
The post below will focus on creating iOS prototypes using Adobe XD and Platforma Wireframe kits.
Other posts will focus on creating Android, and Web Prototypes etc. After you purchase Platforma, you can download a zip file (I have the bundle) containing all related design files.
Tip: Save your activation code if you eceive one.
Extract the Zip file.
Files are located in each products folder (I will focus on XD in iOS assets until I learn the others).
Adobe XD iOS assets are in two files.
You can now open either Platforma .xd file to view prototype elements available.
You may get a Fonts Missing dialogue (install the fonts and the error goes away).
fyi
All font packs are free, the Apple San Francisco font needs you to run an install wizard, SF UI needs you to download and install TTF file from GitHub, Roboto needs you to double-click on a number of TTF files to install them in your fonts library.
The fonts are now installed (verified in my fonts app on OSX).
I am now free to open the iOS “Platforma for iOS – Categories.xd” file that came from Proforma.
Performa iOS Categories (Zoomed Out)
Oh my, there are loads of sample screens and elements you can use in an app prototype (I’d count them but I’d be here all day, I had to zoom out to 2.5% to see them all).
Now time to open the second file (“Platforma for iOS – Demos.xd”)
Performa iOS Categories (Zoomed In on Maps)
I had a look at the sample “Maps” screens and they are amazing.
Performa iOS Demos (Zoomed Out)
Here is a complete zoomed out view of the “Platforma for iOS – Demos.xd” file.
Performa iOS Demos (Zoomed in on Social Samples)
Here is a sample of some of the screens in the Social category in the “Platforma for iOS – Demos.xd” file.
Let’s Start an App Prototype in Adobe XD
I open the “./Platforma for iOS/XD/Platforma for IOS/Platforma for iOS – Categories.xd” and “./Platforma for iOS/XD/Platforma for iOS – Demos.xd” xd files that you downloaded from https://platforma.ws/
Also, start a new iOS blank project in Adobe XD.
I positioned windows so I could see all Adobe XD projects.
Tip: If you are using the Apple iOS (or Android etc) UI components then you can open them too (see my Adobe XD guide to see how to get the oficial iOS controls from Apple).
Personally, I would suggest before you start prototyping that you have a “validated list” of things that you want to prototype (if you are designing a prototype for a client then ask them what they want). Check out the awesome http://joinagile.com/lean-and-mean-agile-podcast/ for tips on Collecting, grooming, prioritizing app tasks. Don’t waste time developing unwanted features. Manage tasks around Outcomes and not tasks. I have blogged about developing software and staying on track and how to get feedback for your ideas.
Also, I have a so you have an idea for an app graphic and blog posts on Atlaz.io BETA Project Management Tool For Cross-Functional Teams the Trello and Atlassian JIRA Killer? and How to develop software ideas. I would suggest you listen to the Lean and Mean Agile Podcast to get extra product backlog grooming, prioritization tips etc.
TIP: I use the MoSCoW method for capturing and prioritizing tasks.
end snip.
Starting your Prototype in Adobe XD
Based on your MoSCoW list you can (I do) create empty screens ( I usually add a label in the top left indicating the screens MoSCoW status so I can prototype needed features now and start planning future versions later from the one prototype file). I am not a big fan of using multiple app prototype files.
Now you can copy and paste in example screens over the empty screens.
Within minutes you can have a nice mockup of your app using Adobe XD and Platforma assets.
Drag as needed, change as needed.
Customizing sample screens
Of course, you can edit the sample screens and rename, add, remove or change individual items in Adobe XD (Nice work Platforma/Adobe). Ignore the Yellow “Should Have” on the screen below, it looks out of place but I get in the habit of adding a floating “Must Have”, “Should Have”, “Could Have” and Won’t Have” labels to screens.
Preview
You can preview the rough prototype in Adobe XD on your desktop or on a real mobile device.
Don’t forget to wire up screens to generally goto and return to the main screen.
Or you can wire up individual screen elements to go to different screens. You will need to be in Prototype mode in XD first.
If you saved to the Adobe Cloud you can now open the prototype app on the Adobe XD app on a mobile device (or simulate it in Adobe XD on the desktop). Open Adobe XD on your mobile device and open your project from your Adobe Creative Cloud folder.
You can now view fabulous looking application prototypes on a mobile device screen with minimal invested time and effort.
Conclusion
I am very impressed with the https://platforma.ws Wireframe Kit, I’d strongly recommend app developers buy a copy and use the pre-setup templates look impressive and will save you loads of time (no more messing with UI Kits to make app prototypes look good). I can’t wait to check out and review the other assets in the Full Platforma Bundle.
Read More
Still reading?
Read: Quick guide to using Adobe XD CC to design a prototype iOS app.
More to come.
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Revision History
v1.0 Initial Post
etc
Below is my quick post showing how you can create your own Hello World Android app using the new Kotlin language on OSX. More will be added to this blog post over time.
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What is Kotlin
Kotlin is a statically-typed programming language that runs on Java Virtual Machines (the syntax is not compatible with Java but interoperates with it). Kotlin is Google’s default language for deveAndroid Android Apps.Kotlin is now the offimoremorecial language supported by Google for Android development. Kotlin v JAVA: http://androiddeveloper.galileo.edu/2017/10/16/kotlin-vs-java-what-is-the-difference/
The official Kotlin language page can be found here: https://kotlinlang.org/ (Wikipedia has a page here).
Kotlin has a “Try Kotlin” page here ( https://try.kotlinlang.org/ ) where you can the language out in a browser. Android Studio 3 is the latest IDE from Google that allows you to develop apps in JAVA pr Kotlin for Android.
Learn Kotkin: Hello World Demo
Kotlin Hello World Code:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | /** * We declare a package-level function main which returns Unit and takes * an Array of strings as a parameter. Note that semicolons are optional. */ fun main(args: Array<String>) { println("Hello, world!") } |
fyi: Other Kotlin Code Examples:
Kotlin Language Reference: http://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/
Tutorials: http://kotlinlang.org/docs/tutorials/
Books: http://kotlinlang.org/docs/books.html
More Resources: http://kotlinlang.org/docs/resources.html
Installing Android Studio on OSX
You will need to install the latest Android Studio 3 IDE from the link below. This will allow you to download the latest Android SDK, Android Emulator, tools and Documentation from Google.
Download Android Studio from here: https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html?utm_source=android-studio
You should now have a 750MB (or there about’s) file (called something like android-studio-ide-171.4408382-mac.dmg )
You are now ready to run the setup dmg and install the app.
“Replace” Earlier Versions (if you had 1.x or 2.x installed)
You may be asked to choose the default Android emulator ram size
Congratulations, Android Studio 3 should now be installed
Congratulations you now have the Android Studio 3 IDE Installed.
Android Studio Tips and Tricks: https://medium.com/@mmbialas/50-android-studio-tips-tricks-resources-you-should-be-familiar-with-as-an-android-developer-af86e7cf56d2
Android Studio 3 User Guide: https://developer.android.com/studio/intro/index.html
Official getting started guide: https://developer.android.com/training/basics/firstapp/index.html
Setting Android Studio Defaults
Don’t forget to download updates and set auto updates “to enabled” in the Android Studio preferences screen.
Goto the “SDK Manager” menu item under the “Tools” then “Android” menu.
You can Download additional Android SDK versions, updates and emulator environments. I would recommend you pre-download the Android 3.x to 8.x environments.
You can also download and create Emulated Android Devices in the Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager menu.
You can choose an existing Android Device (emulated)
Create Your Own Virtual Device
You can also create your own Android virtual device (Emulated) for testing.
I have a physical Huawei Mate 9 device (for physical testing), I will set up a similar virtual device (but stick with 2GB ram instead of 4GB as my development Mac only has 8GB total ram).
You can choose an emulators device skin if you so desire. Many phone skins can be found online (e.g here, here and here). Samsung Developer page has a skins page here. Managing AVD user guide here: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/managing-avds.html. I don’t use emulator device skins as this uses much-needed memory and screen real estate.
When you are done configuring your virtual device image you may be prompted to download missing images (e.g in my case I need to download API 27/ Android 7.1.1).
Physical Device Setup (Enable Developer Mode)
You should always code on physical devices where possible (emulators are ok but have a handful of physical devices on hand to test on). I find the emulator crashes a lot on me.
How to enable developer mode on a physical Android device: https://developer.android.com/studio/debug/dev-options.html. When you have enabled developer mode you can enable advanced developer options (I like these options).
When you have a physical Android device setup and connected, you can choose to run the app on the physical device.
Creating Your first Hello World Kotlin Project
By now you will have Android Studio 3 installed, Configured Updates, Configured an Emulator device and hopefully a real test device. Now you can open Android Studio and select.
1. “Start a New Android Studio Project”
2. Name your project (e.g “My Kotlin Test App 001”)
3. Ensure your company name is unique (e.g “com.fearby.testgithub001android”
4. Tick “Include Kotlin Support” (not ticked by default).
5. Click “Next“.
6.You will need to choose the minimum API and Android version to support. If you choose a new API you may limit the potential users that can run your app and if choose an old API you will limit the potential features. In my case, I will choose 7.0 for my test project (but will choose 4.1 in public apps). Click “Help me choose” to see the percentage of users and features in each API version.
7. Clik “Next”
8. Choose “Empty Activity” and click “Next“.
9. Take note of Activity name of “MainActivity” and Layout Name of “activity_main” and click “Finish“.
Now that you have a new project you can start Emulatorkator (Tools, Android, AVD Manager then press Play next to your emulator of choice).
10. Now click Run and choose the Emulator to start.
Before we add a button to the test app, let’s add a Anko dependency to the project ( https://github.com/Kotlin/anko ) to make coding easier.
11. Open your “app/Gradle Scripts/build.gradle (Module: app)” node in the Android Project treeview.
12. View add the following line to the dependencies section (refer to https://github.com/Kotlin/anko and replace “0.10.2” with the version listed at thGitHubub site). Then click “Sync Now”.
1 2 | // Anko Commons compile "org.jetbrains.anko:anko-commons:0.10.2" |
13. Goto “app/res/layout/activity_main.xml” (1) and add a button to the layout (2) and name the button (3)
14. Goto “app/java/%projectname%/MainActivity” (1) and add the following two lines (2)(3) below.
Add the following at the top of “MainActivity”
1 | import org.jetbrains.anko.toast |
Add the following in the “onCreate” function (ensure your button name is the same as you called it).
1 | buttonhello.setOnClickListener { toast ("Hello World (www.fearby.com)") } |
15. You can now build and deploy the app to a device (or emulator, real devices are faster).
Add a Button to change activity screens
The official documentation on changing activity screens can be found here.
1. Rename the button from above from”Button” to ‘Hello World”
2. Add a new button can call it “buttonnextscreen” (set constraints if you wish to match the hello world button left and width).
3. Now you can add and a new target activity screen ( e.g Open your project in the treeview (1), select “New” (2), select “Activity” (3) and then choose the activity type you want (e.g “Empty Activity” (2) ).
4. Name the “Activity Name” and “Layout Name” and click “Next“.
More info on Kotlin fragments: https://www.raywenderlich.com/169885/android-fragments-tutorial-introduction-2
5. In “MainActivity.kx” I edited the following (time to use Anko Intents and not just Anko toast )
1 2 | //import org.jetbrains.anko.toast import org.jetbrains.anko.* |
I also wired up the new “Next Activity” Button
1 2 3 | buttonnextscreen.setOnClickListener { startActivity(intentFor<NextActivity>().singleTop()) } |
Now you have wired up a button to change Activity Screens. The Android back button will fire the previous screen so there is no need to wire up a returning button (like on iOS).
This is the Next Activity screen that was called from a button (exciting eh).
Set and Read Textbox
After adding a textbox and button this is how I set and red text in a textbox control.
1 2 3 4 | textbox.setText("Sample Text") buttongettext.setOnClickListener{ toast(textbox.text.toString()) } |
Create, Set and Read Local Class
I added a button (ID) called “buttoncreateclass” and setup a “setOnClickListener” (in onCreate) to create a class, fill it then output the data from the class to three textboxes (“textfirstname”, “textsurname” and “textage”)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | class Person(val Firstname: String, val Surname: String, var Age: Int) {} buttoncreateclass.setOnClickListener { var cbob = Person("Bob", Surname = "Smith", Age = 41) // Read textfirstname.setText("Firstname: " + cbob.Firstname.toString()) textsurname.setText( "Surnmae: " + cbob.Surname.toString()) textage.setText("Age: " + cbob.Age.toString()) } |
Adding Application Icons.
Read the official guidelines here: https://developer.android.com/studio/write/image-asset-studio.html
I use the free cions generator here: https://romannurik.github.io/AndroidAssetStudio/
Ensure you replace the following files (with your project closed)..
You may also need to remove the res/drawable XML files to prevents the automatically genrated im,ages from loading.
You may need to force a delete (Right Click then “Delete” then “OK” then “Delete Anyway“).
I had a number of errors related to removing references to the automatically generated images.
File “anydpi-v26/ic_launcher.xml” and “anydpi-v26/ic_launcher_round.xml” had this contents.
1 2 3 4 5 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <adaptive-icon xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"> <background android:drawable="@drawable/ic_launcher_background"/> <foreground android:drawable="@drawable/ic_launcher_foreground"/> </adaptive-icon> |
I replaced the contents of the file “anydpi-v26/ic_launcher.xml” and “anydpi-v26/ic_launcher_round.xml” with
1 2 3 4 5 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <application> android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher" android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round" </application> |
Then you will need to click the “Build” menu then “Clean Project” to remove references to the files.
“Build“, “Clean” results.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 | Executing tasks: [:app:assembleDebug] Configuration 'compile' in project ':app' is deprecated. Use 'implementation' instead. :app:preBuild UP-TO-DATE :app:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE :app:compileDebugAidl UP-TO-DATE :app:compileDebugRenderscript UP-TO-DATE :app:checkDebugManifest UP-TO-DATE :app:generateDebugBuildConfig UP-TO-DATE :app:generateDebugResValues UP-TO-DATE :app:generateDebugResources UP-TO-DATE :app:mergeDebugResources UP-TO-DATE :app:createDebugCompatibleScreenManifests UP-TO-DATE :app:processDebugManifest UP-TO-DATE :app:splitsDiscoveryTaskDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:processDebugResources UP-TO-DATE :app:compileDebugKotlin UP-TO-DATE :app:prepareLintJar UP-TO-DATE :app:generateDebugSources UP-TO-DATE :app:javaPreCompileDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:compileDebugJavaWithJavac UP-TO-DATE :app:compileDebugNdk NO-SOURCE :app:compileDebugSources UP-TO-DATE :app:mergeDebugShaders UP-TO-DATE :app:compileDebugShaders UP-TO-DATE :app:generateDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE :app:mergeDebugAssets UP-TO-DATE :app:transformClassesWithDexBuilderForDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:transformDexArchiveWithExternalLibsDexMergerForDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:transformDexArchiveWithDexMergerForDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:mergeDebugJniLibFolders UP-TO-DATE :app:transformNativeLibsWithMergeJniLibsForDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:processDebugJavaRes NO-SOURCE :app:transformResourcesWithMergeJavaResForDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:validateSigningDebug :app:packageDebug UP-TO-DATE :app:assembleDebug UP-TO-DATE BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1s 26 actionable tasks: 1 executed, 25 up-to-date |
Now you can build an APK with static icons (yes, that’s my face).
Read move on “realtime generated/adaptive” v “image” icons here: https://medium.com/@ianhlake/vectordrawable-adaptive-icons-3fed3d3205b5
Official guide on Adaptive Icons: https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/icon_design_adaptive.html
Displaying Alerts
Displaying a hard-coded option with Anko
1 2 3 4 | alert("Coffee?", "Would you like another coffee?") { yesButton { toast("OK, go and get a coffee.") } noButton { toast("OK, go and get a glasss of water.") } }.show() |
Displaying a list with options with Anko
1 2 3 4 | val fruit = listOf("Apple", "Banana", "Mango") selector("Go..", fruit, { dialogInterface, i -> toast("Go: ${fruit[i]}.") }) |
Making Phone Calls, Sending Text, Browing the web and sending Emails
Anko has some cool helper methods to allow you to send and share content.
As long as you add the appropriate buttons, text fields you can add these button listeners.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { ... buttonmainscreen.setOnClickListener { startActivity(intentFor<MainActivity>().singleTop()) } buttonmakeacall.setOnClickListener { makeCall(textphonenumber.text.toString()) } buttonsendatext.setOnClickListener { sendSMS(phonenumber2.text.toString(), textsendthistext.text.toString()) } buttonbrowsetheweb.setOnClickListener { browse(texturl.text.toString()) } buttonsharesometext.setOnClickListener { share(textsharethis.text.toString(), textsharethis2.text.toString() ) } buttonsendanemail.setOnClickListener { email(textemail.text.toString(), textsubject.text.toString(), textbody.text.toString()) } } |
Layout
Background Async Calls
You can call background calls and then invoke the UI thread when the call has returned.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | buttondoasync.setOnClickListener { fun runLongTask(): String { Thread.sleep(3000) return "Waited 3 seconds" } doAsync { var result = runLongTask() uiThread { toast(result) } } } |
App Manifest Permissions
Edit the file “app/src/mainAndroidManifest.xml” and add the following two lines above the “<applications” node
1 2 | <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/> |
View all permission options here: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html
By default your app will not ask for permissions (unless you set them).
Downloading data from the Internet (API Endpoint)
Add the following to a button to make a anetwork call.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | buttoncallapiinthebackground.setOnClickListener { doAsync { val result = URL("https://www.yoursite.com/api/yourappname/v1").readText() uiThread { longToast("Request performed: " + result) } } } |
Example Result:
1 | Request performed: {"API Status": "OK"] |
More soon.
Adding soon: Network (submit data).
Adding soon: Plan Sound.
Adding soon: Animations.
Adding soon: String Encryption.
Adding soon: Basic Security.
Updating your Android Studio IDE (do this often)
Don’t forget to download updates (and enable auto updates) in the Android Studio IDE. At the start of this draft blog post, I installed Android Studio 3.0 (Four hours later a large 1.3 GB sized update was available), I had to download many smaller updates too.
This is a frequent update that would not go away for me.
Copying the app to an Android Device.
Once you have enabled debug mode you can copy apps to and from the physical device. You can build an APK by going to the “Build” then “Build APK’s” menu and build the file to your project folder (e.g “/Users/simon/AndroidStudioProjects/MyKotlinTestApp001/app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk“). You can then copy this file to your Android device (via the Android File Transfer app) and you can now run the app anytime you want away from your Mac.
Also before you copy and unsigned apps to your test device tyoiu will need to enable developer mode then enable the running of apps from “unknown sources“.
If you have any security apps instaled like Sophos you will be told that yiour app has a low rating.
APK living on your device 🙂
The Android Studio also has a real device debugger.
Monitor output from a show stats from a real device
Android Security 101 (you need to know this)
You can define network configuration per these instructions: https://developer.android.com/training/articles/security-config.html
Coming from developing iOS and desktop apps I decided on researching the current state of Android Security. I would strongly suggest you watch this video from Marcos Placona ( https://twitter.com/marcos_placona Developer Evangelist @ Twilio).
Takeaway’s from this video
My Suggestions
Deploying your app to the Android/Google Play store
To publish an app to the Google Play store you will need to create a Google Play Developer Account, pay $25 USD and you are free to publish an app on the Google Play store. Read more here: https://play.google.com/apps/publish/
Publishing an app is as simple as filling in the blanks in the publish app screen.
Troubleshooting
Read More
Kotlin Community: http://kotlinlang.org/community/
Android Studio ~ Android Central Blog: https://www.androidcentral.com/tag/android-studio
Huawei Developer Page: http://developer.huawei.com/en/
Samsung tips on using Android Studio: http://developer.samsung.com/galaxy/emulator-skin/guide#tips
Create a custom emulator skin https://developer.android.com/studio/run/managing-avds.html#skins
Follow Android Dev on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AndroidDev
Read: https://androidsecurity.info/
An Introduction to Kotlin: https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/an-introduction-to-kotlin–cms-24051
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/
Create Non XML based layouts (with ANKO):
Kotlin v JAVA: http://androiddeveloper.galileo.edu/2017/10/16/kotlin-vs-java-what-is-the-difference/
Read more about Android Studio 3: http://www.technoblogpost.com/android-studio-3-0/
Jetbrains Android Studio Guidelines: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/2016.2/general-guidelines.html
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v1.57 added Async calls, app icon, misc screenshots, Anko alert, email, sms, share code, permissions, network download etc.
I created this graphic as I was asked by multiple people how to develop an app. This does not include tips on coding but many people with the non-technical prerequisites to building an app.
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I hope this graphic helps someone (It’s my first infographic/decision flow image, feedback welcome).
So You Have an Idea For An App: Graphic
Click for larger version.
Standalone Image URL’s
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | v1.3 (22nd November 2017) https://fearby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Infographic-So-you-have-an-idea-for-an-app-v1-3.jpg v1.2 (4th Nov 2017, Added requirements and MoSCoW): https://fearby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Infographic-So-you-have-an-idea-for-an-app-v1-2.jpg v1.1 (1st Nov 2017, Fixed Typos): https://fearby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Infographic-So-you-have-an-idea-for-an-app-v1-1.jpg todo: Things to add Issues to fix in 1.4: - Add user personas and Epic, Story and Task stages. - How to capture good stories (and validated ideas (landing pages/interviews/problems/value/painpoints) |
Define the problem(s) (pain points)
Before you start coding, do list your app requirements (problem’s to solve (pain points)).
Atlassian JIRA or Trello can help with this. I personally use (and like) Atlaz.io (now Hygger), I reviewed the BETA here).
Using Trello lists are also a simple way to capture tasks/ideas.
More on these Read more here also read my Atlaz.io BETA Preview here.
Nothing beats pen and paper too.
Moscow Prioritization
Must-Have Should-Have, Could-Have and Won’t-have are buckets you should sort ideas into. If you have trouble moving items away from Must to Should, Could or Won’t then assign a fictitious monetary value to spend on each item and that will help you decide what is more important.
Read this MoSCoW article at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow
Managing MoSCoW tasks on paper is OK if you do not want to use planning software.
More
Read my guide on how to prototype apps with Adobe XD guide here. You can also Prototype a Web app with Platforma (review here).
Read my post on how to develop software and stay on track.
Research
Do research your idea for market fit/need, competition, complexity, legal and validate ideas early. It’s best to find out early that Google will quote $60,000+ TAX a year to allow you to use Google map’s in your app early, then you can use https://www.mapbox.com for $499 a year.
Do you have competition?
Some people say “don’t develop an app that already exists”. Why would you develop a new Uber app? Henry Ford did make a new transportation mode when people were happy with horses, other car manufacturers like Tesla are moving in on the space so don’t be discouraged.
Landing Page
A landing page with a signup form (Newsletter and Register Interest) form is a good way to validate ideas and get feedback early (I would suggest you use a free Mainchimp signup form, a generated website with Platforma on a $5/m server for quick results). There is no point coding and launching to crickets.
Do you have an app Prototype or Mock-Up?
This is very important and easy step. Programs like Adobe XD CC (read my guide here) and Balsamiq can help you prototype an app, Platforma can help you prototype web apps.
Have you validated your idea (app) with end users?
If you don’t do this you are mad. Watch this video to see lessons learned from Trades Cloud.
Is this app idea a hobby (passion)?
This can help you limit costs and expectations. Cheap serves exist (read here and here).
Do you have time to develop/manage this?
Developing and managing an app and planning (paying for) development cycle can be time-consuming and mentally draining.
Can you code?
Do you need to hire developers or learn to code? Blog post coming soon on how to hire coders.
Do you have funds?
Having funds on hand to set up and build an app is very important.
Do you want to hide developers (or get Venture Capital)?
This can help you get moving but you will have to give away a slice of the profits and or IP, managing mentors and VC’s can be tiresome.
Have you set failure criteria (post-mortem)?
Read this page on lessons learned from over 200 startup failures, save your favourites. Having realistic goals and limits is a wise idea, do stop when you reach preset limits.
Do you have a business case?
There are plenty of business case generator template, you will want to document some of the following.
Are you using a project management methodology?
Proven Methodology can help you develop software and stay on track, software like Atlaz, JIRA or Trello are highly recommended tools. Capturing ideas and processing feedback in tools is very important.
Before you code (or hire coders) use source code versioning software like GitHub and Bitbucket (guides here and here). You want to retain the code and insist on owning it.
Product Goal
Simon Sinek has a good video on companies (or Products) being in a finite or infinite game.
Are you in full control of your development stack?
If you are not a developer you may not care if you are in control, but you will if there are issues with hired developers or issues with service providers. I moved from CPanel to self-managed servers, moved from IBM Cloudant to Digital Ocean to AWS then Vultr servers where I can have full control or scalability, features, security and costs.
Can you forecast the costs?
Lowering cost and boosting performance is important and having spare money is a good thing.
I read recently that Telsla is burning through $6,000 a minute and is forecast to need something like 2 billion dollars in the next 2 years. Software as Service platforms will drain your budget quick (they do take on some risk and maintenance tasks), is this worth it?
Mark Fedin (CEO and Co-founder at Atlaz) has a great post on the topic of viability Stop Dabbling At Startups .
Are you using the right tech?
Don’t be afraid of changing tech along the way, you may start with MySQL and move to MongoDB, Redis, Oracle ot MSSQL database servers etc.
Do you have systems to capture customer feedback?
Self-explanatory, you are solving customer problems, right? You will pivot in the first year (trust me).
What is your revenue/sales model?
If you don’t know how to make money then don’t make an app (apps are expensive to code and maintain).
Are you prioritizing task?
I have blogged about this before, do use the tools to stay on track.
Funny Bit
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v1.5 Fixed typos and fixed CDN link issue.
v1.4 Updated the graphic to version v1.3.
Short (Article): https://fearby.com/go2/so/
Short (Image): https://fearby.com/go2/so-img/
Electron allows you to build cross-platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS based on NodeJS. Electron’s home is https://electron.atom.io
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Electron will allow you to build a web app and package it up to run locally with HTML and bootstrap or more advanced widgets like https://www.jqwidgets.com/ or ExtJS. Marc Fearby is creating a Git starter project for Electron with Sencha here. You can happily develop a local web app and have back-end available by an APIs if need be (read my guide on setting up and configuring a server and securing it and installing an SSL certificate).
Nodejs
Electorn requires NodeJS, please confirm your node version (in my case I have an old version installed)
1 2 | node --version v0.12.4 |
Run the node installer from https://nodejs.org/en/download/
Now I have the newer version on OSX
1 2 | node --version v6.11.3 |
Create a folder for you Electron project (e.g ~/Documents/ElectronApps/HelloWorld ).
Navigate to that folder in the terminal
1 2 3 | cd ~/Documents/ElectronApps/HelloWorld/ pwd /Users/simon/Documents/ElectronApps/HelloWorld |
Now type: npm init
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 | npm init This utility will walk you through creating a package.json file. It only covers the most common items, and tries to guess sensible defaults. See `npm help json` for definitive documentation on these fields and exactly what they do. Use `npm install <pkg> --save` afterwards to install a package and save it as a dependency in the package.json file. Press ^C at any time to quit. name: (HelloWorld) helloworld version: (1.0.0) 0.0.1 description: Hello World in Electron entry point: (index.js) app.js test command: git repository: keywords: electron,hello,world author: Simon Fearby license: (ISC) About to write to /Users/simon/Documents/ElectronApps/HelloWorld/package.json: { "name": "helloworld", "version": "0.0.1", "description": "Hello World in Electron", "main": "app.js", "scripts": { "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1" }, "keywords": [ "electron", "hello", "world" ], "author": "Simon Fearby", "license": "ISC" } |
Installing Electron
1 | sudo npm install electron --save-dev --verbose |
verbose was added to allow you to see as the install could take a while
1 2 3 4 | ... Downloading electron-v1.7.8-darwin-x64.zip [======> ] 16.4% of 48.41 MB (319.96 kB/s) ... |
Create a javascript file as specified in your package.json
1 | sudo nano app.js |
Contents of app.js
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | const elcetron = require('electron'); const app = electron.app; const path = require('path'); const url = require('url'); const BrowserWindow = electron.BrowserWindow; var mainWindow; app.on('ready', function() { mainWindow = newBrowserWindow({width: 1024, height: 768, backgroudColor: '#ffffff'}); mainWindow.loadURL(url.format({pathname: path.join(__dirname, 'index.html'), protocol: 'file:', slashes: true } )); }); |
Update the package.json to include a start command (electron .)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | { "name": "helloworld", "version": "0.0.1", "description": "Hello World in Electron", "main": "app.js", "scripts": { "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1", "start": "electron ." }, "keywords": [ "electron", "hello", "world" ], "author": "Simon Fearby", "license": "ISC", "devDependencies": {My contents "electron": "^1.7.8" } } |
Create an index.html file
1 | sudo nano index.html |
Contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Hello World...</title> </head> <body> Hello World... </body> </html> |
Now we can start the app.
Electron Package Manager
You can install the Electron Packager to make Apps for desktop OS’s. Read more at https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-packager
Install the electron-packager module into your existing project.
1 | sudo npm install electron-packager --save-dev |
If you receive the error “-bash: electron-packager: command not found” try and install the packager globally
1 | sudo npm install electron-packager -g |
Now we will package the app for OSX
1 2 3 | sudo electron-packager . Packaging app for platform darwin x64 using electron v1.7.8 Wrote new app to /Users/simon/Documents/ElectronApps/HelloWorld/helloworld-darwin-x64 |
I can now uninstall the electron packager from my project as it is now installed globally
1 | sudo npm remove electron-packager |
Building apps on OSX
Build an OSX App
1 | electron-packager . |
Rebuild an OSX app
1 | sudo electron-packager . --overwrite |
This will build an OSX app
Building apps on Windows
1) Ensure nodejs is installed (reboot if required)
2) Test your app (npm start)
3) Install Electron Packager Globally
1 | npm install electron-packager -g |
4) Don’t forget to install Electron on Windows
1 | npm install electron --save-dev --verbose |
5) You can now package a Windows executable (TIP: Run the command as an Administrator to prevent write errors).
1 | electron-packager . |
Advanced electron-packager commands
Build and specify a build number
1 | electron-packager ./ helloworld --build-version=0.0.1 |
Build ap with icons
1 | electron-packager . --overwrite --arch=x64 --platform=darwin --prune=true --out=release-builds --icon=assets/icons/mac/icon.icns |
Building linux app
1 | electron-packager . --overwrite --icon=assets/icons/png/icon.png --platform=linux --arch=x64 --prune=true --out=release-builds |
Use sites like https://iconverticons.com/online/to generate icns files and place them in “assets\icons\mac\icons.icns”
View electron-packager issues here: https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-packager/issues
More to come..
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Revision History
v1.0 Initial Post (24th Sep 2017)
etc
What is the difference between a website, app, web app, hybrid app and software?
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fyi: If your website is NOT Mobile responsive Google will not rank your website high in the google search rankings.
Desktops software (applications) have been around for a long time now. Most of us are used to software like Microsoft Office. Software (apps) are usually downloaded or installed from the internet or installed by IT Departments. Widgets and gadgets were popular (with Vista and OSC 10.6) a few years ago but they are not called Apps.
The correct term is “Software”.
Pros:
Cons:
Many Corporate IT Departments have developed website (apps) to allow staff to preform certain functions most web apps are opened in web browsers and start with http in the URL. SharePoint is a popular corporate website application. Non responsive websites are designed for larger screens only and do not adapt to smaller screens.
The correct term is “Website”.
Pros:
Cons:
A Responsive website/web app is a website that is designed form the start to work on mobile phones, tablets and desktop screens. They are often opened in a web browser on a desktop, tablet or mobile device. A shortcut can be added to the web browser or desktop/tablet/phone main screens for quick access (they appear like and app but require the internet to run).
The correct term is “Responsive Website” if the navigation bar in the web browser is visible or a “Responsive Web App” when the navigation bar is hidden.
Pros:
Cons:
A hybrid app is mobile or tablet application that is compiled and published to app stores and often has a web based component built into it (e.g maybe a google map, web view of frame loaded from a web server) alongside native on device user interface elements. Many popular apps like Facebook, twitter and google plus are Hybrid Apps as the commonly used data portions of the app can be updated centrally but the static back end user interface and syncing is handled by the native part of the application.
Depending on the application and how is is designed it may or may not work fully when the device is offline.>/p>
The correct term is “Hybrid Mobile App”.
Pros:
Cons:
A Native app is 100% designed to not require any web based views that download from the internet, the app may download resources from the internet but this happens in the background. Native Apps are published to App stores and are made public to everyone or you can distribute apps inside a corporation only (often called ad hock distribution). Native apps are usually developed for a particular mobile or tablet operating system version (e.g iOS8 or iOS9) and once released for that version they often don’t need updating and remain available to users with the same older version of that application.
Native App
Pros:
Cons:
Here is a very rough table comparing the differences.
| Publish to App Stores | Works Best On | Use Offline | Runs in Background | Quick Launch Icon | Speed | Multimedia | Accessibility | Support Issues | App Updates | Data Updates | GPS, Gyro, Camera, etc | |
| App (Desktop Software/Widget) | Possible | Desktops | Yes | Yes | Yes | Fast | Best | Hearing, Vision, Bandwidth | Windows Version, Old Software Versions/Formats | Yes | Possible | Possible |
| Website Application (Non Responsive) | No | Desktops | No | Partial | Yes | Mixed | Limited | WCAG, Bandwidth | Client Browser Issues | Possible | Possible | Possible |
| Responsive Website, Web App | No | Mobile, Tablet, Desktop | No | Partial | Yes | Mixed | Limited | WCAG, Bandwidth | Client Browser Issues | Possible | Possible | Possible |
| Hybrid App | Yes | Mobile, Tablet, Desktop | Partial | Yes | Yes | Limited/Mixed | Limited, Best | WCAG, Hearing, Vision, Bandwidth | Client Browser Issues, New Phone Operating Systems | Yes | Possible | Possible |
| Native App | Yes | Mobile, Tablet | Yes | Yes | Yes | Fast | Best | Hearing, Vision, Bandwidth | New Phone Operating Systems | Yes | Possible | Easy |
Disclaimer: Programmers and website developers can find ways to make things happen and move data from one place to another so the table above is a rough guide. “A web app COULD talk to a mobile devices GPS” (maybe via newer web browsers or via 3rd party plugins). Also tablets are hard to pin down as the Microsoft surface is a tablet but I consider it to be more like a desktop device as it can run desktop software too.
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