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Titanium: The Application That Redefined Application Development
By Joe Purcell
Expert Author
Article Date: 2011-05-10
Application development has historically been defined by a platform basis. One doesn't just do application development, they develop an application for Windows, Linux, or Macintosh. Now, the "baby boomers" have arrived: iPad, iPhone, Android, Galaxy, Blackberry, Playbook, and many other mobile and tablet platforms. This makes app development a nearly impossible task, because even though some of those platforms use the same OS, development has to be done specifically for each.
Allow me to introduce Appcelerator's free open-source cross-platform native application development environment, Titanium Developer. Though cross-platform development isn't a new idea, Titanium is the first to do it with such breadth and do it well. I'm going to focus mainly on mobile development, but here's why using Titanium makes sense:
1. Time
First, JavaScript is a very expressive and a high level language, thus, making it quicker and easier to write in than Objective-C and Java. So, even if you are fluent in Objective-C and have written iPhone applications, JavaScript can help you write quicker. Perhaps that doesn't hold a lot of weight, but for most developers, they likely know a bit about JavaScript, and little or nothing about Objective-C, so they can start developing with something they have a handle on.
Second, if one wanted to develop an Android, Blackberry, or desktop application, porting code to those other platforms is easier. Appcelerator has done a great job of making most features that are available on different platforms normalized into Titanium. So, if you write a feature to make an XHR call, the code will be the same on any platform. However, there isn't a 1-1 transferral of code across all platforms. This is unfortunate but it makes sense because each platform is very different. The iPhone platform is significantly more developed than Android with native features like navigation views, table editing, and more. So, the point is that time is saved by being able to reuse at least some of the code, if not a majority.
2. Performance
Since the program is written in JavaScript, isn't there performance loss? No, and that's just it--Titanium Developer takes the program you write in JavaScript and interprets it into the native language of the platform, as though you had never written it in JavaScript. This is the benefit Titanium has over other programs such as PhoneGap and the rest (here's a longer list).
Other programs allow you to write the program using HTML/CSS and the like, but the app itself will then run inside a webkit browser that is then packaged with the app. This is available in Titanium with the "webView" object, but the app then won't then look, feel, or perform like a native app.
Now for desktop apps, the performance benefit is there too. Appcelerator states that "Titanium apps take up to 1/10th the memory that AIR apps do." If you have used an Adobe AIR app, then you know this can be a huge benefit. This is also significant considering the additional features that Titanium has over other environments like Adobe AIR, which we will go to next.
3. Functionality
Because Titanium Developer interprets your JavaScript program into the platform's native language it has access to the native functionality of the platform as well. Whatever an app on iPhone or Android can do, your app can do. This alone sets Titanium above the rest.
I've done most the talking about mobile which has a lot of functionality restrictions compared to desktop. Well, the same goes for Titanium. There are a lot more features available to Titanium desktop, such as being able to incorporate Python, Ruby, PHP, JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3 into your app. The possibilities are endless when you consider being able to integrate web-based features.
So, let's recap. Cross-platform development before Titanium required learning multiple languages, having multiple source codes, and compiling the program on each platform. There have been some alternatives, such as PhoneGap for mobile and JDK or Adobe AIR for desktop, but the performance, breadth of cross-platform compatibility, and native functionality weren't available. Now with Titanium, (nearly) all problems are solved. Application development can now be just what it is--developing applications. Let Titanium worry about the "for Windows, iPhone, Blackberry, etc."
About the Author:
Joe Purcell is a technology virtuoso, cyberspace frontiersman, and connoisseur of Linux, Mac, and Windows alike.
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