A lot of people are trying to understand how to write applications for WebOS so I figured the very first tutorial I would create for this site would be a simple walk-through of creating a very basic application. I am going to go a bit deeper than just a basic application like they cover in the Hello World example. The application created in this walk-through will explain the concepts behind creating a basic application, explaining what each part is and why you have to do it that way. I will also introduce the Depot in this walk-through. Are you ready?

The Tools I Use
Everyone will have their own set of tools that they use and they do not have to be the same as mine, however please note that I am not going to give the terminal commands for pushing the app to the emulator etc. My tools do that all for me and allow me to focus on developing my application.

The very first thing you should install is the Palm Developer SDK which you can get from the Palm Developer Website. For my Editor I use Komodo IDE with the very nice add-on that Templarian has created. If you do not have a license for Komodo IDE you can use the free version of Komodo Edit. You can download the add-on on Templarian’s website and installing is as easy as dragging and dropping on your editor window. The last thing I use is a file that you import into your editor that provides code completion for your editor. You can download this file here. Please note that you want to click the Download link and download the rawmojo.zip file. Installation instructions can be found on the same page. You can ignore the tool-kit as the tool-kit is the ancestor of the add-on.

Once you have these things installed you are all ready to start developing your first WebOS application.

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After buying the Palm Pre last month and discovering Pandora Radio I just had to find a bluetooth headset to use with the device that would allow for listening to music and for making/receiving calls. I was using some cheap wired headphones that I would have to unplug every-time a call came in. I would also have to unplug the phone from the computer and try to answer the call. Most of the time I would either be too late answering the call or I would hit the wrong button and ignore the call. I needed an easy way to answer calls and listen to music. Introduce the Plantronics Voyager 855.

I was browsing around the internet looking for a bluetooth headset that would first of all support music. Finding one that came in stereo was even better. I am not sure I would be able to listen to music in one ear leaving the other wide open to surrounding noise. At first I thought I was going to have to wear one of the over the head style headsets like I had owned in the past. However Plantronics has engineered a headset that allows you to use it in one ear, or you can attach the adapter that gives you the earbud for the second ear. So let’s move on to the review.

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With the release of the Palm Pre it seems like everyone is trying to learn how to develop applications for the platform. I have found some great resources on-line for using if you wish to learn how to develop your own applications.

I will start off by talking about The WebOS Book because that is the first thing I looked at. When I first looked at the book it was in the “Rough Cuts” phase which means the data is bound to be incorrect as they are still working on finalizing the book. The book was a mess when I first bought it, I tried to get through the first few chapters but I could not because the code would not work. In order to make the code work you had to do your research and that was tough to do since the on-line documentation was still in rough shape. I decided to stop using the book and wait until it was closer to a final version before writing a review on it, The other day they removed the book from the “Rough Cuts” phase. As of today I really am hoping that it is not on the way to the printing press because there are still quite a few errors in the book which I have reported in the Errata. Currently I have only gone through the first 100 pages of the book however I have found 15 errors which equates to be 1 error for every 6.6 pages. There are 2 different Errata sections for you to browse. The Confirmed Errata and the Unconfirmed Errata.

I am not going to say that this is a bad book however if you are just starting out you might find it to be quite difficult to make your way through this book. I have had to spend a lot of time debugging code that is in the book and also reading between the lines to fill in some code that was not provided when it should have been. If you do happen to fall upon one of these errors in the book I would suggest you check the Errata to see if someone else has hit the same problem and what they did to solve it. The WebOS Book has been very good at teaching you how to use widgets and explaining why they are having you do what they are. It seems to be very easy to follow. It is structured well so far meaning it is teaching you as if you knew nothing about Mojo or Pre Development which is the way it should be.

As I stated above I am not going to say that this is not a good book. I do however feel they have rushed the process a bit too much because I have never read a technical book that went to production with an error every 6.6 pages. Spelling errors are one thing but when you are missing code or providing code that will not run, that is another. I am actually a bit upset that my printed version will have this many errors. I mean I bought the “Rough Cut” version which means I paid to help find and correct errors. I think this is a way the publishers are trying to save money. They do not have to pay several people to scour the book and find all the errors. People are paying to do that job. I am really hoping that this book is not on the way to the printing press but what can you do?

The next resource that I have found to be useful is Palm’s Developer Website. You can find documentation on the individual widgets as well as the Mojo Framework which will come in handy. The documentation is not in a book form so it is more of a reference you will find yourself visiting quite often.

The last resource has been the most valuable. The Unofficial IRC channels which you can find on the Freenode IRC Network. I have gotten help from several people there. The regulars in #webos are very knowledgeable when it comes to Mojo, if you are looking for deeper knowledge about the internals of the platform you can check out #webos-internals which goes beyond that and dives deep into the internals of the platform. I like IRC for help related questions because generally you get an answer in real time, like instant messaging except your message is seen by everyone in the room. Everyone on the IRC channel have been a great help to me as I go through the learning process.. For that A BIG Thank You goes out to the following people (no particular order): rwhitby, Templarian, blau-mikeDG, oc80z, PreGame, Pre101, PuffTheMagic, anyone else that I might have failed to list here.

One thing that I want to mention which is not a resource is actually a toolkit for use with the Komodo IDE. Templarian created the toolkit and is also working on a plug-in which makes development for palm WebOS much easier. Check it out by going to his website.

Over the last few weeks I have been fiddling with trying to learn how to develop applications on the WebOS platform that Palm released on their Palm Pre. If you are not familiar with WebOS it is an operating system that Palm, Inc. has created for the Palm Pre and their future line of phones. From this point forward they are not going to release a phone that is not running WebOS. This means that the old Palm OS is going away. You use technologies such as JavaScript, CSS, HTML to develop applications on the devices. Mojo is the JavaScript framework that allows you to access core functionality of the phone such as the location services, calendar, contacts, etc.

I have been looking through the applications source code for the apps that are bundled with the operating system when you buy a phone so that I can learn. I have also been reading the “rough cuts” version of the WebOS Book. The book has not been much help since it was in “rough cuts” which means it is still being written and a lot of the code was out of date as the framework continued to evolve as the book was being written. I believe the book is in production and if not will be soon. The latest version of the PDF still has some errors but they are not complete show stoppers while learning. I do suggest that if you own the book or are buying the book that you check both the Confirmed Errata and Unconfirmed Errata as well because I have found several errors even in the latest version over the last 2 days.

As I begin to learn more and more about the Mojo framework you will be able to find tutorials on my site. I will probably start out with the List widget because that was the first widget they created and the rest of the framework evolved around it. I want to dig into the API a bit deeper before I start writing anything to make sure that I completely understand how to use it and do not mislead anyone.

I do have my first app planned however I cannot reveal what it is going to be for fear someone else will steal the idea and release before I do. However if you are a designer and would like to partner with me on the project we could split the profits. I am learning more and more about CSS as I have been going but I have not used it on a daily basis so what you can do in 5 minutes would probably take me 20.

I am honestly amazed at the things you can do with JavaScript and am loving the fact that I can use this as an excuse to learn a lot more about it.bs