Writing Mobile Code Essential Software Engineering for Building Mobile Applications [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Introduction

This chapter is called "Step 0" because in a book that is primarily about how to go about building mobile device applications some thought must first be given to the question, "What is the mobile application going to do?" It is important to always have an appropriate set of end goals for the application being developed; these define the scope of the application. Goals may change as you learn more about your target device's capabilities and limitations and new or clarified requirements emerge through the testing of your application, but there always needs to be a destination that your application development is traveling toward. Without scope and goals, your mobile application will flounder in a sea of mediocre features. It is far better to identify the few important things mobile device users need from your application and to do them exceedingly well than it is to try to cram everything into a single all-purpose application.

The purpose of this short chapter is to help you properly scope your mobile application's design. For a mobile application to be successful, it is important that the application have a specific focus. Productive mobile device applications tend to be used in short spurts to get data, modify data, or request services. Having the correct scope of features enables users to quickly get to the information and services they need. A mobile application that has a large number of forms that the user can navigate through and explore for 20 minutes probably lacks the proper focus; 20 seconds should be the timeframe you are thinking about. This also holds true for mobile entertainment applications as well; a great mobile game must be easy to use, quick to start, and be able to be played in short spurts.