Colossal open source mobile framework lets you write code once, run on many devices

David M Williams
Wednesday, 01 April 2009 07:08

Business IT - Technology

The claim is so impressive you might mistake it for an April Fool's prank, but this time it is true: Rhomobile have released version 1.0 of their open source mobile framework - "Rhodes" - to build native mobile apps for any smartphone.

No doubt many of us remember the promise of Java – “write once, run everywhere.”

While Java never made it to being the lingua franca of the desktop, it really did find its place among the mobile phone world. Yet, writing Java-based games for Nokia and Sony-Ericsson mobile phones is a different ball game to writing productivity applications for iPhones, BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile units, Symbian and Android platforms.

Each of these has its own unique software development kit. The BlackBerry does use Java but with its own specialised mix of libraries required. And, as you might expect, the tools to develop Windows Mobile apps are Windows specific, the tools to develop iPhone apps are MacOS specific.

Rhomobile aim to simplify all this and let developers focus on the core construction of their mobile software, with the Ruby-based Rhodes framework promising to take care of all the work that lets your code compile and build for the entire range of today’s smart portable handhelds.

The framework constructs true native applications (not just web apps) and can maintain locally-stored data as well as use GPS, PIM functions, the camera and other specific features of the target hardware it runs on.

To encourage developers to try it out, Rhomobile have announced a contest, with the prize being $10,000 for the best mobile app using Rhodes. Registration closes April 15th and the final code must be submitted within one month following.