Hello my friends. A few days ago I was giving a presentation about hybrid apps at the Sthlm.js meetup at Stockholm. And since I am still on that topic, I wanted to create a post about it too.
What are hybrid apps?
First, let’s figure out what a hybrid app actually is.
Most often it could be described in this way:
It is an app created with web technologies – HTML, CSS, Javascript. This app is displayed in a native WebView layer. It has access to the native functionality. It can be distributed via an App store as a native app. It can be Google Play, Apple AppStore or any other. And finally, it feels like a native app.
I think the last part – feeling like a native – needs some attention.
After writing my previous post about Sass, I have realised that it is important to write a little tutorial on Command Line usage too. It will complement the recent post exploring why to use the command line and will let you to easily use the Command Line tools and its utilities. Let’s get started.
The Command Line program will be used a bit different depending on which operating system you are using – Linux, Mac or Windows. In this article I will only discuss *nix systems – i.e. Linux and Mac since they both have lots of things in common when working with a Command Line. Windows are a bit different (though the principles are the same) and therefore a separate article is coming about it. If you are using some other operating system, I will assume that you have enough knowledge about it and will be able to apply the principles discussed in this article too.
Starting the Command Line
The biggest difference of the Command Line on Mac and Linux is that on Mac it is called Terminal and on Linux it can be called Terminal, Konsole or even more specific, like Gnome-konsole. Kidding. If you dig deeper you will be able to spot the differences, but once again, the basics described in this tutorial do not differ much.
First, let’s start the Command Line. Terminal on Mac is located in the Applications folder. Alternative is to just type “Terminal” in the spotlight search.
On Linux, say Debian, you need to start the Konsole program. More detailed info on starting the Command Line on various distributions of Linux can be found here.
When you have started the Command Line, you will be presented with a black or white (depending on the configuration) window with the input prompt. It can look like this:
or this:
Now, you can write various commands into the prompt to:
As promised in the previous post, I will continue digging into the Command Line world and introduce the tools that could virtually improve your life as a developer. Today we will explore Sass – a CSS preprocessing tool. You will judge yourself if Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets (Sass) justify the name.
Note: This article assumes that you know what CSS is. If not, checkout this splendid tutorial introducing the CSS and HTML to you.
Note: This article assumes that you know how to use the Command Line, at least a little. If not, please check this post to get started.
Sass – flexible CSS
Today we will take a deeper look into one of the CSS preprocessing languages – Sass. Why should you use it? How? When? All answers here.
But first things first: what is Sass? In one sentence: more flexible and “easier” way to create CSS files. And you will see what do I mean in just a second. Hang on.
