I find both Java and the Android APIs ugly, overengineered and more importantly - boring! I'd rather write a webapp in HTML/CSS/Javascript than a native Android application any day.

What I'd like to see is applications for things like Android becoming packaged up "web pages", with platform-specific extensions to access the native APIs. Considering webkit/V8 are already bundled, it'd make a lot of sense...

I tried doing a simple application with Javascript + native hooks for the iPhone, using UIWebView + hooks to native functionality. I did it like that because the UI needed fast updates if available.

It was a horrible experience. Mobile Webkit is buggy and inconsistent and comes with restrictions; and trying to emulate the native look&feel ... it's like trying to provide a native look an feel for a Java AWT interface, running on top of IExplorer 6.

I don't see it happening, and I don't wish to see it happening. Just build the damn thing with whatever native platform the phone comes with, and leave the platform-specific extensions out of WebKit.

Thanks,

Isn't it up to the platform to give web applications the "native" look and feel, though? If an application is just standard HTML controls, it can't be difficult for (eg) iOS to make them look like iOS controls, surely?

If mobile webkit is as "buggy and inconsistent" as you describe, than I'd rather see that fixed than have developers write for a completely different language/API for each platform they want to target.

HTML/CSS/JS are open standards and supported relatively consistently across desktop operating systems and mobile devices. I just think it makes a lot more sense for each platform to expand that when they need to, rather than reinvent the wheel with, for example, their own button API every time.

Yes, because that worked so well for Swing.

And WebKit != WebKit. The fragmentation of WebKit versions (and bugs) on different mobile phones is a growing problem:

http://www.quirksmode.org/webkit_mobile.html

I'm not an Android dev so I'm not positive, but can't you already do that with Android's WebView pointing to local apk assets and Java -> JS bindings to control the API? You don't totally escape Java, but it looks like you can really reduce it.

Java hate has nothing to do with being cool. I can honestly say that it is a horrible language because I have programmed in several dynamic languages and the amount of grief you have to put up with in Java to get simple things done is unbearable when you have seen how much easier things are in dynamic languages. How many people are developing missile guidance systems on android? Most people write small applications to automate some aspect of their lives and forcing people to use Java for that kind of stuff is just beyond me.