Writing apps for Firefox OS phones
Improving Life
If you run this game, your first complaint will pertain to the efficiency of the program. The program works well with small cultures, but it slows to a crawl as soon as the number of cells grows. I have likely overlooked ways of making GoL more efficient and the JavaScript more optimal. Feel free to give the code a bash by downloading it [11] and playing with it.
The second problem is usability. This app is screaming for a zoom function in edit mode. Even when the cells are 2x2 blocks on the canvas, they are tiny. No fat (or even thin) fingers will be able to place a cell accurately on the playing field without a stylus. Again, feel free to make your own changes and improvements.
Conclusion
Although the GoL app is far from perfect, it shows how easy it is create an app for the Firefox OS mobile platform and illustrates some of the ways you can implement the assets Mozilla makes available.
If you already develop web apps using HTML5, you're basically done. If not, HTML, CSS3, and jQuery are well-documented and relatively easy technologies to master, so you should be able to begin creating your apps in no time.
Infos
- Firefox OS Simulator add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firefox-os-simulator/
- Assets you'll need to get started: http://buildingfirefoxos.com/downloads/
- Building blocks: http://buildingfirefoxos.com/building-blocks/
- Mozilla styleguide: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/styleguide/products/firefox-os/icons/
- How to write a good manifest: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Apps/Manifest
- Conway's Game of Life: http://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Main_Page
- jQuery: http://jquery.com/
- jCanvas: http://calebevans.me/projects/jcanvas/
- Firefox Marketplace: https://marketplace.firefox.com/
- Firefox Marketplace developer hub: https://marketplace.firefox.com/developers
- Code for this article on Gitorious: https://gitorious.org/firefoxos-game-of-life
« Previous 1 2 3
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.