Jeanine Swatton gave a presentation on using Ruby for iOS development. She discussed native iOS apps using Objective-C, hybrid apps, and Ruby-based options like RubyMotion and MobiRuby. She provided overviews of these tools and frameworks, how to install and use them, and demoed sample apps built with RubyMotion and MobiRuby. The talk aimed to show developers how Ruby could be used for mobile development and expand the Ruby community.

1. Linkedin: October 18, 2012
2012 Fukuoka Ruby Night:
The New World of Ruby
Ruby and iOS: An Inside Look
Jeanine Swatton

2. More about me…
Ruby/iOS Developer, QT, C, C++
Senior Lecturer, Assistant Professor
Engineering experience:
Government, Surveillance and Video Conferencing
Organizer, Silicon Valley Ruby on Rails Meetup
Software Product Manager
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3. Agenda for today
1. Why go mobile?
2. Benefits of Native Mobile App
3. mRuby + iOS
4. RubyMotion
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4. Mobile Trends
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5. Why go mobile?
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6. Mobile Trends
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7. Mobile Trends
Multiple Platforms for Native
apps
• Languages - Objective C, C, C++, .NET,
Java, Adobe Flash
• Apple - XCode 4.2, iOS SDK 5.0
• Windows - Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer
Toolkit w Mobile 6 SDK
• Blackberry - Tablet/Native SDK, Runtime for
Android Apps
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8. Web app or Native app?
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9. What about Hybrid?
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10. Definitions
• Native:
• App designed to run on a device’s OS and
machine firmware. (Example iPhone Apps run
on iOS platform, Symbian for Nokia.
• Web app:
• All or some parts of software are downloaded
from web. Coded in browser-rendered
language – HTML, javascript
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11. Definitions
• Hybrid: Combination of offline and online
functionality within native app 3 forms:
1. Requires you to be online to get data or information
2. Has native interface then pulls data via API’s into app and
may sync with database. Ex. Rhapsody – Gives you
offline screen you can access saved content – online –
you have full access to music you can stream.
3. Uses mobile site to display info within an application shell.
Done using tools such as PhoneGap. Tools provide
interface using jafascript to native API’s – then allows a
webview to interact with native functionality such as
cameras, GPS and device info
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12. Mobile Trends
App development comparison
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13. Mobile Trends
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14. Mobile Trends
Solution?
Web Apps w/ use of core web technologies: CSS3,
HTML5
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15. Mobile Trends
When would you need a native app over a
Mobile-Web based app?
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16. Native Apps
Native app advantages:
Better control over the User Interface
Platform API (application programming interface) access not
available to web apps
Network usage is lower for native – access network for data
rather than web app completely loading at run-time
Offline functionality
Users more willing to download app than downloading from
the internet
Native app disadvantages:
More maintenance with multiple platforms
Have to update app then submit it
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17. Which App?
Which type of companies would be a better fit for
native, Web or both?
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18. Which App?
Native approach more used by:
Gaming, social networking, lifestyle & entertainment,
gadgets, travel and local
Web based approach:
News and weather publishers. Sometimes financial
services, retail and shopping due to need for user
analytics
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19. What strategy do companies also use?
Tech Startups/Companies new to the mobile side
(depending on funds)
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20. Why Ruby on Mobile?
• Simple transition from Web
applications to mobile applications
• Grow the Ruby community even more!
• Support of mRuby
• Think outside of the box!
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21. Intro to iOS Development
In 5 minutes
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22. iOS Development
What you need to know
• Objective C – superset of C
• Delegates – one object depends on
another object to perform functions.
• Protocols – declare methods to be
implemented by any class
• ARC – Automatic Reference
Counting/Memory Management
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23. iOS Development
Application/Directory Structure
File types:
.m – Main file (equivalent to C++ .cpp file)
.h – Header file (equivalent to C++ header
file)
.framework
.plist – property list files
.xib – “Nib files”
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24. RubyMotion
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25. RubyMotion
More info:
• Toolchain
• Based on Rake
• Combine Objective C & Ruby
• Subscription license
• Memory management
– Similar to ARC
• Debug files available
• iOS 6 compatible
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26. RubyMotion
Installation:
• Purchase Commercial License
• No Xcode needed
• Install RubyMotion
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27. RubyMotion
Create and run:
> motion create testapplication
> cd testapplication
> rake
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28. RubyMotion
Demo
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29. MobiRuby
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30. MobiRuby
Developed by:
Yuichiro MASUI
http://mobiruby.org/
His plans:
Will be adding it to Android!
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31. MobiRuby Stack
Thanks to: Yuichiro MASUI
Your code
mruby – muby – mobiruby - mobiruby -
cfunc cocoa common ios
mruby
IOS
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32. MobiRuby
Thanks to: Yuichiro MASUI – feedback from the creator
• mruby-cfunc
– C function bridge for mruby
– Based on libFFI
• mruby-cocoa
– Garbage collection
– Cocoa bridge for mruby
• mobiruby-ios
– Xcode integration
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33. MobiRuby
Installation:
Xcode
> git clone git://github.com/mobiruby/mobiruby-
ios.git
> gem install nokogiri
> gem install xcodeproj
 sh ./setup.sh
 open mobiruby-ios.xcodeproj/
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34. iOS Development
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35. MobiRuby
Demo
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36. Thanks to:
Yukihiro Matsumoto, “Matz”
www.github.com/mruby/mruby
Laurent Sansonetti, RubyMotion
www.rubymotion.com
Yuichiro Masui, MobiRuby
www.mobiruby.com
Design/Animation by:
Jana Antonova: www.antonova.me
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