Developer interview 'Heitor Ferreira'

Introduction

I'm currently finishing my Msc in Computer Engineering in Universidade Nova de Lisboa, focusing on distributed and mobile systems. My thesis is about participatory sensing, the collaborative use of mobile devices as sensor networks. It is a growing research area with very interesting potential.

Previously I've worked for Vodafone Portugal, mainly with the Vodafone Live! service, where I've learned a lot about mobile industry, and learned to love it. I've been working on this area since 2001, and I think it has a lot offer, from great value services to social change.

I like to have a deep hands-on knowledge, so I've been experimenting with different platforms. Java is my main workhorse, along the years I have used Java in its Java Card, ME and SE (client and server-side) incarnations. I've also worked with Symbian C++ and Nokia's Series60.

Why mobile widgets?

I think mobile widgets finally deliver on the promise of the mobile Internet. WAP was a failure because it tried to transpose the desktop way of doing things to a very limited device. New generation browsers make web-surfing possible but still it is a pain to key in an url, or search for something. Widgets, and widget stores, make discovery and access simple.

On the development side, widgets are definitely simple to code, but most of all you benefit from the support of a huge development community. And adding standardised access to phone features will make this platform even more interesting. I definitely will look into into it further in the future.

What inspired you to write the Widget?

I've tried to find something that really leverages mobility. It is not so easy to find open content that has a good geographic and cultural coverage. Being a Last.fm user for a few years now, I particularly like the events database, where you can find concerts in remote parts of the planet (such as the Lompoul desert).

It seemed a nice application to have with you on the go. The name 'OnTour' tries to capture that idea, together with the music focus.

How have you developed the Widget?

My main focus was to create a good user experience, getting rid of the cumbersome cursor emulation and providing a fast and intuitive interface. I think these are essential aspects for any mobile application.

My girlfriend Maria Dias is a graphic designer and she created the layout and helped me with some usability aspects. Great team work, for which I'm thankful (and figuring out how to split the gold).

This was my first widget (and first proper javascript work also), so It was a bit of experimental work and learning along the way. I've started with the Betavine tutorials, particularly the Twitter and Flickr demo widgets, got some online books and kept a browser window opened on Google all the time.

I've decided for Aptana IDE because I'm at home with Eclipse, and I'm quite happy with it. A control versioning system is a must for any development work, even if I'm coding alone – which was the case. Opera browser and the Dragonfly debug environment are essential tools.

For testing I've mostly used the Nokia RDA service, which works very well. But you'll always find some surprises when testing with an actual phone.

A first version of the widget, complete but buggy, took me about a week. I needed another week to, test thoroughly, make it solid and improve layout . Since this was my first intensive work with javascript, I've struggled a bit with some of its idiosyncrasies, but now we're friends – I have a good experience with programming languages, which makes it east to move to a new one. I've decided not to go for any framework because I already had enough of a learning curve to climb.

Have you any advice for other developers?

Being new to javascript I can give advice to other newbies. What I can say is that the tutorials are the place to start, definitely use the opera tools, and any problem you face probably has an answer in a forum somewhere.

Betavine forums are quite helpful for issues specific to mobile widgets. Don't cut and paste, try to get a firm grasp of the concepts, javascript can, and will, be tricky. And, again, test your work on actual phones.

What’s good and what needs improving?

For me, the Aptana+Opera+Dragonfly+Nokia RDA combo worked quite well for development. Again, the tutorial are a good start. I did not use the Widget packager, honestly it's usefulness wasn't obvious.

How did the BV website help you?

I've used the Betavine forums, and found good information there. It is still growing and I believe with time it will become invaluable.

One thing I think could be improved is the way information is organised and searched in the forum. Maybe threads could be split into themes and search scope could be focused on specific themes. In the long run, ease of information discovery is essential for a strong community

Do you have a demo/video clip?

Not yet. Since I'm packing for holidays don't expect a screening debut before September, but I'll work on it.

What is your favourite app/Widget on Betavine and why?

Maybe Crossroads because of its slick interface. Being able to get a taxi number on the move can be quite handy. Nice one.

What feature would you like to see brought to the Betavine platform/community?

A community wiki would be great, and some more best practices and technical articles.

How did you hear about the Vodafone-Betavine Widget competition?

I've applied initially for the Vodafone Portugal Widget competition, which suggests applying also to this one. And glad they did!