Although implementation of TravelSafe will not take place until after the group has conducted market research, this post is dedicated to discussing and justifying the different tools and technologies that will be used in the implementation stages.

As discussed in an earlier post [1], TravelSafe will be a web-based application, run in the browser, in order to prevent the need to develop an application for each individual platform that may be desired. If, for any reason, this decision is changed at a later stage due to feedback from potential users and experts, the group has also discussed the technologies that would be used for each platform.

Web-Based Application

Members of the group have previous experience of developing web applications from both university modules and extra-curricular interests. For the group, the main choice is between Notepad++ and Sublime Text and is simply a matter of preference for each developer.

Notepad++ is available on Windows and Sublime Text is available across Windows, Mac and Linux. Both make use of colour-coded text for variable identification and each piece of software has their own set of shortcuts to try and increase a user’s productivity and ease of use. Notepad++ is free to download and Sublime Text 2 has an unlimited evaluation period though both Sublime Text 2 and 3 require a license for continued use. Both text editors support multiple file types, including CSS, HTML, JavaScript and PHP as well as many others and there is a range of support for both. Finally, both editors provide testing through functionality to run code in a specified browser.

Mobile-Based Application

Android

In order to develop an Android mobile application, the group will make use of the software and software development kits (SDK) available at the Android developers website. Android Studio is the Android specific Integrated Development Environment (IDE), complete with the separate SDK tools (some are already installed, some can be added in from the IDE) and emulator images for the different devices and Android platforms.

The reason for using this set of software is that it has been developed specifically for Android and therefore would allow the group to develop platform-specific code in the correct framework, as well as provide emulator testing on a range of devices and platforms so that TravelSafe can be released with a range of versions supported. There is also a large amount of documentation and examples readily available through the Android Developer website. Previously, members of the group had experience using the Eclipse IDE with Android Developer Tools (ADT) which provides many of the same features[2], however Android Studio is now the official IDE and would allow the group to receive constant IDE updates and support.

Apple

As with Android, Apple provide an iOS Dev Center providing resources and download links for the software needed to create iOS applications, including reference guides, sample code and information articles. Apple applications are coded in the Objective-C language or using Swift, the new programming language for iOS and iOS X [3]. In order to develop iOS applications, a Mac computer running OS X 10.9.4 or later is needed, along with the latest version of Xcode and the iOS SDK [4]. The Xcode download includes the Xcode IDE, compiler, iOS simuulator, SDKs and the Swift programming language [5].

The reason for using this specific set of tools is the same as with Android – it would allow the group to write platform-specific code as well as provide simulated testing and plenty of help documentation and examples, as well as regular updates to the software itself so that the code is up-to-date.

Windows

Again, like with Android and Apple, Windows provides a dedicated development center. Windows applications can be written in a variety of languages including C# or C++ with XAML, C++ with DirectX  and JavaScript with HTML/CSS. A single project can then be used to create apps across the range of devices running Windows and for Windows Phone.

The IDE that would be used to develop Windows application is Visual Studio, and they recommend the latest version – Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows and is available for download from the Dev Center [6]. As with the Android and Apple specific IDEs, the Visual Studio IDE provides all the tools that may be needed to develop a Windows application, and again is the group’s choice due to the range of tutorials and documentation provided.

Written by Millie.

This post represents that the group has considered appropriate economic and social Contextual Factors that directly link to the marking criteria, which are vital to the further development of the product after this project has finished. This is above and beyond what is expected from the marking criteria. 

This post additionally represents Engineering and Design decisions. These are based on the Contextual Factors and literature review which the group have tailored the product to incorporate. This means that the app’s future is based upon considerable research, fluent design and well planned engineering steps. This post illustrates how and why the product has been influenced in its design, technological requirements and engineering. It also shows how the engineering and technology of the app is likely to be apparent in its future testing. 

References

[1] The One Percent, 2015, Determining the App’s Platform [Online] [Available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/onep/2015/03/22/web-based-or-mobile-based-app/] [Last Accessed: April 2015]

[2] Android Developers, 2015, Android Developer Tools [Online] [Available at: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adt.html] [Last Accessed: April 2015]

[3] Apple Developer, 2015, Swift: A new programming language for iOS and iOS X, “Introducing Swift” [Online] [Available at: https://developer.apple.com/swift/] [Last Accessed: April 2015]

[4] iOS Developer Library, 2015, Start Developing iOS Apps Today, “Setup”, [Online] [Available at: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/referencelibrary/GettingStarted/RoadMapiOS/] [Last Accessed: April 2015]

[5] Apple Developer, 2015, Xcode: The complete toolset for building great apps., [Online] [Available at: https://developer.apple.com/xcode/downloads/] [Last Accessed: April 2015]

[6] Windows Dev Center, 2015, Get Started, “Get set up”, [Online] [Available at: https://dev.windows.com/en-us/getstarted#2] [Last Accessed: April 2015]

Written by Emily.