Mobile Computing

In CS 260, students create apps for mobile devices in environments like Android, iOS, or Windows Mobile.

In the latest iteration of Valpo’s course in mobile-app development, Professor Ryan Freeman-Jones will introduce a programming environment for mobile applications that allows students to solve programming puzzles in a single language — and then translate them into versions that work with all of the major mobile operating systems.

“Usually, mobile-app courses are taught using the various native languages of all the individual platforms,” says Professor Freeman-Jones. “But it can be very expensive for companies to recreate an app for each platform, especially as platforms and versions proliferate. The environment we’re using in this course allows development for all the programs in one fell swoop. Applications developed in this framework will also work in any standard web browser.”

The seven-week course is taught primarily online, with an optional once-a-week lab session on campus where students have an opportunity to ask questions and get face-to-face instructor support.

Topics include the model, view, controller paradigm, user interaction, hardware device interaction, and common patterns of application behavior.