Method and system for platform-independent application development

Abstract

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that when executed cause the implementation of a method is disclosed herein. The medium has instructions for facilitating the execution of at least a first hybrid application on a first device, the first hybrid application including commands related to platform-specific functionality and platform-independent functionality of the first device. The method includes initializing a loosely-coupled native engine configured to receive commands from the first hybrid application and to facilitate platform-specific functionality on the first device. The loosely-coupled native engine includes a webserver module. The method includes receiving commands from the first hybrid application, wherein at least one of the commands includes a device command to be converted to a corresponding platform-specific code prior to execution of the platform-specific code. And the method includes creating a handler to serve the device command and facilitate execution of the corresponding platform-specific code.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device compatible with a first platform, the device comprising:
 a memory configured to store local files;   a loosely-coupled native engine comprising:
 a webserver module; 
 a command dispatch system connected to the webserver module and configured to pass commands to, and receive commands from, the webserver module; and 
 a plurality of handlers configured to handle commands from the command dispatch system and serve a resulting code; 
   wherein the webserver module of the native engine receives a unique instance identifier (ID) upon initialization of an instance of the webserver module, and the unique instance ID is transmitted to the memory;   further wherein the webserver module is configured to reject communications that do not include the unique instance ID; and   a hybrid application programmed in a platform-independent development environment, wherein the hybrid application comprises commands to be transmitted to the webserver module of the loosely-coupled native engine, and wherein the commands comprise the unique instance ID of the webserver module.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1  further comprising a raw socket server communicably connected to the command dispatch system. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the loosely-coupled native engine is configured to transmit and receive communications from a remote server comprising a synchronization server, and wherein the received communications comprise synchronization data. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the loosely-coupled native engine is configured to transmit and receive communications from a remote server comprising a license server, and wherein the license server is configured to verify that a license associated with the loosely-coupled native engine is valid. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the loosely-coupled native engine is configured to transmit and receive communications from a remote server comprising an auto update server, and wherein the auto update server is configured transmit updates of the loosely-coupled native engine or the hybrid application to the device. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the resulting code from the plurality of handlers is executed by the device. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1  wherein the loosely-coupled native engine is configured to parse commands from the hybrid application, detect commands comprising JavaScript, and send the commands comprising JavaScript to the webserver module. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that when executed cause the implementation of a method, the medium having instructions for facilitating the execution of at least a first hybrid application on a first device, the first hybrid application comprising commands related to platform-specific functionality and platform-independent functionality of the first device, the method comprising:
 initializing a loosely-coupled native engine configured to receive commands from the first hybrid application and to facilitate platform-specific functionality on the first device;   wherein the loosely-coupled native engine comprises a webserver module;   receiving commands from the first hybrid application, wherein at least one of the commands comprises a device command to be converted to a corresponding platform-specific code prior to execution of the platform-specific code; and   creating a handler to serve the device command and facilitate execution of the corresponding platform-specific code.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 8  further comprising:
 transmitting commands from the first hybrid application to the native engine, wherein the first device comprises a thin client device which comprises the first hybrid application, and a remote device is communicably connected to the thin client device, the remote device comprising the loosely-coupled native engine; 
 transmitting the corresponding platform-specific code from the native engine to the thin client device; and 
 executing the corresponding platform-specific code on the thin client device. 
 
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 9  further comprising:
 receiving commands from a second hybrid application of a second device of a second platform, wherein the first device is of a first platform; 
 converting the commands from the second hybrid application into a corresponding platform-specific code related to the second platform; and 
 transmitting the corresponding platform-specific code related to the second platform to the second device for execution. 
 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 8  wherein:
 initializing the loosely-coupled native engine comprises receiving an instance ID corresponding to an instance of the webserver module; 
 receiving commands of the first hybrid application comprises verifying that the commands comprise the instance ID of the webserver module; and 
 rejecting commands that do not comprise the instance ID of the webserver module. 
 
     
     
         12 . The computer readable medium of  claim 8  wherein the created handler comprises a peripheral handler. 
     
     
         13 . A method of executing platform-independent applications comprising:
 initializing a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) server at a device;   assigning a unique instance identifier (ID) to the HTTP server;   receiving commands corresponding to a hybrid application, the commands including the unique instance ID, and at least one of the commands including a device command to be converted to corresponding platform-specific executable code prior to execution of the platform-specific executable code;   verifying that the commands include the unique instance ID; and   initializing a handler to serve the device command including initiating execution of the corresponding platform-specific executable code.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the hybrid application includes commands related to platform-specific functionality and platform-independent functionality of the device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising converting the commands to the corresponding platform-specific executable code using a lookup table. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising converting the commands to the corresponding platform-specific executable code by retrieving conversion information from a database. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising transmitting the unique instance ID to a client. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the commands are received from a client via a raw socket server. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising using a web browser to interpret and execute a subset of the commands that may be executed without platform-specific functionality. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 receiving the hybrid application at a remote server; and   pushing the hybrid application to an application distribution center for distribution to a plurality of clients.