As the title says, I’m working on a book. I signed the agreement yesterday so I’m finally be able to share the news with all of you. It’s been in the works for a while, so getting it to the point where it’s something I can talk about is a pleasure.

The book is with Manning Publications and the title is Mobile Web App Cookbook. As of right now, it looks like it’ll be out in the first half of 2012.

It’s going to be multi-author book dealing with, you guessed it, mobile web app development. I’m the lead author, setting the tone for the book and providing the framing chapters. As of now, I’m planning on introducing the factors driving mobile web app development; providing an in-depth examination of the full range of technologies in play and then wrapping up the subject in a closing chapter. In addition to my contribution, several other authors will provide detailed examples using technologies like Sencha Touch, jQuery Mobile and pure HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.

It’s going to be a serious, technical introduction to an increasingly important branch of web development.

I’ll be sharing more details as I get them.

Why Mobile?

While I’m happy to be writing a book at all, I’m especially excited by the mobile focus of this project. To me, getting people and organizations excited about mobile web development and the continued evolution of the web platform is vital. I believe that a free and open web is a force for positive change in the world. For the web platform to remain viable and win out over app stores and other proprietary, closed ecosystems, people need to have the knowledge and tools to develop world class, cross-device applications for mobile devices. This book will help people do just that.

That’s pretty cool.