Foreword

Mobile applications have become ubiquitous and are present in almost all of today’s business domains and life aspects. With the increasing prevalence of handheld computing devices (e.g., smartphones), the growth of mobile applications is expected to continue, which will have an impact on academia and industry expectations and standards. That means we, as communities, need more proficient developers to design and develop more efficient, reliable, and secure mobile applications and relevant technologies and platforms.

This book will be a great addition to the literature to serve as a practical reference for students, researchers, and business communities who have an interest in learning about mobile computing and its features and design aspects. The book is written in a concise and conversational style that is easy to read and understand even though it discusses a great deal of very difficult relevant concepts from technical and design perspectives. The book talks about introductory topics such as the potential and the features of mobile general-purpose systems as well as very advanced concepts, including performance and security of mobile applications and the roadblocks expected during their evolution process.

Another interesting area the authors cover in this book is the quality, practicality, and effectiveness metrics that should be considered when evaluating mobile software systems. The solid research experience professor Sarrab has on mobile development and software system research speaks volumes about the effectiveness, practicality, and quality of the research findings introduced in this book.

I believe that this will be a good contribution to academia, research, and industry communities. I believe readers who are interested in getting familiar with and exposed to the mobile application’s development life cycle and challenges will like it and will use it as a valuable reference. In academia, the book can also be used as a textbook for a course on mobile computing literacy and quality. I anticipate that a broader audience from industry-oriented communities, people who want to educate themselves on the topic, and also users who plan to take advantage of mobile applications to run their business operations and expand their customer populations will find this book to be very interesting and useful.

In short, the book has a lot to offer to both communities from academia and industry and is a valuable addition to the literature. It is written in a very practical and concise manner that makes it easy to read and a great one to carry as a reference.