Foreword

I remember how I first became acquainted with John Wargo. I was speaking at a PhoneGap Day conference in Portland, Oregon, and I looked over to see Brian LeRoux speaking with someone I didn’t recognize. I leaned over and asked a friend, “Hey, who’s the guy in the suit?,” to which the friend responded, “Oh, that’s John Wargo. He’s an analyst.” The suit set John apart at this nerd gathering, as most of the attendees were wearing t-shirts with funny slogans. This was before the time when Mark Zuckerberg popularized the “coder wearing a hoodie” look.

If I remember correctly, my t-shirt had a pig on it with a speech bubble that said, “Mmmm . . . bacon,” and as I reflect back on that time, it wasn’t even a suit John was wearing—it was just a blazer. However, it’s not an exaggeration to say he was the best-dressed man at the conference, but I digress.

“Oh boy!” I thought, “An analyst.” You see, I had just recently transitioned from the telecom industry to full-on software development. In telecom, analysts do not have the greatest of reputations. Then I talked to John. He proceeded to ask me insightful questions about my work on PhoneGap and in the Apache Cordova community.

Folks, at this point, I’m resisting the urge to insert a don’t judge a book by its cover joke, and I’ve never been good at not making a bad joke.

John went on to become an important member and educator of the Apache Cordova community and to write not one, but four authoritative books on the subject, not unlike the one you hold in your hands now on Progressive Web Apps.

One of the oft-cited tenets of the PhoneGap/Cordova project was to ultimately “cease to exist,” but the other less-mentioned tenet was to “make the web a first-class development platform.” Now that promise of being a first-class platform has been fulfilled by Progressive Web Apps. Being a major part of the Apache Cordova community for so long puts John in a great position, as he has been there every step of the way to see the evolution of the mobile web.

Should you happen to bump into John at a conference or at a book-signing someday, come prepared with a recommendation on where to get a fresh, delicious doughnut. This is one of the two traits we share in common. The other being a dry, sardonic wit.

You have made an excellent decision in picking up this book. If I were just starting on my learning path to mastery of Progressive Web Apps, there are not many folks I would trust more than John to get me there. I only wish that you could hear John’s voice while you are reading this book like
I did.

—Simon MacDonald, Developer Advocate, Adobe
November 2019