A method includes executing, by a mobile computing device, a mobile application received from a provisioning source including at least programming code and at least one structured document that together describe at least a portion of functionality provided by the mobile application. An abstraction layer executing on the mobile computing device populates a Document Object Model (“DOM”) structure that at least in part represents the miming state of the application. The abstraction layer presents a device-independent application user interface responsive to the DOM structure. The application receives a user input from within the rendered application user interface. The programming code receives, from the abstraction layer, the input event. The programming code referenced by the DOM structure reconfigures the DOM structure to update the running state of the application. The abstraction layer updates, the device-independent application user interface, responsive to the reconfiguring of the DOM structure.