4 replies to this topic

[agnl666]

Hi. To preface this I want to thank everyone in this community who help me when I need it. My main topic though is app development. I want as much info as I can receive on this topic. I have a few key questions.

- What language/s does the iphone, android phone, or blackberry use?
- Do you know of any good tutorials on the topic?
- May I have links on any information I can receive on these?

Thank you. I was also wondering how does app development differ from writing programs on a laptop or desktop computer?

[TCristoforo]

Hi agnl,

Making an app for iPhone(or even iPad) is relatively simple. Obviously the more complex of an app that you want to make, the more complex the code will get. To start, iPhone uses Objective-C, which is very similar in syntax to C and C++. If you know either of these two languages you should be fine.

To get started, I recommend a book called "Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK". It has plenty of examples to start you off and is a very good read on top.

As for the differences between Desktop Applications and iPhone Apps, from experience I can tell you that you will have to get your app approved by Apple, which includes a list of roughly 70 things that must be a certain way(it sounds worse than it is). Additionally, I haven't had much luck with making custom controls, but Apple may 'decline' your development of them and force you to use their custom library as it already works.

I hope this helps :)

[agnl666]

Thank and you and yes it does help a lot. I know c++ and java so hopefully i will be able to pick up objective-c quickly. I was also wondering if anyone is aware of any way to work on an iphone app on a computer running linux?

[TCristoforo]

I don't have much experience with it, but I believe you *must* have an Intel Mac.

[so1i]

Android is written completely (I think) in Java, as are the apps. You can download the DevKit as well as an emulator to test your software on, if this was what you decided you wanted to develop for. This also has the advantage that you don't need a Mac, and can develop it on any platform and there are no costs (not sure what is involved in creating iPhone apps, cost or otherwise).