Android Vs iPod Programming

[davidthefat]

A toughy here, so today is my lil bro's b-day and he is getting an iPod Touch for his b-day from my parents. So I thought that I can dev for it, I was already planning on getting an Android phone next month (Gah, we sound so spoiled right now...) Well any way, I always been a Apple hater, (ironically, I use my ipod nano alot...) but you have to think there is alot more users on the iPod network to dl your app/game. but its alot more cheaper and less competition on the android network. Some of you might say, make identical apps on both the networks, but think about it, with what money or time? Also think I would have to learn objective c for the ipod, which I would hate to do... but it IS more documented than the android.

Android
Pros:
-Non-Apple or Microsoft
-Open Source (Im just a Linux fan)
-Cheaper to publish
-It has less competition

Cons:
-Less of a user base
-Less documentation
-Different devices, might behave differently

iPod
Pros:
-Bigger Audience
-Same standard hardware
-More documentations

Con:
-Its Apple
-More competition
-Have to learn Objective-C
-Costs More to publish

[Innerscope]

Con:
-Its Apple

Haha c'mon dude, how is that a con? I can understand open source being a pro, but that I cannot.

Also think I would have to learn objective c for the ipod, which I would hate to do... but it IS more documented than the android.

Objective-C is really not that hard to learn if you know a decent amount of C and C++. It would take some time getting used to, but you can have an app running in a very short period of time. Aside from that you can write your iPhone/iTouch apps in C and/or C++. (the latter on top of Obj-C as Obj-C++)

I'm not sure on the android. I hear that it's all Java programming, which is cool too. Java's a pretty easy language to work with. (Although I can't say I've ever tried making a game in Java, but from what I've heard it's not too bad)

[davidthefat]

Objective-C is the main language for Apple development, I personally don't like Apple, yea the iPod has made a break through in the mp3 industry but IDK I just don't like them for the fact of Mac, Im for Microsoft and Linux on the OS battle, on the game system battle, Sony all the way, but mobile is Google. Yea I am strange but thats just me


Yea Java is fine, I have to take the AP test in Java, so why not?

[Innerscope]

Objective-C is the main language for Apple development, I personally don't like Apple, yea the iPod has made a break through in the mp3 industry but IDK I just don't like them for the fact of Mac, Im for Microsoft and Linux on the OS battle, on the game system battle, Sony all the way, but mobile is Google. Yea I am strange but thats just me


Yea Java is fine, I have to take the AP test in Java, so why not?

So you don't like Apple because you don't like Mac OS X? or because you don't like Obj-C? But you like Linux? So than you favor certain UNIX-like systems over others even though they are all fundamentally very similar. My point being is that if you're a Linux user, you'd be much more at home on Mac OS than on a Windows based OS. Anyway, who's at war here? battles? Can't we all just get along.

BTW if you're already taking courses in Java, then it sounds like Android is the way to go.

[Live-Dimension]

Some other points - (I'm not bias here, it's just what I know to be true.)

Android
Cons:
-Less of a user base
-Less documentation

Both of which will change over time. If not the documentation, then help which you'll be able to find on the interwebs. Also, Don't forget that competition will increase, and if anything, it's going to be harder now while the OS is still somewhat new while everyone tries to become the "standard app to do x/y".

iPod
Con:
-Costs More to publish

AND there's no guarantee they'll even let your app on the appstore in the first place!

Since when does open-source matter for devving? I fail to see how it makes it any easier to dev for. Perhaps a little, but it's not really of advantage. It's not like you can really edit the source code of the phone!

[avansc]

^ *facepalm*

"Objective-C is the main language for Apple development, I personally don't like Apple, yea the iPod has made a break through in the mp3 industry but IDK I just don't like them for the fact of Mac, Im for Microsoft and Linux on the OS battle, on the game system battle, Sony all the way, but mobile is Google. Yea I am strange but thats just me


Yea Java is fine, I have to take the AP test in Java, so why not?"

errrr okay... what about Mac dont you like. i mean there are many many many Macintosh computers. have you owned one? (NO, using one at school does not mean you know what they are like, thats like saying i know what married life with a woman is, because i fuck dirty prostitute(who get USED by everyone) on the weekend. ) anyways. like inner said, cant we just get along. apple does not force you do do anything. neither does MS or Linux.

oh, and just FYI, the AP test wont get you anything more than 1-3 college credit hours. it will not give you a leg up in programming.
and when you start programming more. you will see that the language/syntax just fades into the background. its not important to know whether a loop
looks like
for(int a = 0;a < 10;a++) or for i = 1 to 10 or what ever. just that you can see that it loops 10 times.

[Falco Girgis]

Lets be fair here. If Objective-C is a con for iPod development, then Java should just as much be a con for Android development.

I mean seriously, Google is fucking you over with a level of abstraction there. Performance-wise, and system programming-wise, you can expect to get better performance out of the iPod with Objective-C than you can the Android with Java.

I was more pissed to hear that software on the Android was exclusively Java than I was to hear about ObjC and the iPod.

[avansc]

Lets be fair here. If Objective-C is a con for iPod development, then Java should just as much be a con for Android development.

I mean seriously, Google is fucking you over with a level of abstraction there. Performance-wise, and system programming-wise, you can expect to get better performance out of the iPod with Objective-C than you can the Android with Java.

I was more pissed to hear that software on the Android was exclusively Java than I was to hear about ObjC and the iPod.

eerrr lets not forget about the JNI. no reason you cant run NATIVE C/C++ code in java.

[zeid]

Con:
-Its Apple

If this is your view on Apple then it is unlikely you have a Mac. How do you plan on programming for iPhone without a Mac? You might be better off programming for Android purely on resources alone.

-Different devices, might behave differently

This^ is actually a huge deal, you are programming for different screen sizes for one! Not to mention different touch capabilities, etc. android phones.

I have to say from my limited iPhone programming experience, the iPhone SDK is very well put together and offers alot of flexibility. Having to use a particular programming language for either platform wont matter much as has been said. I personally made a C++ wrapper for my iPhone setup as I felt more comfortable with it. This also adds to portability (I will likely re-use many of my classes on PC projects).

I can't say much for Android, purely because I have never used it. I'm sure it's a good package though with a nice toolset.

I would like to make a point and say that circumventing the tools like I have done with my C++ wrapper is going to really slow your production speed, abstraction is there for a reason... Trying to work around the tools provided rather then with them is going to cost you more time then learning the language.

[davidthefat]

I know that programming isnt the language or the syntax, its how you solve the problem, the bottom line is its all math.


and about me not having a mac... I can hackintosh it

[avansc]

errr... so what you're really saying is.. im a cheap bastard, and thats why i hate Macs. but its okay. cause i'll break the eula and install an OS that was not made for my hardware.. so QED.

[eatcomics]

Jailbroken Ipodtouch has less documentation than the android, believe me I know... I went that route, and it was shit.... I like the feel of mac, I don't like the price, or the hardware lock... anywho... I say go for the android.

oh and the android is yours, and the ipod is your brother's

[OmegaGDS]

One of my friends from school just got in the newspaper for making an app for the Iphone/touch. If you have ever heard of Phun, its like that. its a physics program. I can't remember what the name of the actual app he made is though...

[OmegaGDS]

Oh yeah, my lil' bro got an Itouch and I thought about programming stuff for it... that never happened. I'm too lazy

[eatcomics]

One of my friends from school just got in the newspaper for making an app for the Iphone/touch. If you have ever heard of Phun, its like that. its a physics program. I can't remember what the name of the actual app he made is though...

did your friend use a mac and the apple SDK or the open source one for windows... cause I couldn't find any good recent documentation for the windows one, made me sad