iPhone and OSx
cisco
I have a quick question. A while back i talked to someone during an agile meeting(sorry but i cannot remember the name) and he was developing applications for the iPhone. I'm just wondering what you guys think about this as a target for application development or simply as a web-page target.
Also i know some of you guys use an apple while working in .NET. How have you guys found this combination. My job is 100% in windows/.net but i'm looking into other platforms and am wondering about getting a mac but still do a lot of my work in .NET/windows.
I hope this is on TOPIC as it seems that most people who(i've read) seem to be development in windows within osx are agile enthusiasts.
Nathan Eror
> Hey guys,
>
> I have a quick question. A while back i talked to someone during
> an agile meeting(sorry but i cannot remember the name) and he was
> developing applications for the iPhone.
I think that was me, Nathan. I work on an iphone photo sharing site http://www.natuba.com/
.
> I'm just wondering what you guys think about this as a target for
> application development or simply as a web-page target.
With the existence of the iPhone SDK, the iphone is a wonderful
platform for app development. That is, if you can wait until June
when the new firmware is released and the iphone app store is
launched. Until then, there is no sanctioned way to write apps and
distribute them to users. The beta SDK is free and available now, but
you won't be able to distribute the app until later. This TechCrunch
article sums up the details fairly well:
If you're strictly a web developer, developing an app for the iphone
is a completely different experience. It's much like developing a
desktop app for OS X. It uses many of the same frameworks, and it
requires that you write your code in objective-c. Personally, I think
objective-c is a great language, and the Apple development environment
with XCode and Interface Builder is *at least* equal in scope and
quality to Visual Studio (oh, and it's 100% free). Apple has yet to
port any of the iphone toolchain to Windows, and I doubt it will ever
happen. So, you'll need a Mac to develop a native iphone app.
If you can't wait until June, you don't have a mac, or you don't want
to develop native iPhone apps, Safari on the iphone is a great
platform for web development. It supports almost everything the
desktop version of Safari supports (javascript, most of CSS3) with
some minor differences due to the form factor and interface. If
you're used to developing webapps for IE (especially IE6) Safari is a
welcome breath of fresh CSS3 air. Apple has a ton of great docs on
its developer site that explain the intricacies of webapp development
on the iphone in detail:
http://developer.apple.com/webapps/
You'll need an iphone for testing, but you can develop freely on any
platform since it's just a webapp. You can get a fairly close
representation of your site in the iphone by using Safari 3 on the
desktop (mac and windows), but the engine is still slightly
different. If you're using a mac, and you've downloaded the free
iphone SDK, there's an iphone simulator app that gives you a near
perfect reproduction of the environment.
>
> Also i know some of you guys use an apple while working in .NET.
> How have you guys found this combination. My job is 100% in
> windows/.net but i'm looking into other platforms and am wondering
> about getting a mac but still do a lot of my work in .NET/windows.
Nothing there. I've heard good things about Mono, and I use VMWare
Fusion every day for cross platform browser testing. When I'm running
vmware full screen, I'd think I was using a Dell or something if my
laptop weren't so pretty. I've noticed no real speed issues when
running Windows XP in a VM, but I haven't been compiling any code.
> I hope this is on TOPIC as it seems that most people who(i've read)
> seem to be development in windows within osx are agile enthusiasts.
Technically not on topic, but this list is pretty quiet and could use
a little stimulation. :)
Bryan Ray
Sent from my iPhone
Sammy Larbi
Also i know some of you guys use an apple while working in .NET. How have you guys found this combination. My job is 100% in windows/.net but i'm looking into other platforms and am wondering about getting a mac but still do a lot of my work in .NET/windows.
I work in .NET/Windows on my Mac Book Pro. I don't bother with the VM, as it's been too slow for me and the amount of work I do in Windows (probably about 50%). I run Vista through bootcamp.
I haven't had any issues to speak of, but I do notice a constant annoyance and wishing I was in Mac OS. Dunno if that's Windows causing it, or something subtle in the way it performs. =)
If you're never going to use the MacOS, there's no way to justify the extra cost. But if you plan on using the same machine at work and home, and do 50% of your computing at home outside of .NETabble things, it can be pleasurable. If I could run all the dev tools I need on Mono, I'd go all-Mac. I've only tried hello-world .NET program in it, not SQL Server, VStudio, etc. That would be sweet though.
Sam
Sammy Larbi
I have a quick question. A while back i talked to someone during an agile meeting(sorry but i cannot remember the name) and he was developing applications for the iPhone. I'm just wondering what you guys think about this as a target for application development or simply as a web-page target.
As for target for app development, the company I'm working with right now is considering it (and not just for web apps). They are almost exclusively a Microsoft shop, so that's saying something.
I don't know if they're right, but time will tell.
Sam
cisco
I think that was me, Nathan. I work on an iphone photo sharing site http://www.natuba.com/
On Apr 16, 2008, at 12:28 AM, cisco wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I have a quick question. A while back i talked to someone during
> an agile meeting(sorry but i cannot remember the name) and he was
> developing applications for the iPhone.
.
With the existence of the iPhone SDK, the iphone is a wonderful
> I'm just wondering what you guys think about this as a target for
> application development or simply as a web-page target.
platform for app development. That is, if you can wait until June
when the new firmware is released and the iphone app store is
launched. Until then, there is no sanctioned way to write apps and
distribute them to users. The beta SDK is free and available now, but
you won't be able to distribute the app until later. This TechCrunch
article sums up the details fairly well:
http://tinyurl.com/2nxq6u.
thanks for all the information nathan. It looks like my company is going to take the plunge and get me a mac book pro, and an iphone, in order to r&d this. It's great that i can run windows, in some fashion, on the mac because 80% of my work will be done in windows.(actually more like 90 for atleast a while).
I'll definitely have to take a look at your site when i finally get my hands on the iPhone. I think we might wait until june since there is a rumor they will be releasing their next version at that time. I'll be using the simulator for a while unless i can get at&t to let me 'upgrade' in june for nominal fee. Hey it doesn't hurt to ask =)
btw, do you simply use CSS for laying out the webpage on an iphone or do you check their browser on the server side? Just curious.
Initially i'm mainly going to focus on providing web-based features on the iPhone and then move into applications. I've just seen some code examples in objective-c and wasn't really sure what to make of it. i'm glad somone says it's a nice language. I'll have to make that judgment, of course, but it screamed ugly at the very beginning. Having said that i'm not only concentrating on the iPhone as i am going to 'support' Pocket PC and, maybe, the blackberry but my main goal is the iPhone for now.
Nothing there. I've heard good things about Mono, and I use VMWare
>
> Also i know some of you guys use an apple while working in .NET.
> How have you guys found this combination. My job is 100% in
> windows/.net but i'm looking into other platforms and am wondering
> about getting a mac but still do a lot of my work in .NET/windows.
Fusion every day for cross platform browser testing. When I'm running
vmware full screen, I'd think I was using a Dell or something if my
laptop weren't so pretty. I've noticed no real speed issues when
running Windows XP in a VM, but I haven't been compiling any code.
Technically not on topic, but this list is pretty quiet and could use
> I hope this is on TOPIC as it seems that most people who(i've read)
> seem to be development in windows within osx are agile enthusiasts.
a little stimulation. :)
:) i realized it was off-topic when i wrote that last sentence but i had to throw it in hehehe =)
cisco
Even though i'm going to be doing less than 50% on the MAC my boss is looking to support other platforms in the future so he is actually eager to do it. I'll defiantly be running sql server, visual studio and other tools so they want to get me the beefiest mac book out there.
I'll be visiting the Mac store this weekend to, hopefully, get a live demo of vista inside a mac. If the news shows some guy being beat down by 100 people with apple shirts then my demo query did not go well!
Sam
Nathan Eror
> or do you check their browser on the server side? Just curious.
We serve a completely different set of HTML, CSS, and Javascript for
the iphone/ipod touch by sniffing the user agent on the server side.
The backend code is exactly the same, but the templates and other
presentation related resources are specific to the iphone. Being a
mobile device (with a SLOW data connection) a lot has to be done to
optimize file size and minimize HTTP requests. Not to mention, about
60% or so of the CSS I write for the iPhone only works in advanced
browsers like Safari. CSS 3 selectors (I use descendant and attribute
selectors a lot), border images, text dropshadows, rounded corners
(border-radius), multiple backgrounds, even simple things like min/max
width/height don't work in browsers like IE6/7.
For reference, here's a wiki page with information and links regarding
the CSS3 features:
http://www.kudit.com/wiki/index.php?title=CSS
> Initially i'm mainly going to focus on providing web-based features
> on the iPhone and then move into applications. I've just seen some
> code examples in objective-c and wasn't really sure what to make of
> it. i'm glad somone says it's a nice language. I'll have to make
> that judgment, of course, but it screamed ugly at the very
> beginning. Having said that i'm not only concentrating on the
> iPhone as i am going to 'support' Pocket PC and, maybe, the
> blackberry but my main goal is the iPhone for now.
Objective-C is just a very thin OO veneer over C. It supports dynamic/
late binding and some other niceties you get in languages like
Smalltalk, Python, Ruby, etc that the "statically typed" languages
don't give you. The language is very simple (especially if you
already know C and an OO language), and Apple's libraries/frameworks
do a lot of heavy lifting for you. ObjC's syntax is heavily inspired
by Smalltalk, so it doesn't look funny to Smalltalk developers. ;)
I wish you luck. The iphone is a really fun platform to develop for
whether you're writing web apps or native apps.