LebGeeks

Nabs

Member

Coding for iOS, where to get started?

Let's start from the ground up - presuming I know absolutely nothing at all about programming. Let's say I'm just another mobile gaming fan who just got the cliche dumb old "I can do better" idea. Where do I get started? Also, can I code from Windows? I heard there were some workarounds for that. Didn't bother search, as thought I'd ask the experts on this directly. So?

jsaade

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

If you want to go native then you need to use xcode which is a mac only IDE.
A lot of platforms exist that would work from windows (like marmalade which is c++ and compiles to bytecode to work on ARM).
It depends what you want to do.
My suggestion is to go with xcode learn objective c.
When you sign up as an apple developer you get a lot of resources and docs to guide you through.
https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

Nabs

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

Will give it a go, but can't afford a Mac at the moment. Xcode is Mac only. No 3rd party alternative?

m0ei

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

There's actually some tricks to make it work on Windows on a VM.

You can give this a try http://ipodtoucher55.blogspot.com/2010/ … ndows.html never tried it though.
I don't think you can use the latest Mac OS version. Also be aware that you're going to face some problems and it will definitely be slower than usual.

Nabs

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

To make it work, I'll need a computer with virtualization capability, which I currently don't. Will search online, maybe there's a way somehow. Gamesalad, anyone tried it?

Kassem

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

To make it work, I'll need a computer with virtualization capability, which I currently don't. Will search online, maybe there's a way somehow. Gamesalad, anyone tried it?

Don't waste your time, you cannot get it to work without a PC that supports virtualization.

Nabs

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

#Kassem, I'm not trying to. What are my OTHER options?

jsaade

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

you can buy cloud subscriptions to work on the cloud (http://www.macincloud.com/), I have not tried the service.
The only alternative is to learn a totally different framework.
Like I said, there are many cross platform frameworks that would compile to ARM (iOS, Android) and even desktop.
Of course that means a different language than Objective-C.
It depends on what is your objective and what background you have.
Here is a small list:
- Adobe AIR: Actionscript 3 language compiles to web, ios, Android, Desktop
- Corona SDK: Lua, compiles to iOS and Android
- Marmamalde: C++, compiles to iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Desktop
- Haxe: Language HAXE, compiles to iOS, Android, Web, Desktop
...

There are so many options, note that each option might have a license for Production and some times, the license would be the same as getting a Mac Mini :)

Nabs

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

@jsaade, thank you. What about Android then? What do I need to get started with that?

m0ei

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

@Nabs Just download the Android SDK and Eclipse and you're ready to go. Do a google search and read the instructions on how to set an emulator and how to install the ADT plugin.

Nabs

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

@m0ei, will do. Thank you!

jsaade

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

The most important step when working with android SDK is installing a hardware emulator (intel based) and not rely on the software simulator. This step is sometimes neglacted by most developers but it will increase the speed of your tests.

tufi2

Member

Re: Coding for iOS, where to get started?

I have the same question but I already have a mac and i know some programming as i took in college up to the Object Oriented Programming course in C++ language. I am taking data structures next semester which i believe will also be helpful. So on scale of 1 to 10, how hard is it for me to learn iOS development? Also it will be helpful if someone would refer a book that is for beginners. Thanks