Mobile Programming Basics

Question

I`m willing to start mobile programming ... I want to know where do I start, which language to use and where to find good tutorials.

Shall I work on Android platform, iPhone platform or Windows platform?

Answer 1

It largely depends on your current developer skills and experience.

If you've already written some C#/VB.NET code you'll be VERY comfortable developing for Windows Phone. Go download the free WinPhone dev tools from Microsoft and then download and read Charles Petzold's free eBook "Programming Windows Phone 7".

If you're a seasoned C and/or Java developer, you'll probably prefer developing for Android. The Linux foundation has recently published some tutorials too.

If you're a seasoned C/C++ developer and are willing to spend the time and effort to learn Objective C, then iOS might be right for you.

If you've not done much coding at all, then you've a learning curve ahead of you. Out of the three, I would argue that WinPhone is possibly the easiest to get into, followed by Android and then iOS.

The other factor to consider is your market. iOS and Android are currently FAR more popular than WinPhone because they've been around for longer. However, the WinPhone app marketplace is growing very rapidly and its rate of growth is likely to increase as more and more developers with existing experience of writing .NET code realize how much fun developing for WinPhone is :)

Answer 2

I think we can't really answer which platform you want to use but you maybe have to look which programming language will be the best for you. with what languages do you have already some experience?

as an android programmer I would ofcourse say Android.

But there are 3 languages you can mainly choose from:

• iPhone: Objective-C
• Windows Mobile 7: C#, VB
• Android: Java

You'll have to look at all languages maybe to choose the one you like most.

And About tutorials, Android has several great ones, I think the starting point of every Android programmer is here: http://developer.android.com/index.html

This website has some very nice tutorials and also samples codes, best practices.

For Windows Mobile I Would go: http://create.msdn.com/en-US/ If I remember correctly there are even some nice video tutorials

and the iPhone, well for starters you need a mac to even start programming for iPhone. and you can sign up here: http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action

Where you can also find some nice recourses.

Besides all that you may also take the costs in consideration. Let's say you want to program for iPhone, you will have to buy a subscription for about 99 euros a year and every app you create has to be reviewed by apple to look if it is allowed into the app store.

With android this is a different story, you don't pay yearly costs but you have to pay the first time you want to upload an app to the market (not sure what the amount here is)

I can't tell you what the costs for Windows Mobile are.

I hope you can make a better decision now!

Answer 3

Q: "I`m willing to start mobile programming ... I want to know where do I start, which language to use and where to find good tutorials."

A. For iPhone -> Objective-C ( Programming in Objective-C 2.0 by Stephen Kochan ). You will need a MAC to write iPhone Apps. iPhone developers Cookbook by Erica Sadun and Apple Documentation. Stanford , Utah teach iPhone App development and these lectures are shared on iTunes check these out definitely helpful. For Android -> Java. Eclipse IDE runs on both Mac and PC there is a plugin ADT which you install. For Windows 7 -> Refer Windows Mobile Development - Where to begin?

Q: Shall I work on Android platform, iPhone platform or Windows platform?

A. Refer bitcrazed answer.

Answer 4

I strongly prefer that you read Android Application Fundamentals carefully. Although it gives some specific knowledge about Android phones, but it is greatly helpful in making you understand the implication of developing for a mobile device.

If you wish, just ignore the parts where it tries to focus on Android, and understand the others. On the contrary, if you take Android parts of it into consideration too, then you'll have an example side-by-side too.

Answer 5

If you decide to work with android have a look at the following sites.

http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html - You'll be getting the ADK from here and it has a few good tutorials and the api reference for android.

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/12/android-development-101-%E2%80%93-a-tutorial-series/ - a gently paced tutorial to get you up and running, from setting up your dev environment to creating first apps.

http://www.xda-developers.com/ - Huge resource for android apps and development with a lot of knowledgeable people

http://stackoverflow.com - Read through previous questions and ask your own (though I suspect you all ready know about it :P)