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Language Advice

First off I’d like to acknowledge the many of you for really opening up my eyes to what these awesome devices can do. It really still does amaze me how some of you folks here at XDA can really create some truly incredible applications and programs. In fact many of you have inspired me to attempt to learn a little bit about programming myself and I have a few questions from the pros in here as to how I should start.
I do have some very basic, mostly self taught skills with SQL, Visual Basic 6.0, tcl (tool command language), UNIX, and a few other types of software but I’m not very skilled at all in any of them. I’m basically a small step above a ‘user’ but I learn fast, this stuff seems to come easily to me, and I have decent instincts on what to NOT try without consultation or research.
Anyway I’d like to become less dangerous (or more depending on how you look at it) and really learn one language on my own at first then maybe take some real classes. I’d like to gear or lean my learning towards a language that I can use to create PPC programs since that’s my main interest these days but I’m getting a little bit of conflicting info\recommendations. I’m being told to start playing with C and that I can then pretty much learn anything after that. I have someone else saying to just skip the C and start with C++ which is a little easier and has more ‘libraries’ so it isn’t as tedious to do certain things. I then have a guy who knows me and my capabilities somewhat well and said I should just jump right into .Net and the rest will fall into place.
So where would you start if you were basically a beginner and wanted to jump right in? I’d like to minimize the ‘curve’ on learning a new language and focus on one that will get me up and running and having fun fairly quickly and not have to learn one to learn another then a third which will get me where I want to be. I really appreciate all of your input in advance guys and gals!!
Dave

.Net is a great platform but you have to remember it is dependant on the .net framework. For this reason some people to use other languages such as c or c++

joel2009 said:
.Net is a great platform but you have to remember it is dependant on the .net framework. For this reason some people to use other languages such as c or c++
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Thanks joel2009!! Looks like C++ is the way I'm going to go. I appreciate your help!!
Dave

You makes your choice........
If you need to use all the fancy .NET objects then it is C# or VB only. Don't bother with the .NET version of C++, as the type castings you have to use to get it to work makes the code hideously unreadable. Dont forget that the target version of the .NET runtime has to match that of the PPC it going to run on. What version is installed on your PPC ? Run \WINDOWS\CGACUTIL.EXE and it will cough up the results.
If it is a simple application use Embedded C++ and stick to the old WIN32 programming model. It is a bit of a pain to master, but your application will run like a bat out of hell. Respond to the WM_xxxxxxx messages sent by the OS to your app, and use the primitive HDC graphics routines to draw to the screen. It's a bit old hat these days but the compiled .EXE will run on nearly any PPC. (ARM compatable)

Upcoming developer: which platform to concentrate on?

Hi there,
it seems to me most people here develop for WinMo devices, but maybe you can help me out nonetheless.
Currently, I'm a web developer in PHP (+ usual stuff). I studied computer science, so I'm not a newbie when it comes to coding I learned a lot of C and (unfortunately only) basics in Java and C++. I never got my hands on C# or VB and stuff - the only experience in developing applications for Windows Mobile was a small Texas Hold'em Clock (basically a simple countdown and some additional stuff) I did a few months back. I pretty much google'd everything I needed and copy'n pasted the code into Visual Studio - not really developing, but those where my first steps
I consider getting started in development for mobile devices like BlackBerry, Windows Mobile devices, iPhone, Symbian and/or Android. The problem is: I don't know which one of these might turn out useful on when I might be applying for a job later (which is basically my whole point doing this, I don't want to do web development for the rest of my life). Any thoughts?

What type of job do you want to do? first find out what the sort of jobs you want to do require, many software houses use c# so you could develop for windows mobile, if they require java then try android. Iphone uses objective c which isn't used outside of the mac world so unless you want to work for a company which creates mac programs maybe you should try something else.
Then again if you just want to make some cool apps and actually make money from them I would say iphone is the easiest to get you product to market then android with wm coming last.
also if you learn java then you can quickly pick up c# and vice versa so I don't think it really matters either way.
there are of course many other options, if you happen to want a job that requires python you could get the excellent upcoming n900 from nokia

Cant offer advise on that, but what you can do is write a better app for Facebook, the MS one SUCKS compared to the iphones (eeek i said the dirty word............)

ms's also sucks compared to the x1 panel facebook which again is not as good as iphones :S

Want to be a Dev

I am really wanting to become a developer and build android apps and possibly get into Kernel tweaking, ROMs, etc. What would I need get to learn Java and Coding and such. The closest I've done before is App Inventor.
Books, Web Guides, Even paid books are good suggestions.
I want to give back to XDA

Same Here
It'd be interesting and I got the summer ahead so it's perfect timing to start preparing.

my advice, just start trying to have fun and play around. If you make it a very formal approach, IE. taking classes first, reading a ton of books without ever coding, you will lose interest. I would get android programming for dumbies and just start making small stuff.

pyrator said:
my advice, just start trying to have fun and play around. If you make it a very formal approach, IE. taking classes first, reading a ton of books without ever coding, you will lose interest. I would get android programming for dumbies and just start making small stuff.
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That sounds good to me, I was thinking about getting a book and just following around with it and like you said. Should I set this all up in OSX or would Windows or Linux be the best environment for this? I have 2 Lappys to use for this

If you are planning to use Eclipse, you can install it on OSX, linux and windows. I have personally programmed in both windows XP and 7, and linux. I had some minor problems with W7, but nothing I could not fix with a bit of googling ;D
My advice:
Start here
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
And go through all the framework topics
You also have sample code (http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=sample) and some basic tutorials (http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=tutorial)
Hope it helps!

aitorTheRed said:
If you are planning to use Eclipse, you can install it on OSX, linux and windows. I have personally programmed in both windows XP and 7, and linux. I had some minor problems with W7, but nothing I could not fix with a bit of googling ;D
My advice:
Start here
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
And go through all the framework topics
You also have sample code (http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=sample) and some basic tutorials (http://developer.android.com/resources/browser.html?tag=tutorial)
Hope it helps!
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Click to collapse
Thanks! I heard there are some things that work flawlessly on Linux and won't work on OSX or Windows. I'll probably be using Linux and OSX because 1 lappy is a macbook and the other is vista so il put Ubuntu on it. Thanks

[Q] Android and iPod apps vs Windows apps

After a lot of unsuccessful searching, i figured i would try here.
Why does it always seem like every app offered is for iPod and Android phones only? Everywhere i go. Available for iPod, Android, and MAYBE BlackBerry. It occurs mainly with popular websites "Now Available As An App!". I don't understand why... Can someone shed a little light on the matter please.

It's because these devices have a different interface (small screen, touch operated), a specialized app as opposed to a full-blown website can offer a more streamlined service.

And now i am seeing that IMO.IM has an app for iPod, iPad, Android, Blackberry, or Nokia! Really? That is almost like going out of their way to not be on windows. In a way, i am glad because this was kind of what apple had gone through back in the windows vs mac days. But now i am on the losing end and i am pissed. Im still really considering getting an android over windows 7

WP7 is a relative newcomer and only has a very small market penetration. If you were hoping to make money off an app which platform would you code for first?

The main reason is C++ SDK! Currently Microsoft hasn't provided C/C++ SDK for Windows Phone 7. There are many apps for Windows mobile which aren't available for wp7. such as MS-DOS or Lingvosoft dictionary , etc.
If you can contact to developers recommend them to visit http://windowsphone.interoperabilitybridges.com/
I pray and hope that Microsoft provide a C/C++ SDK for WP7

[Q] Window or Penguin

This is a nagging question for me and the more I hear and question and dig, the more it LOOKS, FEELS and SMELLS like a Penguin, so to speak.
I am asking XDA experts and hackers for more insight than the almost nonexistent hints I have found searching the web.
Is the Windows 8 Platform some type of Linux???
With the fast start of Win 8, the boot lock tactics (I think it's boot loader is Linux flavored) and Hyper-V, (I think a virtual machine IS what the old desktop as we know it runs in, including the virtual limitations), it sure seems to me as if Windows 8 is nothing more than a form of Linux modified by Microsoft. I think RT for devices is "Winix" without the virtual OS stuff enabled or installed.
About the time, if I remember correctly VMware demonstrated, Winmo and Win CE on smart devices in a virtual machine at Comdex, Hyper-V was announced and the Win VM's became history.
"I also noticed people trying to use Win 8 as a VM host having little success and when they do they suffer the same things I have noticed running a VM inside a VM... severe performance reduction along with the problems that are inherent to Microsoft’s Virtual environment"
Does or can anyone determine if my suspicions are founded???

[FNF]LoBot said:
Is the Windows 8 Platform some type of Linux???
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No. None of those things are at all indicative of Windows 8 being based on Linux.

What is really in Windows 8
I don't think Win 8 runs the way MS wants us to think it does that is why I am asking and I would hope that more XDA people would chime in.
The Windows 8 claim, if the app runs on one Win 8 device it will run on ALL Win 8 devices. This smells of a "virtual appliance" (See VMware). This was also supposed to be what the java platform was for before MS bastardized and renamed it. Aside from that Java does run somewhat accross platforms.
If you enable/use what appears to be the desktop as most of us knew it, when it starts, it starts like a VMware VM that was put in PAUSE. Not that any of this is a bad thing but with the different OS's out there, the Win 8 feels more like them with virtualization mixed in.
Metro look, barffff. Just a comment, "it is not easy to make hot graphics in raw stripped down linux but two color icons....
Win 8 may not be any flavor of linux "Winux" but I feel that Windows 8 is a shell running things as virtual appliances of a sort. The only people that I feel can begin to answer this are the modders and hackers because MS sure isn't going to spell it out.
This link may be total trash but it also hints at sprinkles of linux "Winux"
http://www.muktware.com/941/microsoft-using-linux-kernel-windows-8
Here is another Link from a couple years ago about MS violating GPL (Linux) for it's Hyper-V
http://www.osnews.com/story/21882/Microsoft_s_Linux_Kernel_Code_Drop_Result_of_GPL_Violation
I can't be the only one that really wants to know why this looks like a Penguin
P.S. I am not a hater, I just don't like anyones OS trying to lock down the hardware I payed hard cash for

[FNF]LoBot said:
This was also supposed to be what the java platform was for before MS made better and renamed it. Aside from that Java does run somewhat accross platforms.
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Fixed (if your comment was in reference to Java / C#).
Srsly, ever used C#? Yes, it pretty much is Java, but IMO it was much more intuitive for me to pick up and learn (I did come from C++ background though, so that probably helped somewhat syntax-wise).

Not bashing, just trying to dig under the hood...
carngeX said:
Fixed (if your comment was in reference to Java / C#).
Srsly, ever used C#? Yes, it pretty much is Java, but IMO it was much more intuitive for me to pick up and learn (I did come from C++ background though, so that probably helped somewhat syntax-wise).
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Yes the reference would be C# but I think it was called something else on the way to C#. The term (you fixed) was only used because the origional concept was derived from Java then to the shortly used MS name I don't recall before it ended up as C#. And yes I have and still periodically use C#.
Please, don't get me wrong, "I am NOT a fanboy for any OS or Hardware. If the use of the OS or the specs of the hardware are what I am looking for, thats what I get. Aside from the price must also agree with me or a customer is buying then it's all good