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The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

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Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#11

Post by dpcan »

wccrawford wrote: post #3
zachrose wrote: post #2

Spoiler: At no point in the story does the author download Xcode.

Haha, I thought you meant he just paid someone else to do it... No, so much worse. He didn't even -try-. His app could have had a working version on the store in 2 weeks, if he'd really tried. It would benefit from further work, but would have proved his point. Instead, he got dazzled by how much work the -best- apps take and gave up. It's like looking at a guitar and realizing how much work it takes to become a rock…

This IS how most non-developers "try" :)

I had an associate who would usually work with me to bring his web-based ideas to life. He decided to see if he could create one of his web-app ideas himself, and after realizing that it meant spending HOURS in front of the screen, piecing together a complicated puzzle of code while switching gears here and there to be a creative designer as well, it became evident that it wasn't a walk in the park.

"Trying" for some people will consist of searching Google for a magic spell that makes your ideas come to life.

Developcus Appeomus!

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#12

Post by Cushman »

dpcan wrote: post #11
wccrawford wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, I thought you meant he just paid someone else to do it... No, so much worse. He didn't even -try-. His app could have had a working version on the store in 2 weeks, if he'd really tried. It would benefit from further work, but would have proved his point. Instead, he got dazzled by how much work the -best- apps take and gave up. It's like looking at a guitar and realizing how much work it takes to become a rock…

This IS how most non-developers "try" :) I had an associate who would usually work with me to bring his web-based ideas to life. He decided to see if he could create one of his web-app ideas himself, and after realizing that it meant spending HOURS in front of the screen, piecing together a complicated puzzle of code while switching gears here and there to be a creative designer as well, it became evident that it was…

I think that's actually a really crucial point— not only do non-technical people not know how to code, but they don't know that they don't know how. People who have no idea how we do what we do assume that it's easy.

Edit: I actually think it's a little sad when you think about it. You know those steps for after "Google it" comes up blank, the ones like "Check if there are two things I can combine to do this" or "Look at the file format, maybe it's just tab-separated or something"? Those steps don't exist for most people.

This must be how mechanics feel about cars, huh.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#13

Post by wccrawford »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #7
wccrawford wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, I thought you meant he just paid someone else to do it... No, so much worse. He didn't even -try-. His app could have had a working version on the store in 2 weeks, if he'd really tried. It would benefit from further work, but would have proved his point. Instead, he got dazzled by how much work the -best- apps take and gave up. It's like looking at a guitar and realizing how much work it takes to become a rock…

No, a non-programmer cannot create an iPhone app in 2 weeks, even a really bad one. You've been programming too long.

lol You are correct, if you meant he would program it himself. I meant that he'd pay someone to write it for him. Since that was obviously his idea all along anyhow.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#14

Post by rocktronica »

Cushman wrote: post #12
dpcan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This IS how most non-developers "try" :) I had an associate who would usually work with me to bring his web-based ideas to life. He decided to see if he could create one of his web-app ideas himself, and after realizing that it meant spending HOURS in front of the screen, piecing together a complicated puzzle of code while switching gears here and there to be a creative designer as well, it became evident that it was…

I think that's actually a really crucial point— not only do non-technical people not know how to code, but they don't know that they don't know how. People who have no idea how we do what we do assume that it's easy . Edit: I actually think it's a little sad when you think about it. You know those steps for after "Google it" comes up blank, the ones like "Check if there are two things I can combine to do this" or "Lo…

"The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled people make poor decisions and reach erroneous conclusions, but their incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to recognize their mistakes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#17

Post by ams6110 »

zachrose wrote: post #2

Spoiler: At no point in the story does the author download Xcode.

Serious question: is Xcode and ObjC the best way to write a "quick" iphone app? As opposed to using something like Corona[1] or Wax[2]

[1] http://www.anscamobile.com/corona/

[2] https://github.com/probablycorey/wax

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#18

Post by mtogo »

carols10cents wrote: post #15

Should it (programming, creating an app, executing an idea) be this hard? Or would that only lead to more fart apps and more disappointment later in the process when the app doesn't hit it big?

Sure, everything should be easy. The problem is, software development is difficult by nature. It's not the kind of thing you can pick up in a week or two and make an app with, and it probably never will be.

There are things like App Inventor that try to make it dead simple, but they all fail in that you can't make something reasonably complex with it.

It would be great if this was easy, but hundreds of people have tried and failed to make it dead simple and I think there's a reason for that.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#19

Post by mikeocool »

ams6110 wrote: post #17
zachrose wrote: post #2

Spoiler: At no point in the story does the author download Xcode.

Serious question: is Xcode and ObjC the best way to write a "quick" iphone app? As opposed to using something like Corona[1] or Wax[2] [1] http://www.anscamobile.com/corona/ [2] https://github.com/probablycorey/wax

It depends on what your goals are.

Arguably, the easiest way to make a "quick" iphone app, is to write a web app with a UI optimized for mobile and put it on a server and give out the URL. The app won't feel quite like a native app, it won't be able to run background tasks, each time you run it, it'll probably need to load all of the resources, but it's a great way to quickly test your concept, it'll work on all mobile platforms, and you won't have to get it approved by an app store.

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