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An iOS Developer Takes on Android

nfarina.com

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Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#111

Post by barrettcolin »

marcomonteiro wrote: post #45

I hate to be picky about this but in all the time I've been doing iOS development and throughout everything I've ever read I have never seen anything to suggest that iOS using OpenGL for all of it's drawing (simulating a 2D interface in a 3D environment like the article suggests). Drawing is done using the Quartz system and animation is handled by Core Animation (which creates "an illusion of motion").

My understanding is, "drawing" (in-view composition) is largely, if not completely, software (Quartz2D). Composition between views is (can be, at least) handled by the GPU; and that may well include animation of views. I don't know how absolutely accurate it is to say that such composition 'uses OpenGL'. It may use hardware that provides OpenGL functionality, but that isn't quite the same thing (Quartz composition could talk directly to the GPU using it's native command format for instance).

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#112

Post by yardie »

FaceKicker wrote: post #110
gary4gar wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, you will have to wait for around 30s for each refresh; While the new binary gets uploaded

My experience has been that it takes much less time than that, probably somewhere in the area of 5-15 seconds. I've only worked on tiny personal projects though; maybe this varies with project size a lot.

To me it still doesn't matter. It could take one second to load a binary, the emulator is completely unusable they way it currently is built. Android is already into it's 3rd revision and they somehow have managed to completely ignore this pink elephant.

If the best advice you can tell people is not to use it, use a real device then why bother include it at all.

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#113

Post by vynch »

nfarina wrote: post #13
dmix wrote: post #7

This was great. Im curious, where you experienced in Java before jumping into Android?

I "learned" Java in college, but didn't use it after graduating in '02. I was quite pleasantly surprised by all the (new to me) stuff like "anonymous inner classes," and ultimately I've come to respect the staunch minimalism of the language overall.

>staunch minimalism of the language overall.

really?...m just curious...are you saying it takes less code in java than objC for a given problem?

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#114

Post by Volpe »

ThomPete wrote: post #108
Volpe wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's true. - Python - Ruby - Ruby on Rails - Django - Coffeescript - Node.js Were all results of people challenging the status quo of language/platform capability. Developing new languages/frameworks/platforms is NOT unproductive, and has proved very successful in the past. While java may not be a good excuse to avoid android, it's certainly a good excuse to improve upon the stack (as another commente…

I think you and several others are missing the point here. Most people who complain about a language don't do anything about it. It was those I addressed, not those who do.

While a fair point, I think expressing your dissatisfaction will let others know there is a market for a better solution. And potentially drive more innovation

... but that could be me post-hoc rationalising my whinging :D

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#115

Post by canistr »

qeorge wrote: post #28
flyosity wrote: post #2

As an iOS developer, this is probably the best comparison between iOS and Android development that I've read. I'm pretty scared of Eclipse and the slow-as-hell emulator doesn't sound fun, but coding layouts that don't involve lots of "how tall is this text for this given width?" calculations is a welcome addition.

I jumped into Android development about a month ago, and after a slow start its really been fun. I hated Eclipse at first, but it gets a lot better with time. The emulator though - don't bother. The author is not exaggerating about several minutes to load. Just buy an Android phone and debug on that, or you'll spend more time cursing at the emulator than coding.

It's true. The first time I ran the emulator it took a good 5 minutes to boot up. But because it took so long, I thought my computer froze or that I had made a mistake in installing the SDK since I had usually given up after waiting 30 seconds for the emulator.

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#116

Post by Cyranix »

simmons wrote: post #62
podperson wrote: post #8

Seems like a very balanced article to me. The comments about Eclipse made me laugh (I just had to start using Eclipse for a different reason and hate it with the heat of a thousand suns).

Using Eclipse gets better as you get more comfortable with its peculiarities. I think the author did a good job of summing up the Eclipse experience--there's a lot to hate, and a lot to like. After using Eclipse for several years, it still has that "designed by committee" feel, but I do find myself missing some of its features when I'm using other environments.

I've actually been using the PHP... perspective?... for Eclipse and have found it to be pretty decent. (The author is right, some of the terminology is amusingly abstract.) Configuring the program just-so and learning to accept the slow boot-up are spot-on assessments.

That said, I should take some time to look for another IDE that captures the basic advantages of Eclipse. I'm mainly interested in having a panel with the project's directory structure, intelligent navigation (e.g. Ctrl-click on a function call to be taken to its definition in another class), and decent code completion and syntax checking. I might even be willing to pay for it.

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#117

Post by stonemetal »

masklinn wrote: post #90
stonemetal wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is people are down voting for tone, and the fact that he didn't even read what he quoted.

> and the fact that he didn't even read what he quoted. Of course I did. An Android emulator can only mean Android running on top of an ARM emulator, otherwise it's a simulator (like the iOS simulator). Emulators are always about hardware unless otherwise specified.

An Android emulator can only mean Android running on top of an ARM emulator How so? Android supports both x86 and ARM. I would have thought x86 on x86 would be the way to go since it has been done before with good performance. Heck they wouldn't even have to write anything just ship a customized virtual box or QEmu.

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#118

Post by vetinari »

stonemetal wrote: post #117
masklinn wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and the fact that he didn't even read what he quoted. Of course I did. An Android emulator can only mean Android running on top of an ARM emulator, otherwise it's a simulator (like the iOS simulator). Emulators are always about hardware unless otherwise specified.

An Android emulator can only mean Android running on top of an ARM emulator How so? Android supports both x86 and ARM. I would have thought x86 on x86 would be the way to go since it has been done before with good performance. Heck they wouldn't even have to write anything just ship a customized virtual box or QEmu.

The current emulator _is_ QEmu. However, the current problem is not arm emulation, but moving pixels in software. You will notice, that the more you increase resolution, the more the performance drops.

The Google IO talk linked in this thread addresses this point, so hopefully in Autumn the emulator will be usable (especially at tablet resolutions).

Re: An iOS Developer Takes on Android

#119

Post by akat »

nickheer wrote: post #94
tomjen3 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just start the emulator op in the morning. There is no reason to shot it down when you go back to coding.

I was going to ask whether there was a problem with your 'u' key, but you used it in "you". I'm confused.

Jst trying to confose you more - He used 'u' in more than just you. (Just, emulator)
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