Will Developers Finally Start Coding On the iPad?

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Will Developers Finally Start Coding On the iPad?

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday September 2, 2012 @07:29AM from the changing-the-way-things-are-done dept.

An anonymous reader writes "It's not so long since Apple silently dropped the restriction about iOS apps for programming — iPad owners can now code in Lua with Codea or with Python for iOS. Yesterday, a new app called Kodiak PHP brought another IDE to the iPad, this time for PHP coders. Pandodaily's Nathaniel Mott describes it as a full-blooded software development tool with comparison to other iOS apps. Cult of Mac reports that the demise of the Mac might be closer than we think, but are developers really ready to use the on-screen keyboard to do some serious work?"

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bluetooth keyboard by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-02 07:30 · Score: 4, Informative

my iconia tablet + bluetooth keyboard is all I carry around these days. Plenty of good ide's, can host a webserver on the tablet, and so on and so on.
Whatever, ipads. . lol
1. Re: bluetooth keyboard by ceoyoyo · 2012-09-02 10:00 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  on an android tablet you can(cumbersomely) develop a real android app.
  You've got it right there. Developing apps on a tablet is a parlour trick that doesn't really matter. You can do it on Android or a jailbroken iOS device, but nobody cares because it's FAR easier to do it on a bigger computer.
  It was very irritating when Apple forbade interpreters so you couldn't do simple things, but not supporting building full apps isn't really a loss.
2. Re: bluetooth keyboard by oakgrove · 2012-09-02 10:42 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Developing apps on a tablet is a parlour trick that doesn't really matter.
  I've never developed an app on Android from start to finish on my tablet but it's a little more than a parlor trick. I keep a few of my lesser important projects in Dropbox and on more than a few occasions felt inspired and whipped out my Galaxy Nexus or Xoom and got to work. The ability to then compile and install right there on the device is awesome in that scenario. The only thing holding something like AIDE isn't as capable as a traditional IDE is it hasn't been around long enough for the developers to have had time to include, debug, and ship all the expected features. There is no fundamental reason that given enough time, AIDE or something like it couldn't be a first class development tool for Android.
  
  --
  The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
3. Re: bluetooth keyboard by Glock27 · 2012-09-02 11:33 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  What's the difference between an Android tablet docked to mouse, keyboard and 1080p screen and a "bigger computer"?
  Lack of memory, storage, screen real estate (2560x1920) and CPU/GPU power. :-)
  
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  Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
  Score: -1 100% Flamebait
4. Re: bluetooth keyboard by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-02 14:55 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  You might jot down an idea on a tablet, but you aren't doing any real development. Just because you think what you do is real development doesn't mean it actually is.
  Dude, take your head out of the sand. This is a full-fledged development environment for Android apps that runs on Android. What separates AIDE from developing an Android app on the desktop with Eclipse? Seriously. You can even sign and publish from within AIDE. It supports auto-complete, debugging, source control, you name it. Please tell me why using that with a mouse and a keyboard is not doing "real development".
Re:Seriously? by betterunixthanunix · 2012-09-02 08:05 · Score: 3, Informative

In other words, your iPad is now a middle man between you and the system you use for developing software. Why not cut out the middle man, and save time, money, and sanity by just using that system to begin with? You can get a small, lightweight netbook running whatever OS you were connecting to over SSH if you do not like the size or weight of a typical laptop.

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Palm trees and 8
Re:Just No by Hognoxious · 2012-09-02 08:07 · Score: 3, Informative

> Though the only thing that has peaked my interest
The word is piqued, you poor benighted heathen.

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
nonsense by Tom · 2012-09-02 08:09 · Score: 3, Informative

I do a lot of PHP coding, so I've been kind of waiting for something like that, thanks for the link.
That said, there is no way in any of the seven hells that I would do my day-to-day coding on my iPad. Try writing a few thousand characters on it, in a non-linear form, and you'll understand why.
What I definitely would love is an editor that I can use for some quick fixes or updates while I'm on the road. That way the testers can get crunching already and I might be able to send it live when I get home.

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Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Re:Answering your non-response by betterunixthanunix · 2012-09-02 08:38 · Score: 3, Informative

Codify allows you to develop for the iPad.
Except for the restrictions noted here:

https://bitbucket.org/TwoLivesLeft/codea/wiki/FAQ

This is more of a macro or scripting system than a development platform for iPad, and it is limited even for that. You might as well claim that this is a system for developing software for Windows:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic_for_Applications

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Palm trees and 8
Obllig by wbr1 · 2012-09-02 08:45 · Score: 3, Informative

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_Law_of_Headlines

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Silence is a state of mime.
No need to wait by SuperKendall · 2012-09-02 08:52 · Score: 3, Informative

Jailbreak, and enjoy!
Anyone who even KNOWS what Emacs is can jailbreak an IOS device...

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"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Re:Answering your non-response by ThePeices · 2012-09-02 09:09 · Score: 3, Informative

Its not a 'non-answer' its an invalid answer.
You have to void your warranty, break the Apple TOS ( god help you if you do ), and then be treated as the enemy by Apple once you jailbreak your iToy.
And all that so you can write software for iOS which you will never be able to put on the app store without forking cash for a Macintosh computer and the yearly developers fee?
What a joke.
Re:Just No by GodfatherofSoul · 2012-09-02 10:45 · Score: 3, Informative

I got an iPad this semester for school. I take all my notes on it and have all my textbooks on it; including using it as the calendar for my school events. After I got mine, I noticed how many causal computing tasks this device does better than a laptop or cellphone. The latter handle the boundary use cases very well, while the iPad does everything in between well. I could probably live with a dumb phone now, use the iPad as my utility computer, and rely on my laptop for my heavier lifting.
You might think it's an overhyped gadget (and I did too before I got one), but they're definitely industry changers.

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I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Re:That makes no sense. by Glock27 · 2012-09-02 11:52 · Score: 4, Informative

No, they just want developers to pay them for the privilege of writing software for Apple products. See, for example, the $99/year fee for permission to write iOS applications.
There is no such fee. There is a $100 fee if you want to a) download your app to a device instead of using the simulator, and b) sell your app on the App Store.
Just to be clear. ;-)

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Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
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