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Write Windows Phone Apps, No Code Required
jfruh writes "One of the biggest challenges Microsoft has faced with its Windows Phone platform is that it's far behind in the apps race against iOS and Android. One way to close the gap is to lower the barrier to entry for new app devs, and Microsoft has done so with Windows Phone App Studio, a hosted service that lets you build applications without actually writing any code. The description of how App Studio works may leave you wondering how useful or exciting the apps created will be, but a surge of developer interest during the current beta program has surprised even Microsoft with its scope."
So, it has come to this.
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
Anyone remember that stuff? Or RPG Maker as a kid (and RPG Maker 2001, etc.)? There are a few others I'm missing.
The G
Yes, but you have to do it entirely from the touch screen, using only colored blocks.
Solving Unix problems since 1989...
If you're creating an application that hasn't existed yet, you're instructing the computer as to how to do something, i.e., you're programming, i.e., you're creating code in one way or another. Either that, or the environment is so limited as to make the "write apps" part completely meaningless.
Ezekiel 23:20
is S.H.I.T.
I suspect that -- other than wiring up GUI elements to events -- there aren't a lot of interesting things you can do with a GUI-based code builder that you can't do more efficiently by writing actual code.
I gather that the idea is to lower the bar for "Hello World"-type apps, but once that's done, I have to wonder: are any serious app developers using this as a development bed for complex apps?
Koans and fables for the software engineer
You seem to be writing an app. Would you like help?
Here's betting this will be just as useful.
Slashdot - News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters, in ISO-8859-1 Has just realised that beta makes this signature redundant
If you check the unity3d forums, you will see a few hundred people that have a great idea for a game and it always reads sort of like this:
It's like, so basically... it's Skyrim for iOS/Android. So who wants to code this for me? Obviously since I am the idea man I will keep the MILLJIONS of dollars it will make, because writing code is easy, I just don't have time to learn because I am too important or have ADD. I did find some great free models on turbosquid though, just need someone to make them move.. what's it called, rigging? Oh and texture too. Since I did the hard part of finding these models, that last part should be really simple, but I'll pay you out of the HUGE profits of my game.
Well Microsoft, I applaud you. You have given these idea men, these mental giants, a fertile ground of milk and honey! We lowly coders and artists will sorely miss them in our forums, but wish them bon voyage on this, their great and noble endeavor!
check the top free apps - none could be made without code
it looks like MS wants quantity instead of quality - no wonder the only informative thing TFA has is the number of users and projects.
There was plenty of interest, but Google decided to listen to Steve Jobs's advice and "shut down" anything that wasn't "core" to their operations. Why someone would take advice from a competitor that has promised to "bury you" is beyond me, but they did. App Inventor was quite popular. It's main limitation was the inability to create "multi form" screens. Otherwise it was pretty powerful and useful for a point and click interface.
I had to make some of those Access applications. *shudder*
Nothing like writing code where you have to fight the very environment you're writing it in.
Technoli
One of the big drawbacks of Apple is the idea that you should be able to easily use apple products to promote creativity, as long as the creativity doesn't involve creating an "app" or programming an Apple product in any personal way. At that point, you're shoved into massive restrictions, high cost, and weird programming languages to discourage kids and novices from coding. Android is much more open with their philosophy, but their tools are hardly user friendly for the curious would-be programmer. Microsoft is being smart here and sticking with their roots. While Apple diverged from what made them a big company in the first place (the openness and flexibility of the Apple II), Microsoft seems to be returning to their core philosophy of "Developers, developers, developers" of all types, shapes and sizes. Remember that Microsoft got its start with BASIC for beginning programmers, and one of their biggest products of all time has been Visual Basic--a tool for simple programming. Allowing people to easily create smartphone content for themselves is one easy and smart way to differentiate themselves from their competitors. It seems that after flirting with the idea that they must copy Apple, Microsoft has hopefully decided to do what Microsoft does best--make semi-open systems that are easy to program and customize for users.
No, these things last forever. It's going to be a cottage industry that never dies, like FrontPage websites and Access databases.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
Android had something like this, and I believe it went the way of the dodo.
Not quite. It went to MIT: http://appinventor.mit.edu/
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Unless they changed things recently, getting a developers license for Windows Phone is trivial and cost free. Yes, you still need to apply for a license for sideloading, which is obnoxious, but it's only a minor hindrance.
I had a horrible experience lately. I was at the dealer to get an oil change. They have these nice imacs at every station. I took a look at the screen while after walking away, to discover that they were using filemaker pro, along with a remote desktop connection to a Windows terminal server that had a different dos program running. Looked great and modern from a distance ...
Even Microsoft tells their customers Access is crap but as long as people continue to buy copies they keep updating it! I can't even get one of our groups to use the free version of MS SQL because Access is "easier" despite the fact we will not support them. If the 1 programmer they have leaves their project is toast.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Visual Basic was the nail in many coffins as it made building applications "dead simple". I am shocked that they lost their way with Zune and, by extension, Windows Phone. Now, I am happy with the idea of .NET however to create applications there needs to be a layer of simplicity added to allow someone from a non-technical background to create a really simple application. VB6.
The Visual Basic 6 monstrosities people used to cobble together back in the '90s were just as bad.
"It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
Why was it a "horrible" experience? Did filemaker pro somehow fill your crankcase with 90 weight grease and wreck your engine? Did the DOS program spray poop-scented air freshener beneath your seat?
Or did you just see someone using an old DOS program that's doing exactly what the business owner needs without costing him a ton of money? Doesn't sound too horrible to me.
John
I'm looking at it from the other side. I think of these visual languages as nothing but abstractions, done at a layer so high that they can make it hard to define your problem with enough precision to do the job well. Additionally, because they are so many layers removed from the hardware (often hiding behind a network interface as well as thick layers of XAML, DOM parsers, WPF, IL, bytecode, frameworks, OS APIs, libraries, and HALs), performance either suffers or you're forcing your users to spend extra dollars on a CPU, RAM, and power to make up for your reliance on abstractions.
John
I have to occassionally maintain some of those applications..... I go home and drink myself drunk on those days.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
It's slightly worse than that—lack of updates isn't enough for most of these things. They just keeeep going, utterly unmaintainable, as long as they run.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!