So I'm a .Net Desktop app developer who's been using C# for building desktop apps. I'm really happy with it. However, .Net apps are not multiplatform. SO I'm planning on switching to another framework for multiplatform feature. Could you recommend a really good Desktop app framework that supports multiplatform(Windows, Mac)? I have googled it but haven't been able to make a decision.
I heard a lot about Electron, Xojo, Qml.net, NW.js and a few others?
Also how good is Qml.net? I'm curious since it uses C# as well.
Thanks.
Related
We have an line-of-business app that runs on Windows Mobile. It's a Winforms app with a local SQL CE database and gets its data from a WCF Web Service running on the server.
Now customers are always asking "why don't you make a version for iPhone/iPad/Android/Phone 7 etc". My boss asked how hard this would be. My initial answer is very hard especially since I would probably be the only person doing the work. I don't have any experience outside my Visual Studio happy place.
Now I've come across MonoTouch and MonoDroid. They appears to offer an easy solution but I'm sure there are lots of issues. I doubt that I will be able to just compile my app for Android.
I'm inclined to suggest that it would be far too much work and that the only realistic solution is a mobile web site with several versions of each page for different screen resolutions. Unfortunately the existing app has a local database and is "sometimes connected" so that won't cut it.
Any suggestions and tips before I waste a huge amount of time?
Cheers
Mark
I doubt that I will be able to just compile my app for Android
That is correct; you won't.
So, background: the design philosophy of MonoTouch and Mono for Android is to bring the "core" .NET and C# experience to iOS and Android while also exposing the underlying features of each specific platform. Whereas PhoneGap and Titanium abstract the underlying platform (for a "write-once, run-anywhere" vibe), MonoTouch and Mono for Android provide no platform abstractions and directly expose the underlying platform types and members.
The result is that MonoTouch programs use MonoTouch.UIKit.UIButton, which directly wraps the underlying CocoaTouch UIButton type.
Similarly, Mono for Android programs would use Android.App.Activity, which directly wraps the underlying Android android.app.Activity type.
Common across both platforms are the "core" framework namespaces and types which you find on .NET, .NET CF, Silverlight, Windows Phone 7, and Mono: System, System.Collections.Generic, System.Linq (yes, Linq-to-Objects), System.Xml.Linq (yes, Linq-to-XML), System.IO, etc., etc. For example, see the assemblies included in Mono for Android.
So, can you use your existing Windows Mobile app as-is on Android? No, because Mono for Android doesn't provide System.Windows.Forms.
However, it should be possible for you to refactor your existing code to follow a Model/View/Controller design pattern (or MVVM, or...), abstracting away the UI (View) so that you can replace it for various platforms, e.g. an iOS UI with MonoTouch, a WP7 UI with XAML, an Android UI with Mono for Android, an HTML UI with ASP.NET MVC, etc., etc. You won't get a "write once, run anywhere" experience, but you will be able to provide the user with native user interfaces which are consistent with their chosen platform.
For example, see the MIX11 Conference Apps, which utilize a common code base while providing platform-specific UIs for iOS, Android, and WP7.
look at titanium and phonegap.
My suggestion is to have a quick look at WP7. It's quite easy to jump in to, even more so if you have Visual Studio (which you do) and C# experience of any sorts. Then you should be able to more easily guesstimate how long it would take you to develop a C# application (and possibly port that to Android using MonoDroid).
And yes, Titanium & PhoneGap are options, but I personally think MonoDroid looks better.
What platform are you getting the most requests for? I am guessing Android, as that seems the most likely. I have seen a lot of people saying MonoDroid is really solid.
i want to develop one desktop application using c# sql lite, this application i want to submit this app to Apple store in case of iphone/ likewise for Android. please let me know if it is feasible to do, if so please let me know the steps that need to be incorporated in order to achieve this.
No. You can't do this directly.
You need third party compilers to run C# code on iPhone (MonoTouch) or Android (MonoDroid).
Do keep in mind that, even if you use MonoTouch (or MonoDroid) you won't be using Windows Forms, WPF or any other Windows based GUI framework. You will be using different frameworks to support Apple and Google's platform capabilities. So if you were thinking to run existing C# applications on iPhone or Android, it won't be possible.
I have an application (actually a game) that I'm close to starting work on for iOS and the web, however I'd like to DRY up my code bases as much as possible so that I don't have to maintain so many aspects for platform portability. So essentially my two requirements are to run on iOS and the web, but I wouldn't mind it if I could also deploy it for Android as well.
What options exist?
If possible, which I am doubting at the moment, I have considered using Cappuccino (http://cappuccino.org/) to build out the app and then utilize NimbleKit for iOS compilation. Any ideas if this is possible?
What would work better if anything? Are there any frameworks in particular that would scale across platforms and mobile devices well + allow it to easily run on the web?
Also, Flash comes to mind, would that perhaps be best if developed properly such that it will compile over and not utilize non-compatible iOS functions?
The recently released monkey development framework deploys to both iOS and Flash:
http://www.monkeycoder.co.nz/
It's so new that I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it has a great pedigree: the creator made Blitz3D and BlitzMax before, and those were great game development tools.
That said, I would strongly recommend a combo like Corona for iOS and Flash for web, so that you're using optimal tools for each platform.
Check out Unity 3D. Works for iOs, Android, Web, Mac, and Pc. Not free for the mobile platforms, but it's worth a try.
You should try Titanium (it's free). You can use javascript and HTML5 to build your game and it can be compiled for iOS and Android. Since you will be using web standards to code, your application can be deployed for the web with few (or no) modifications.
You can use this project as a start point.
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Closed 11 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
Write once deploy on Windows Mobile 6, Windows Phone 7, Android and iPhone?
Currently I have created a 2 simple apps for iphone and 1 for windows phone. When I go to promote these apps they usually....well do you have this for android or blackberry or whatever.
Do I have to rewrite my applications in every environment in order to have them compatible across all the operating systems out there? Is there tools that address this or do you guys simply recreate the app in eclipse, xcode, visual studio etc..?
Complex applications generally need to be created with the native environment.
Simple applications can be created with cross platform tools like Titanium and PhoneGap:
- http://www.appcelerator.com/
- http://www.phonegap.com/
#Fraggle (see comment)
I have quite some experience with Appcelerator Titanium. The choice for native v.s. cross-plafrom completely depends on the kind of application you need and your knowledge. General considerations:
Can the application be created with web technologies like HTML, CSS and JavaScript?
What language / environment do I know the best (native vs web technologies)?
How much time and money can I spend?
Do I really need cross-platform compatibility?
Most mobile phone applications only provide an easy interface for internet services like news updates, traffic info, social media and video. Those applications can be easily written with web technologies. Therefor most mobile applications can be written with tools like Titanium. The great thing about Titanium: Get the native experience on multiple devices while only maintaining one code-base. Cheap way of developing cross-platform applications.
Many developers use Titanium because they don't know the native language (objective-C / java), but they have extensive knowledge about web technologies. This way they can create pretty nice applications without learning new languages. Titanium is actually used for many non-cross-platform applications.
Complex graphics, device specific tools and complex interfaces still require the native environment.
Native applications will always perform better and use device specific features, but do you really need that degree of perfection? Yes, develop native applications for every device. No, simply create one cross-platform application.
Check this page to see what Titanium can do:
http://www.appcelerator.com/showcase/applications-showcase/
You may be able to use a third party tool like http://www.phonegap.com.
There are many options for cross-platform app development, but I would suggest Adobe AIR as it is also supported on the Blackberry Playbook by RIM. As far as I know, it's the only cross-platform runtime that is supported by a major platform owner.
I have also seen it do well on Android, and iOS support is also advertized.
Well there are definitely some supposed "write once, run everwhere" solutions out there. Here is one from RhoMobile which specializes in this space. But that is just what a quick Google search turned up. I haven't tried any of them.
I had an app that was developed for Android, and I ended up essentially re-writing it in Objective-C when I wanted to port it over to iPhone. It worked out pretty well and took less time than I thought (considering I hadn't done any iPhone programming prior). But now of course I have 2 code bases that I have to maintain and when I add features I'll have to do it for both the Android and iPhone version.
So having a single code base that lets me build apps for multiple platforms would be great. Do any of the tools out there work well? Not sure. Do they give you full control to make your app look and operate the way you want it, and make us of all the OS's features? Not sure.
Qt (now owned by Nokia) is another provider of a cross platform mobile framework
http://qt.nokia.com/
Even though iphone and android seem to be missing from their official Supported Platforms list I think there is an Android 2.3 release just around the corner. Qt for Iphone also seems to be in the works.
HTML5 may be one solution if the app you providing is simple enough. Google is doing it this way. Otherwise, even you have anything "cross-phone" it may still feels alien.
I've been digging around for this one. I understand that there two possible ways to develop for the iPhone.
via web kit frameworks, such as jqtouch and iwebkit, and
using the iPhone's api
I notice quite a few people using web kit frameworks, especially jqtouch. What are the benefits of using a webkit framework versus using the iPhone's api directly?
One point that springs into mind, is the fact that using a web kit framework makes it accessible through other smart phones? Not just the iPhone?
Are there any differences in terms of graphic enhancements? i.e. will transitions or animation look different?
I am a web developer by heart. It will be an advantage if I can develop an iPhone app with knowledge that I already know, that being the Ruby on Rails web framework.
I have also read this slideshow, which seems pretty detailed on various web kits.
Your suggestions / feedback is appreciated.
Just came across the following by Oreilly which seems to answer a good detail of differences between a native and web app development for the iPhone.