Is it possible to run Lua interpreter on the iphone?
If yes, are there any libraries that have bindings to Iphone's SDK?
If its not possible with Lua, what are the other language options?
See the Ansca Corona SDK.
In addition to the Corona SDK mentioned above, see also iPhone Wax.
Yes, many applications on the store (specifically games) have used Lua. However, be advised, with section 3.3.1 of the new developers agreement, calling into iPhone SDK routines from a language other than C/C++ or Objective-C/Objective-C++ is explicitly forbidden (included also is JavaScript but only on the WebKit engine, not outside of it). Therefore, if you're getting the idea you'll write your application in lua, be aware that even if it makes it through review, which is unlikely, it could be pulled at any point if you're using it for calling iPhone SDK routines.
Apple has recently revised their TOS to explicitly allow for Lua engines such as the one in Ansca Corona. So there is no need for worry about that.
Moai is a Lua based cross-platform SDK which supports iOS among other targets. They recently had their 1.0 release and have a few pro studios using them (Double Fine, Harebrained Schemes). Worth checking out. It's a lot less noob-friendly than Corona (their tag line is "for pro game developers"), but unlike Corona it's free and open source, and very fast.
Touch Lua, Its free, its simple!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/touch-lua/id525273327?mt=8
https://sites.google.com/site/hawwashsoft/touch-lua
Related
What programming languages can one use to develop iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (iOS) applications?
Also are there plans in the future to expand the amount of programming languages that iOS will support?
Apple lifted the restrictions on non-Objective C/C/C++ apps -- you just can't load code that isn't in the app bundle.
MonoTouch lets you use .NET languages -- C# is directly supported, but if you have Windows, you can make assemblies in any .NET language and use it.
There are rumors that Apple is going to support other languages directly -- I keep hearing ruby, but they are just rumors.
I think Lua is being used for game logic on a lot of apps.
EDIT (in 2018): Generally you can use any language that you can get to compile for iOS or even install language interpreters. The main thing you cannot do is load code from the Internet that wasn't in the app bundle.
People do this all of the time anyway (see React Native apps loading JavaScript from servers), but, technically, it's not allowed. The main thing that will get you attention from Apple if you make some kind of App Store that loads whole App-like things.
EDIT (in 2020): from #Pylot in comments: I know this is a long time ago, but now at least technically you can load code that isn’t embedded in the app, as you can write with JavaScript using the webview. Not staying your answer is wrong or anything, I definitely agree with you. but I was looking for something and found this post on the way. Figured if anyone sees this it might help them out.
The SDK agreement and App store guidelines have been changed (circa Sept 2010).
You can now probably use any compiled language that will compile to the same static ARM object file format as Xcode produces and that will link to (only) the public API's within Apple's frameworks and libraries. However, you can not use a JIT compiled language unless you pre-compile all object code before submission to Apple for review.
You can use any interpreted language, as long as you embed the interpreter, and do not allow the interpreter or the app to download and run any interpretable code other than code built into the app bundle before submission to Apple for review, or source code typed-in by the user.
Objective C and C will likely still be the most optimal programming language for anything requiring high performance and the latest API support (* see update below), as those are the languages for which Apple targets its iOS frameworks and tunes its ARM processor chipsets. Apple also supports the use of Javascript/HTML5 inside a UIWebView. Those are the only languages for which Apple has announced support. Anything else you will have to find support elsewhere.
But, if you really want, there are at least a half dozen BASIC interpreters now available in the iOS App store, so even "Stone Age" programming methodology is now allowed.
Added: (*) As of late 2014, one can also develop apps using Apple's new Swift programming language. As of early 2015, submitted binaries must include 64-bit (arm64) support.
With plans to slowly retire the long-used Objective-C, Apple has introduced a new programming language, called Swift, for designing apps and applications to run on Apple iOS devices and Apple Macintosh computers.
Apple says:
"Swift is a new programming language for iOS and OS X apps that builds on the best of C and Objective-C, without the constraints of C compatibility. Swift adopts safe programming patterns and adds modern features to make programming easier, more flexible, and more fun. Swift’s clean slate, backed by the mature and much-loved Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, is an opportunity to reimagine how software development works."
Introducing swift
What programming languages can one use to develop iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (iOs) applications?
Ruby, Python, Lua, Scheme, Lisp, Smalltalk, C#, Haskell, ActionScript, JavaScript, Objective-C, C++, C. That's just the ones that pop into my head right now. I'm sure there's hundreds if not thousands of others. (E.g. there's no reason why you couldn't use any .NET language with MonoTouch, i.e. VB.NET, F#, Nemerle, Boo, Cobra, ...)
Also are there plans in the future to expand the amount of programming languages that iOs will support?
Sure. Pretty much every programming language community on this planet is currently working on getting their language to run on iOS.
Also, a lot of people are working on programming languages specifically designed for touch devices such as iPod touch, iPhone and iPad, e.g. Phil Mercurio's Thyrd language.
The programming language of iOS(and Mac OS) is Objective-C and C. You have to use Xcode platform to develop iOS apps, on the next version that is now available on beta release, Xcode 4 supports also C++.
It is also now possible to use OCaml for developing iOS applications. It is not part of the standard distribution and requires modifications provided by the Psellos company. See here for more information: http://psellos.com/ocaml/.
This might be an old thread, but I'd like to mention Appcelerator Titanium, which allows anyone versed in HTML5/JavaScript/CSS to develop iOS applications.
Only Objective-C is allowed by now... but since a few months ago you are allowed to write scripts that will be interpreted in your application.
So you may be able to write a LUA interpreter or a Python interpreter, then write some part of your application in this scripting language. If you want your application accepted on the App Store, these scripts have to be bundled with the application (your application cannot download it from the Internet for example)
see new app store rules
objective-c is the primary language used.
i believe there is a mono touch framework that can be used with c#
Adobe also is working in some tools, one is this iPhone Packager which can utilize actionscript code
You can use "smart BASIC" programming language. It is a genuine but very advanced BASIC language with all its power and simplicity. Using its free SDK, BASIC code can be easily published as a standalone App Store application. There are many apps in App Store, written in "smart BASIC" programming language.
I've got an iphone app and I'm looking to port some of the data-layer objective-c code to a scripting language which can also run on an android phone.
Any suggestions on what to use? I'd also like to be able to push new scripts to the app for bug fixes. Not sure if this is against the iphone SDK agreement or not.
JavaScript. Anything else is explicitly banned by the Apple Store Vetting process.
(You could actually serialize some Objective C objects and take advantage of some of the dynamism in the language, but that won't get you far with Android. So, JavaScript.)
As far as I know, iPhone SDK agreement forbids using any scripting languages in your apps.
On the other hand, JavaScript runs both on Android and iPhone (and a couple of other platforms) and is a very powerful language.
The only scripting language that Apple allows for use with downloaded scripts is Javascript.
You can execute the Javascript code inside a visible or invisible UIWebView.
If you write a domain specific language in XML and parse it that way, you could do what you want.
Both platforms can easily parse XML.
I am interested in writing games for the iPhone and the Web. Ideally, there would be one language that I could write my games in and it would work on both platforms. I know this is not the case, so what is the best way to leverage code between iPhone apps (Objective-C/C++) and Flash SWFs (ActionScript)?
This maybe of some help
It uses the NME library which will allows code to mostly be written to the Flash 9 API and create the C++ for XCode to compile and run on the iPhone and Touch. This creates a path to port Flash games to iPhone/Touch.
Unfortunately, Flash and Objective-C are very, very different - and it's unlikely that a Flash player will be available for the iPhone in the near future. The native input methods used in Flash games - the keyboard and mouse - don't lend themselves well to the iPhone. While Apple could make Flash run on the iPhone, most Flash games would be totally unplayable (or feel very unnatural. They'd have to overlay a keyboard probably?). With the success of the App Store and native iPhone games, I think it's very unlikely you'll see Flash support anytime soon.
You might want to consider using a game development tool like Unity instead of Flash in the future. Unity allows you to create both 2D and 3D games, and you can program them in various .NET scripting languages. Once you've created the game, you can cross-compile it for web (their own plugin, not Flash), iPhone, or the desktop.
I know that doesn't help much since you have an existing codebase, but it might be something to consider for the future!
My company is developing a toolchain that allows compiling ActionScript3 to native code for mobile devices.
It now supports Windows Mobile and Symbian, and iPhone supported will be released in a couple of weeks.
Check it out at: http://developer.openplug.com/
BR
Guilhem
Adobe Alchemy looks promising. It is not released yet, but from their website:
Alchemy is a research project that allows users to compile C and C++ code that is targeted to run on the open source ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM2).
This would allow iPhone apps and Web apps to share non OS-dependent C/C++ code, which is a very exciting prospect.
One option would be building everything in unity. The engine facilitates building the same game project to any of the following platforms:
Webplayer
OS X
Windows
iPhone
Wii
Actually, the iPhone supports Flash technically (see Developer creates Flash for iPhone and Flash Installer Update #2). It is just Apple's crippleware restrictions that prevent installation.
Other than that, there's really not much you can do. Flash/ActionScript and Objective-C are radically different. You can have a central server store data, but that doesn't solve the duplicated logic.
If you're already willing to use ActionScript you could go all the way over to the dark side and switch to Javascript. That's the only common language supported by your clients (web and iPhone).
How comfortable you are with either development environment certainly plays a role here. If you are a die-hard Objective C and a super star Actionscript programmer then doing both shouldn't be much of a problem. It will be lots of work of course, but not a problem.
However, if you are neither or only skilled at Actionscript then I suggest you focus on Flash/Actionscript for the time being. Eventually Flash will be available on the iPhone anyway. When that happens you can already have a number of apps ready to be quickly ported to iPhone. Also keep in mind. There are more portable devices out there than just iPhone. Getting your apps running on other devices might be worth it in the mean time.
Just keep in mind when you're developing your apps now that at one point you also want to run these apps on the iPhone. So make 'm in such a way that they can be controlled with an iPhone as well.
Updating this old QA with new information. 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.
Hi I'm looking into iPhone development, and Objective-C is not be my preferred language. As far as I can see at this moment Ruby cannot be used to talk to Cocoa Touch at the moment on the iPhone.
So my question is, am I wrong? Can I use Ruby on the iPhone to develop Cocoa Touch applications. And what is the future looking like for Ruby on the iPhone?
Now you can with RubyMotion
In the iPhone OS, mprotect() will fail if you try to use it to mark writable sections of memory as executable. This breaks bridges like RubyCocoa (and probably MacRuby) that use libffi to create Objective-C method handlers at runtime. I believe that this is by design because it was not always the case.
Ultimately, this is more a matter of platform politics than technology, but a technical workaround for this exists. Instead of generating custom method handlers at runtime, precompile a pool of reconfigurable ones that are assigned as needed, essentially making the bridging process entirely data-driven. As far as I know, this is not yet being done in RubyCocoa or MacRuby.
Another significant thing to consider is that the compiled Ruby and RubyCocoa runtimes can be significantly larger than compiled Objective-C apps. If these libraries were available on the iPhone, this wouldn't be an issue, but for now, even if you had RubyCocoa working, you might not want to use it for apps that you distribute.
No, you are correct. Currently, and most likely for the foreseeable future, Ruby will not be an option, at least for AppStore applications. There's no reason you couldn't do this on a Jailbroken phone, but Apple is pretty wed to Objective C for official development.
You are better off as a programmer knowing a number of different languages - think of Objective-C as a good learning opportunity.
I've found that things you learn in other languages often make you a better programmer overall, and give you new insights into other languages you already know.
rhomobile is an option to run ruby code on the iPhone, but it's essentially web app development. A web server runs locally on the iPhone and your ruby code renders to standard client side web technologies (html/css/javascript).
http://rhomobile.com/
Actually, the ruby cocoa bridge isn't awkward at all; things work remarkably smoothly, right down to connecting outlets in IB etc. The resulting code is down right beautiful.
As for iPhone development, if you want an official AppStore application, you're out of luck unfortunately. Apple dictated that iPhone is Obj-C/Cocoa Touch, and there's a clause in the SDK license saying that one of the things they will reject an app for is having a language interpreter/JIT compiler, so you couldn't add a ruby interpreter in your app yourself.
Off topic, but hilariously, this is why Flash for the iPhone is Adobe blowing smoke. They couldn't get a swf player onto the AppStore even if they wanted to, per Apple's license.
Uh, Rhodes (Rhomobile) does allow you to do native apps on the iPhone and all other smartphones. Yes, we do leverage doing rendering via the WebUIView control. But we allow all device capabilities and synchronized local data.
You might want to take a look at shinycocos. It is a child project of cocos2d-iphone, an Objective-C game programming framework for iPhone.
I haven't yet played with it, but from the git README I infer that it bundles Ruby 1.9.1 into your app.
I installed the ruby package from Cydia on my iPod Touch 1G jailbroken on 3.1.3:
Seems to work.
Now as for cocoa-touch that is a whole different story I would assume.
Take a look at http://www.appcelerator.com/products/titanium-mobile/
"Native iPhone and Android apps built with Web technologies."
Sounds good isn't it ? ;-)
No you can not create iOS native app in Ruby.
There is only two options for native apps for mac and iOS:-
Objective C and Swift Programming Language
Tutorials:-
Apple's official tutorial on Objective C
Apple's official tutorial on Swift Programing Language
If you are familiar with Ruby and only want to create iOS apps by Ruby. Ruby Motion, can be a cross-platform option for you, but it is not free.
Cross-Platforms
RubyMotion
Xamarin required .net skills
appcelerator HTML,XML,CSS,JS skills required
phonegap HTML,XML,CSS,JS skills required
I imagine it won't work right now, but I'd imagine that you'll eventually be able to use MacRuby to build iphone apps. Apple are putting a lot of work into it
Here's a link to an ADC article describing how to build normal cocoa apps
You don't have to use Objective-C to write iPhone apps. If you use QuickConnectiPhone, http://sourceforge.net/projects/quickconnect/, you can write it completely in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML and still have an installable application not a web app.
If you know ruby you are probably working with JavaScript already.
To see how to install it, run it, and other ideas go to tetontech.wordpress.com
There's an open-source Ruby-Cocoa bridge you might try to get working. But I gather that there's a bit of an impedance mismatch between Ruby and ObjC that makes it a bit awkward to use.
The Ruby Cocoa bridge probably will not work. Most of the bridges for dynamic languages need to generate executable thunks (either manually or with libffi). More limited bridges (for more static languages) may not have such issues.
In either event, bringing up a bridge is probably going to require becoming more familiar with the Objective C runtime than one would just learning how to write Cocoa Touch apps, which probably defeats the point of doing it in the first place.
Currently isnt true, Apple change their policies, take a look at ShinyCocos, is a ruby bindings for the Cocos2D-iphone game framework.
https://github.com/funkaster/shinycocos
One possible solution would be to create an application wrapping for example the rice library (google it) which includes a ruby-vm. I reckon you would be able to create c++ wrappers that you could expose to ruby, thus making an environment for iphone development with ruby. This probably requires a lot of work though ^^
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Using PyObjC, you can use Python to write Cocoa applications for OS X. Can I write native iPhone apps using Python and if so, how?
You can use PyObjC on the iPhone as well, due to the excellent work by Jay Freeman (saurik). See iPhone Applications in Python.
Note that this requires a jailbroken iPhone at the moment.
Not currently, currently the only languages available to access the iPhone SDK are C/C++, Objective C and Swift.
There is no technical reason why this could not change in the future but I wouldn't hold your breath for this happening in the short term.
That said, Objective-C and Swift really are not too scary...
2016 edit
Javascript with NativeScript framework is available to use now.
It seems this is now something developers are allowed to do: the iOS Developer Agreement was changed yesterday and appears to have been ammended in a such a way as to make embedding a Python interpretter in your application legal:
SECTION 3.3.2 — INTERPRETERS
Old:
3.3.2 An Application may not itself install or launch other executable
code by any means, including without
limitation through the use of a
plug-in architecture, calling other
frameworks, other APIs or otherwise.
Unless otherwise approved by Apple in
writing, no interpreted code may be
downloaded or used in an Application
except for code that is interpreted
and run by Apple’s Documented APIs and
built-in interpreter(s).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, with
Apple’s prior written consent, an
Application may use embedded
interpreted code in a limited way if
such use is solely for providing minor
features or functionality that are
consistent with the intended and
advertised purpose of the Application.
New:
3.3.2 An Application may not download or install executable code.
Interpreted code may only be used in
an Application if all scripts, code
and interpreters are packaged in the
Application and not downloaded. The
only exception to the foregoing is
scripts and code downloaded and run by
Apple’s built-in WebKit framework.
Yes you can. You write your code in tinypy (which is restricted Python), then use tinypy to convert it to C++, and finally compile this with XCode into a native iPhone app. Phil Hassey has published a game called Elephants! using this approach. Here are more details,
http://www.philhassey.com/blog/2009/12/23/elephants-is-free-on-the-app-store/
Yes, nowadays you can develop apps for iOS in Python.
There are two frameworks that you may want to checkout: Kivy and PyMob.
Please consider the answers to this question too, as they are more up-to-date than this one.
An update to the iOS Developer Agreement means that you can use whatever you like, as long as you meet the developer guidelines. Section 3.3.1, which restricted what developers could use for iOS development, has been entirely removed.
Source: http://daringfireball.net/2010/09/app_store_guidelines
Pythonista has an Export to Xcode feature that allows you to export your Python scripts as Xcode projects that build standalone iOS apps.
https://github.com/ColdGrub1384/Pyto is also worth looking into.
The iPhone SDK agreement is also rather vague about whether you're even allowed to run scripting languages (outside of a WebView's Javascript). My reading is that it is OK - as long as none of the scripts you execute are downloaded from the network (so pre-installed and user-edited scripts seem to be OK).
IANAL etc etc.
BeeWare is an open source framework for authoring native iOS & Android apps.
2019 Update:
While Python-iOS development is relatively immature and likely will prevent (afaik) your app from having native UI and functionality that could be achieved in an Apple-supported development language, Apple now seems to allow embedding Python interpreters in Native Swift/Obj-C apps.
This supports importing Python libraries and running Python scripts (even with supplied command-line arguments) directly from your Native Swift/Obj-C code.
My company is actually wrapping our infrastructure (originally written in Python) in a native iOS application! It works very well and communication between the parts can be easily achieved via a client-server model.
Here is a nice library by Beeware with a cookiecutter template if you want to try and run Python scripts in your iOS app: https://github.com/beeware/Python-Apple-support/tree/3.6.
Technically, as long as the interpreted code ISN'T downloaded (excluding JavaScript), the app may be approved. Rhomobiles "Rhodes" framework does just that, bundling mobile Ruby, a lightweight version of Rails, and your app for distribution via the app-store. Because both the interpreter and the interpreted code are packaged into the final application - Apple doesn't find it objectionable.
http://rhomobile.com/products/rhodes/
Even after the latest apple press release - rhodes apps (mobile ruby) are still viable on the app-store. I'd find it hard to believe that tinyPy or pyObjC wouldn't find a place if there is a willing developer community.
You can do this with PyObjC, with a jailbroken phone of course. But if you want to get it into the App Store, they will not allow it because it "interprets code." However, you may be able to use Shed Skin, although I'm not aware of anyone doing this. I can't think of any good reason to do this though, as you lose dynamic typing, and might as well use ObjC.
The only significant "external" language for iPhone development that I'm aware of with semi-significant support in terms of frameworks and compatibility is MonoTouch, a C#/.NET environment for developing on the iPhone.
I think it was not possible earlier but I recently heard about PyMob, which seems interesting because the apps are written in Python and the final outputs are native source codes in various platforms (Obj-C for iOS, Java for Android etc). This is certainly quite unique. This webpage explains it in more detail.
I haven't given it a shot yet, but will take a look soon.