Will Developers Finally Start Coding On the iPad? 463
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?"
bluetooth keyboard (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
Not enough screen pixels (Score:5, Insightful)
A couple of years ago I finally got an external monitor for my work PC that had more pixels than the Sun 3 I'd used back in the 1980s. (We mainly worked with laptops, and our IT department always thought that having more color depth was more important than more pixels, even though most of us work with text and simple graphics and 16-bit color was plenty. Some years they also thought portability was important, which was nice of them, but had the price of only getting 1024x768.)
Back when I was younger, 1280x1024 pixels was annoyingly small to do development work in, because it limits how much text you could fit on a screen. Now that I need reading glasses, I not only want more pixels than that, but I want a bigger screen to put them on, and holding the latest generation iPad/MacBook close to my face just means typing is awkward.
Re:Not enough screen pixels (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe try reading for comprehension, this little bit might have answered you query: "I not only want more pixels than that, but I want a bigger screen to put them on".
Re:Not enough screen pixels (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
HERP HERP iPeerrd is teh cerrl yerr merrst beeuy eerrt.
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:5, Insightful)
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
than again, on an android tablet you can(cumbersomely) develop a real android app.
on an ipad not, unless you use it essentially as just as a dumb terminal to some full mac somewhere.
it's essentially apples rules about not having a second app store that keep the whole developing fully on an ipad idea at bay for foreseeable future for non-jailbreakers. so it's a matter of politics, not practicalities.
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:5, 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 [google.com] 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.
Re: (Score:3)
i just tried out aide. its pretty sweet. the moment i compiled to an apk and installed i was hooked.
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:4, 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. :-)
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:4, Insightful)
Much like the difference between a plastic seat nailed to a wooden frame with some wheels and a "real car".
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:4, Insightful)
Do "full blooded software development" and "PHP" belong in the same sentence?
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:5, Funny)
Do "full blooded software development" and "PHP" belong in the same sentence?
Why yes, yes it does.
"Programming in PHP is not full blooded software development"
Whether that sentence is factually correct is a matter for discussion though.
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:5, Funny)
"Programming in PHP is not full blooded software development"
Whether that sentence is factually correct is not a matter for discussion though.
FTFY.
Re: (Score:3)
I've cranked out several thousand lines of JavaScript as part of a work project I'd been assigned to help out with. As it turns out, you can do some pretty neat functional (as opposed to procedural) stuff with it. HTML is a markup language, but the web is much more than that these days.
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:4, Interesting)
And Javascript is an excellent intermediatory language.
Apache Cordova is an interesting project aimed at building native apps on most smartphone platforms using HTML, CSS and Javascript to describe the app.
http://docs.phonegap.com/en/1.8.1/index.html [phonegap.com]
Re: bluetooth keyboard (Score:5, Funny)
The iPad is irrelevant, soon to be eclipsed (no pun intended) by all things Android. Arguably, this has already happened.
Arguably, you are quite disconnected from reality. :-)
Seriously? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you don't have a real keyboard you don't have a real development tool - regardless of the IDE. Sure you can do some programing and you can even use a real keyboard with an ipad - but if your going that far then why not just use a laptop? If portability is an issue then try an ultrabook. The conclusion I have come to though is that most of my development time does not happen while being "mobile" - I'm at a desk somewhere.
Tablets are a media consumption device. Using them for developing software is like pounding a screw into wood with a hammer.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you don't have a real keyboard you don't have a real development tool - regardless of the IDE.
Someone else pointed out a more fundamental problem: you cannot write iPad software using your iPad. Even if it had a keyboard, that problem would kill the iPad as a software development platform.
Today. (Score:2)
. . .today. Tomorrow, who knows?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
True. For other companies. So normally I would agree with you.
But this is Apple. They don't care about developers. They don't care about users. It's their way, or the highway.
But of course the media will always put, at the end of the article, "but Apple will have it in the next version!" as they always do. Even though they don't. Yet they never do this for any other company
Re:Today. (Score:5, Insightful)
But this is Apple. They don't care about developers. They don't care about users. It's their way, or San Jose's courthouse.
There. Fixed that for you.
Re:Today. (Score:4, Interesting)
But this is Apple. They don't care about developers. They don't care about users. It's their way, or the highway.
OK, I agree that they don't care about developers. Apple treats developers like trash. But Apple does care about users an an aggregate sense, in that their products and marketing are designed to achieve real resonance with hundreds of millions of users and turn them into passionate evangelists. Treating developers badly is actually part of the latter goal. But it is only about money, though. Beyond that, Apple doesn't care about users either.
Re:Today. (Score:4, Insightful)
But it is only about money, though. Beyond that, Apple doesn't care about users either.
And beyond money, does any business care about its customers?
Re:Today. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:That makes no sense. (Score:5, Insightful)
There's no reason apple couldn't write an iOS IDE for the iPad
Except that it would violate their own terms of service, and that it would be a complete 180 for them in terms of their recent behavior. There is also no reason that Apple couldn't remove the restrictions on iOS and allow anyone to write software for it -- but no sane person can think that is going to happen.
You seem to think Apple has some kind of nonsensical vendetta agains developers
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.
they only charge $100 per year to be a part of their developer program
If you do not pay, nobody can run your iOS software. You make it seem like developers are paying Apple because they like the service; in reality, they are paying Apple because the only other way to distribute iOS software is in a legal grey area.
which allows you to submit apps for approval
Or to have your application rejected because it might offend some people:
http://www.juggleware.com/blog/2008/09/steve-jobs-writes-back/ [juggleware.com]
You seem to be taking that and extrapolating it to a world where Apple actively works to prevent software development on their platform
No, I said that Apple would require people to buy a high-end laptop or workstation, and that they would charge a yearly fee to develop software using that system. Which is only one or two steps away from the situation we have today: the development tools are only available for Mac OS X, you have to pay Apple to sign your software or nobody can run it, and Apple is creating more laptops that are not user serviceable. It makes sense for them, because this model for iOS has basically turned them into the most valuable company in the entire world. Why would they even stop doing something so profitable?
the apps are such a large part of their product's appeal.
Apps created by professional developers who use expensive workstations and have little problem paying Apple are part of the appeal. It is rare for an individual developer to make a popular iOS app; we are not talking about the Ubuntu repositories, we are talking about a store designed by and for corporate developers.
At no point did I say people would be forbidden from writing software for Apple devices, all I said is that users will not have such freedom; you will need to pay for the privilege.
Re:That makes no sense. (Score:5, 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. ;-)
Re: (Score:3)
Apps created by professional developers who use expensive workstations and have little problem paying Apple are part of the appeal.
That's right. Having a $100 per year hurdle is no disincentive to professional developers. Yet it cuts down on the amount of shit that would other wise be put out there by people casually having a go.
It's a bit like a spam filter in that it increases the signal to noise ratio.
Re:That makes no sense. (Score:5, Insightful)
pitifully small development registration fee
Which is enough to keep people away. If I had an iPad in high school, and no other computer access, I would not have been to afford that fee.
Apple has never required the purchase of a high-end desktop or workstation.
No, they have only required a system running Mac OS X, and now it is starting to look like Mac OS X is going to be locked down as well, or that Apple is going to start installing iOS on their consumer laptop / desktop lines.
Wrong. Outside of games it is in fact common.
Hm...what are the most popular apps in the App Store...
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/311311/20120308/apple-time-popular-ios-apps.htm [ibtimes.com]
Well, if we delete the games from that list, what do we see? Google, Facebook, Skype, Microsoft, and a smaller company called TapTapTap. Where are these popular apps from individual developers? I guess maybe they are just not popular enough to make it into the top ten, but here is the top 100 for free apps, and I am not seeing too many individuals even when games are excluded:
https://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/free-apps/ [apple.com]
So, let me reiterate my question for you: where are those individuals who supposedly write all of this popular software?
Users have that freedom if they want it.
If they want to be in the App store they must pay the App Store owner, one way or another.
You are envisioning some odd world were Apple is making tons of money on DEVELOPERS.
No, I am envisioning a world where Apple makes tons of money by controlling their products long after those products were purchased. That would be called "the world as it exists today."
Re:iPad-only HS student is an edge case (Score:4, Interesting)
the high school's computer lab, the city library's computer lab
I was suspended for programming a computer in middle school (OK, I'll admit, the program I wrote was not exactly in line with school rules, but what do you think 13 year old boys do?), and my city's libraries do not allow people to run any software that was not installed by the IT staff. I would not bank on CS classes being the savior here either; kids don't become hackers who can breeze through their CS course if they only get to program 90 minutes each day, and only those who can breeze through their class assignments have time to practice programming during class. When I took APCS in high school, our computers were locked down to stop us from even getting access to a terminal (yes, really -- only the approved Java IDE was allowed), and so any in-class "practice" involved either defeating the lock down (which was not all that hard) or just writing Java code.
a user account on the family PC,
Is there any guarantee that the family would have a PC? Things seem to be moving away from that sort of scenario. The only real hope one would have is that a family member is a hacker, or that a family member sees that the kid would benefit from having access to a PC. I do not think it is terribly far fetched to say that in 5-10 years, there will be people who only have "walled garden" computers in their homes.
or at least an Android tablet owned by another family member on which to run AIDE.
Perhaps, but by that point, you are no longer talking about an "edge case," you are talking about a large fraction of people who will not fall into the group. Right now, there are households that only have Apple products i.e. all laptops/desktops, tablets, and phones are Apple. If your only access to a programmable computer is Aunt Sally's Android tablet, you have pretty limited access.
Look, I get what you are saying -- kids will find their way to programmable computers. The problem is that, unless their parents can recognize that their children really do need a PC to hack on, the kids will only be getting access to other people's computers, and those other people may not be very understanding about having some teenager turn their computer into a development system.
Re:iPad-only HS student is an edge case (Score:4, Insightful)
The last thing we need to do is to teach kids that they should just mind their own business and focus on the things their superiors tell them are important. Telling kids that they are not allowed to hack is telling them that programming is just a day job, with rules set by their superiors, and that they should only be doing it during their assigned work hours. That is precisely the wrong message to send, it is as bad as telling them that they shouldn't read unless it is part of their job.
Having to replace your Mac periodically (Score:5, Insightful)
Plenty of people develop on a Mac mini.
Which still increases the price by requiring the purchase of either a second (otherwise unnecessary) computer for $650 or the purchase of a $200 second operating system to run in Boot Camp if you instead decide to make the Mac your primary machine. And you have to replace this computer every four years; otherwise you risk not being able to run the latest Mac OS X [slashdot.org]. And if you're not on a recent Mac OS X, forget about being able to run the latest Xcode needed to target devices running the latest iOS.
Re:That makes no sense. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Sure, iOS and Android will be "fine" without hobbyist teenagers or college students. That does not mean that excluding them is a good thing for users or developers.
Re:In what way can you not do that? (Score:4, Interesting)
Once you jailbreak an iOS device
That is a non-answer; you are saying that we need to attack our own computers just to write software for them. If "jailbreak" was something you could do using some official, built-in function of the software, maybe this would be worth considering.
there are already ways to develop subsets of iPad applications
This is also a non-answer; being able to develop for a platform means being able to develop for it, not being able to develop some approved set of macros or scripts. My mom used to program her cable receiver to turn on and change to a particular channel at a particular time, so that her VCR could record a show; would you say that she was able to "develop software using her cable box?" How is this any different?
Re:Answering your non-response (Score:4, Informative)
Codify allows you to develop for the iPad.
Except for the restrictions noted here:
https://bitbucket.org/TwoLivesLeft/codea/wiki/FAQ [bitbucket.org]
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 [wikipedia.org]
Are JS, PHP, and Python "macro systems"? (Score:3)
The market is not what gave us PCs
IBM, a participant in the market, gave us PCs. Before that, other participants in the market gave us 8-bit home microcomputers.
No sane person can claim that VBA is a system for developing Windows applications. It is a macro system, one that is complete enough to allow for the creation of commercially viable applications, but a macro system nonetheless.
As computer technology continues to develop, the definition of what is called a "high level" or "macro" language changes. For example, a long time ago, "macro system" referred to an assembler supporting "macroinstructions", essentially inline subroutines.
VBA is not a substitute or competitor for Visual Studio or other Windows development systems.
Is there a solid dividing line between "macro systems" and proper interpreted programming languages such as JavaScript, PHP, and P
Re:Answering your non-response (Score:4, 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.
Yes. (Score:2)
I use my keyboard less and less for programming. And as others have pointed out, you can get a keyboard for an iPad. People who think this can't happen simply lack imagination.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Yes. (Score:4, Insightful)
Someday iPad apps will be developed on an iPad ... (Score:2)
No.
Yes, seriously, someday iPad apps will be developed on an iPad.
That day will be when the iPad plugs into a "docking station" and acts as the "cpu" and an external keyboard, mouse, display and storage (HDD, SSD, etc) connect to it through the docking station.
Re: (Score:2)
That day will be when the iPad plugs into a "docking station" and acts as the "cpu" and an external keyboard, mouse, display and storage (HDD, SSD, etc) connect to it through the docking station.
Doesn't iOS have a sandboxed architecture where applications are restricted to their own private workspace? How's that going to work for a developer toolchain?
Re: (Score:3)
My Nintendo 3DS has a neat little toy app called Petit Computer [petitcomputer.com]. It is basically a BASIC interpreter that allows you to write programs and games, and trade them with friends. I also hear tell of a Pokemon typing [wikipedia.org] game that is coming out that features a wireless keyboard for the DS. Even assuming that a patch is made to allow the keyboard to function in Petit Computer, I don't see the point to actually programming on a 3DS. I sure as hell would never want to use a device like that to do serious work.
I feel t
Re:Seriously? (Score:4, Informative)
No... (Score:4, Interesting)
..but if they were serious enough about coding on a tablet, there are plenty of portable hardware keyboards that can be connected to it.
But really, the IDE apps mentioned don't seem to allow development of actual iOS apps on the device, unlike https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aide.ui&hl=en [google.com]
Re:No... (Score:5, Funny)
Nope (Score:5, Funny)
Speaking for my people, No.
Is it just me? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Is it just me? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, it is just you who wants to shoot yourself.
Rational people merely want to shoot the authors of such stories.
Re: (Score:2)
do you just want to shoot yourself?
Shoot myself? Why... it's not me that makes moronic predictions.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Most people aren't predicting the utter demise of desktops and laptops, they're just predicting (quite correctly, I think) their decline to a more niche and more expensive kind of product. Desktops/Laptops have been riding on the coattails of Joe Sixpack, who never really wanted to do all the things those boxes can do. Joe wants to get onto his Facebook, share some photos on his Tumblr, and maybe watch some Youtube videos. He can do that far easier on a tablet, so the rather accidental mass-market status
Re: (Score:2)
Yes.
But I really do wonder. Do all these plant articles and thinly-veiled advertisement "news articles" actually translate to sales? Apple probably because Apple-lovers are morons at this point. But aren't Android tablets dying sales-wise, regardless of the media push? I truly wonder.
Re: (Score:2)
Wonderful but... (Score:2)
Wonderful news to have real programming available on iOS however my Mac is a lot more than just a keyboard. I see a time when the iOS and MacOS will merge and there will be varying pieces of hardware that runs the new AppleOS (aOS). But just adding a keyboard (which I have) to my iPad does not make my iPad as functional as my Mac. The Mac has a lot more storage (iCloud is not available here in any reliable fast mode) and a lot more ports. My Mac can also play CD's (remember those - sort of like envelopes fo
Comprehensive List of Computing Advantages in iPad (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
A physical keyboard is all well and good (Score:3)
Re:A physical keyboard is all well and good (Score:5, Insightful)
Suuuuuurvey says... "No"! (Score:4, Interesting)
And then, even if I did have a great idea for the next "Angry Birds"... Why the hell would I want to target a platform known for giving devs the boot for reasons ranging from "editorial" to "petty" to "borderline illegal vindictive"?
Thanks, but no thanks. I'll target iDevices as soon as they tear down the wall around the garden, and not before.
No. (Score:3, Interesting)
Probably not (Score:3, Insightful)
Let's face it, when writing a significant app you do a lot of typing. So. Are the iPad's keys roughly the size of a normal keyboard's? That size is significant because it's a comfortable size for human fingers. Much larger and it's awkward to reach between keys, while much smaller and it's awkward to hit just the key you want. Does the iPad's screen allow for keys to be depressed and provide gradual resistance? Those mechanical aspects are important because they provide tactile feedback and avoid having the typist hammering the tips of their fingers on a solid surface (which hurts after a while). Can I keep the iPad's on-screen keyboard only slightly inclined (so it's in line with the plane my fingers occupy while typing) while angling it's display 45 degrees or more up (so it's perpendicular to my line of vision)? That's so I can type comfortably without having to crane my neck or maintain an uncomfortable position to see the screen clearly. As far as I can tell the answer to all of those is "Not without external devices.". So if I'm going to tie myself down to a stand to hold the iPad itself plus a big keyboard and mouse to do my typing on, why wouldn't I go for the conventional desktop with it's larger monitors and more horsepower so I can run builds faster?
Re: (Score:2)
... and so you don't have to deal with arbitrary restrictions about applications and content, nor reward those selling a platform with those restrictions in place.
Not Likely (Score:4, Insightful)
I can barely be hassled "typing" any more than 3-4 sentence email on an ipad before I get annoyed. In addition to the difficulty of typing, the lack of cursor control (touching to move the cursor is just down to luck as to where exactly it goes) means the entire experience is a retrograde step. Fine for 140 character input, useless if you want to type any lengthy piece of text.
Tablets are great for some things (content consumption primary amongst them). But honestly, any time I am told that tablets represent a "post-pc" world for content creation (whether professional coding, or simple word processing), I just laugh.
Re: (Score:2)
I can barely be hassled "typing" any more than 3-4 sentence email on an ipad before I get annoyed.
Tablets are great for some things (content consumption primary amongst them). But honestly, any time I am told that tablets represent a "post-pc" world for content creation (whether professional coding, or simple word processing), I just laugh.
Laugh? You can't be serious [theonion.com], can you?
That depends (Score:2)
A simple game or a visualization of some data? Sure, you might program that on an iPad.
But for serious work it just lacks the tools. You need more than just an IDE to create a real application. The fact you can't easily work with files or open up a terminal is a serious deal breaker there.
And of course there's the fact there's no way to share screen space between different apps on an iPad. The fact every app always takes up the entire screen is great for a lot of people, but I don't think developers are amo
Just No (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously. Just no. Journalists--stop it. Stop it already.
I wonder what will happen when all the hype dies down and people actually use their tablet for more than casual BS. Right now it's The New Shiny (TM). But when the world over finally realizes it's collecting dust, will they buy another?
My guess--only the $200 tablets like the Nexus 7 will survive. Though the only thing that has peaked my interest would be *laptops* or convertible tablets (like that new Sony one with a slide out KB) with Win 8. Becaus
Re:Just No (Score:4, Informative)
> Though the only thing that has peaked my interest
The word is piqued, you poor benighted heathen.
Re: (Score:3)
But when the world over finally realizes it's collecting dust, will they buy another?
Yes.
Maybe that's because I never used my iPad for any bullshit. I always knew what I wanted it for and that's what I'm using it for. It's a great device for many things while I'm on the road or otherwise not at my desk. If I just want to check if I got new mail, the iPhone will do. When I actually want to process my mail, with replies and all, iPad is great.
Coding? Please. Be serious. Nobody sane would do that, except for emergencies.
Re:Just No (Score:4, 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.
No (Score:5, Interesting)
Look, I'm an iOS & web developer. I use an iPad all day long, often off-site. If anybody is the target market for this, it's me. And I think developing on an iPad is an awful idea. It's a case of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Is it possible to pull up a code editor on the iPad? Of course. But that doesn't make it a better choice than, well, just about any other option. The only redeeming aspect of this is if you already have an iPad with you, it's better than nothing at all. But really, how often is it that you need to do some coding unexpectedly and you only have your iPad with you? This is what laptops are for.
Re: (Score:3)
Look, I'm an iOS & web developer. I use an iPad all day long, often off-site. If anybody is the target market for this, it's me. And I think developing on an iPad is an awful idea. It's a case of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Is it possible to pull up a code editor on the iPad? Of course. But that doesn't make it a better choice than, well, just about any other option. The only redeeming aspect of this is if you already have an iPad with you, it's better than nothing at all. But really, how often is it that you need to do some coding unexpectedly and you only have your iPad with you? This is what laptops are for.
I agree 110% the iPad (and Android tablets) are nice for all sorts of things but they won't replace a full fledged desktop anytime soon. The moment I want to do something more complex than take notes with Pages, do some browsing, read a PDF or write short emails; something like say.... work on my computer graphics (Photoshop for iPad is a joke), edit video, do heavy duty word processing (Pages for all it's uses is rather limited on iPad) or god forbid, develop software, I reach for my laptop. My MacBook Air
Betteridge (Score:3)
No.
Next up: "Does Betteridge's law ever work?"
Emacs (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Emacs (Score:4, Funny)
How am I supposed to type C-x M-c M-butterfly on an iPad keyboard?
No need to wait (Score:4, Informative)
Jailbreak, and enjoy [gamma-level.com]!
Anyone who even KNOWS what Emacs is can jailbreak an IOS device...
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that Apple won't approve an alternative operating system for the iPhone.
How about a nice text editor instead?
Re: (Score:3)
nonsense (Score:4, 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.
AppleScript Studio? HyperCard replacement? (Score:2)
Until you can chain apps together so as to get real work done w/o being limited by what an app developer has chosen to do, the iPad is a very limited tool.
We need AppleScript, support for it in apps, and we need a HyperCard replacement (why not allow Runtime Revolution, the nicest HyperCard clone I know of to run?)
I'd like to see Python on Android... (Score:2)
I've done a tiny amount of dabbling in Android code and it reminded me of how much I miss Python. It's a shame that a walled-garden setup like iOS is actually friendlier to alternate languages than Android.
I've coded on worse (Score:4, Interesting)
I love how some of the comments are of the vein, "No way! How can I code without an IDE and a debugger and my 3 massive monitors and 16-core processor? What a joke!" I've coded on the console, in vi or emacs. If people couldn't write software without modern amenities, we'd never have had the modern amenities.
The reason why we won't be coding on the iPad for quite a while to come is because that's not what Apple wants you to use it for. Light work, maybe, but it's mostly a consumption device, not a creation device. Besides, if you're that hot to code on your iPad, you're a lot better off coding remotely through SSH on a machine with that 16-core processor and 8GB of RAM. (Just because I've worked on those old machines doesn't mean it's the best way to do it. :)
Maybe one day, when this kind of device is effectively all anyone wants to use. But for now, Apple would rather that you bought more hardware, not less.
Re: (Score:3)
I love how some of the comments are of the vein, "No way! How can I code without an IDE and a debugger and my 3 massive monitors and 16-core processor? What a joke!" I've coded on the console, in vi or emacs. If people couldn't write software without modern amenities, we'd never have had the modern amenities.
It's not that people absolutely can't code without modern tools and systems, it's that doing so is less productive. Why would you want to deliberately use a less effective system when you don't have t
thin-blooded (Score:4, Insightful)
full-blooded software development tool
Yeah, right.
I've taken a lot, and I'm underwhelmed.
No support for git or Subversion, i.e. revision control. Is anyone on this planet seriously still writing software without a revision control system?
No database, not even sqlite. Every non-trivial PHP application I know uses a database. How do you want to work on it if you can't at least fake DB queries?
Direct execution instead of webserver emulation. Very few PHP apps are standalone, the vast majority are written for a web environment. Frameworks and libraries do rely on webserver features for parts of their functionality (such as URL rewriting). Another major thing you can't test.
If they tried selling me this as an IDE for my Mac, I wouldn't even test it even if it were free.
Scripts? Pfft! (Score:3)
On the iPad? (Score:3)
I can't even get my IDE working on my Mac!
Seriously. Xcode refuses to install. And I can't seem to find just a plain compiler (like GCC) except the one "included" with Xcode, so I can't use any other IDE either (I'd prefer CodeBlocks, as it's what I use on Windows, and will use on Linux as soon as I find the time to install it).
It probably has something to do with me being a few versions "behind" and not willing to shell out $$$ for an official developer's license, but guess what? I can install Visual Studio or GCC on my old XP machine and start coding, no license required.
While the Mac may be a somewhat-attractive option as a desktop, and it even has all the trappings of a good developer's workstation, it downright SUCKS for coding. So I'm not even going to consider coding on their dumbed-down tablet OS until I can get a freaking compiler for their so-called "full-power" desktop OS.
Not anytime soon (Score:4, Insightful)
So let me get this straight. I can drop down to 1 GB of RAM, and 1 GHz dual core CPU of the ARM architecture, which equates to maybe a 200 MHz x86 or something. I sacrifice freedom of choice of main OS in addition to all my virtualization abilities. I have to stare at one lonely monitor running one lonely app at a time. It will likely take 10 minutes simply to compile small to medium sized apps in Xcode, assuming I have enough memory to compile them.
Maybe someday? That's the best I can say at this point.
Obllig (Score:4, Informative)
One reason why not: (Score:3)
The iPad is terrible.
It's really, really bad. I have one. I use it to watch PBS -- the PBS app isn't very good. Crashes now and then, video flips back in time and then catches up confusingly, doesn't provide good search tools. But it's portable, and I can use it in the can.
I keep trying to do other stuff with the iPad. Everything I try which claims to make the thing do something well turns out to make it do a crappy job of that task.
Art. SSH. Cheap games. Writing. Note management. Fail, fail, fail, fail, fail.
It's all really bad. Badly designed. Impossible to copy and paste. Impossible to select text quickly. Pointing at things doesn't work all that well (your finger is big). So you can get a stylus and a bluetooth keyboard, but you're still left with a crappy MODEL. It's not a good system for actually doing anything.
People keep telling me they love the iPad. That it works for this or that. But I try what they recommend and what the app always does is make the iPad less horrible. But not less horrible enough.
The iPad is light. It's really portable. But it needs a complete overhaul to do anything well.
Android ain't fantastic either, but it's realy not as bad as the iPad.
Really? (Score:3)
Seriously? Code on an iPad? Why on earth would you want to do that? This tablet fad is getting beyond ridiculous. Is the convenience of holding and carrying of a tablet device so vital that people are willing to trade absolutely everything else for it? This is the age of stupid hybrid OS like Windows 8 coupled to a hybrid device that has a much smaller screen than a standard laptop in a ridiculous 16:9 ratio at a much higher price than a comparably specced laptop just so you can use it as a tablet? Who in their sane mind would want to code on a tablet, I sit here on a 1080p 15.6 screen thinking I really need to pick up a 24"/27" as soon as possible to do real work.
What will the next trend be? Cooking everything in a tiny saucepan over a tiny camping stove because you can carry it everywhere, and we can mock the chefs with their gigantic pans and woks and ovens, who needs those. Abandoning bicycles for unicycles that fit in a suitcase for portability? Wildlife and sports photography with an iPhone, because who needs those SLRs and gigantic 300mm F2.8 lens? Writing and editing books and articles, manuscripts spanning hundreds of pages with a long list of references to be checked, all written on an iPad, because who the hell needs multiple windows open and visible at the same time on the screen, and as for typing, just blindly poke your fingers and autocorrect will seamlessly convert it to beautifully worded text.
Re: (Score:3)
Excellent rant. Agree completely. Each time I see people with an iPad I think they look very nice. But when I pick it up I ask myself, "what will I use it for?" The answer is "nothing". Too heavy for an ereader, can't touch type, screen to small for text editing. Yeah in the past I've coded via terminal windows 80x25, I wouldn't describe it as pleasurable, why should I go back to that? And it's subpowered. Bah. I used to know a guy back in the dos days who actually liked edlin, some people will use anything
Exactly (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The walled garden is more appropriately described as being 'boot-heeled'. I'm very disappointed with software developers rewarding a company putting forth a 'platform' with this kind of restrictions in place. If this had happened 30 or 40 years ago, the vast majority of them would note even have computers on their desks, and even fewer would be 'allowed' to write software for them.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Of course you can develop iPad apps on the iPad. Haven't you seen the link to Codea in the summary? That app does exactly that. In fact I have a game coded in Codea right here on my iPad, and I haven't even bought Codea.
Yes, actually, that is patentable... (Score:2)
Since you can compile on an iOS device [stackoverflow.com], you can write fully featured apps for it.
Editing? You could always grab one of the iPad code editors [readwriteweb.com], use the FTP support to read and write local files on your device, and switch to a terminal to compile.
It's all a bit primitive now if you were insistent on doing the whole thing on an iPad, but it can be done.
Re: (Score:3)
Don't be giving Apple ideas.
Re: (Score:2)
Who are they to decide whether or not you can run development tools on your own device?
The designers, developers, maintainers and owners of their platform.
It's their system and their rules apply. Don't like their rules? Get something else. Simple as that.