iPhone app development

[motorollin]

I've been told by a few different people that iPhone app development is really easy. Since I rather like coding, and often have ideas for apps I would like to see on the iPhone, I thought I'd give it a go. I've been following Apple's tutorial here, and so far, it seems really, really complicated.

For example, in order to just create a "view" in an application, I have to write several lines of code in several different files, create new headers, open interface builder, create the nib file, add it to XCode, and modify the attributes of some objects to get it to work. In RealBasic, this can all be achieved by choosing "File... New".

The next step is to get the interface to do something. It looks like I have to create outlets, drag lines between stuff, etc. Again, in RealBasic all I have to do is drag the object in to the window then double click it to see all of its events. I can just type code straight in to the events and not have to muck about defining anything or changing properties.

Am I missing something here? It may seem a bit unfair to compare iPhone app development with RealBasic, but if RealBasic can be so bloody easy to use, why can't XCode?

[Wayne]

I think the problem is that no one has yet developed an "easy" programming environ for the iPhone.  Meaning something like RealBasic or even Visual Basic, which wraps thousands of more difficult repetitive functions inside one "file... new" call.

Wayne

[motorollin]

I think the problem is that no one has yet developed an "easy" programming environ for the iPhone.  Meaning something like RealBasic or even Visual Basic, which wraps thousands of more difficult repetitive functions inside one "file... new" call.

Wayne

Agreed. I estimate that the test app I built by working through the tutorial would have taken about 10 minutes to construct from start to finish had I not been following a tutorial. I can make the same example in one minute using RealBasic (I know because I just did it, and it took exactly one minute).

Worse still, when I came to change something in the test app, namely removing some GUI elements and adding others, I was then required to scour the code for remnants of the old elements, and then go in and write loads of code for the new bits. :madashell: Surely the point of an IDE is to free the developer from tedious tasks like this...

[GadgetMaster]

Agreed. I estimate that the test app I built by working through the tutorial would have taken about 10 minutes to construct from start to finish had I not been following a tutorial. I can make the same example in one minute using RealBasic (I know because I just did it, and it took exactly one minute).

Worse still, when I came to change something in the test app, namely removing some GUI elements and adding others, I was then required to scour the code for remnants of the old elements, and then go in and write loads of code for the new bits. :madashell: Surely the point of an IDE is to free the developer from tedious tasks like this...

The opportunity is staring in the face you right there. You might be able to code the killer app for the iPhone. A half decent IDE.

Program one and I'm sure it will be popular with new coders for the platform.

[motorollin]

The opportunity is staring in the face you right there. You might be able to code the killer app for the iPhone. A half decent IDE.

Program one and I'm sure it will be popular with new coders for the platform.

Although I could probably cobble together a pretty front end, my coding skills are not advanced enough to write an IDE. Since Apple are the only ones who can sign iPhone apps, a replacement IDE would have to export an XCode project with the Interface Builder bits which can then be opened and built in XCode. That's way beyond my time and abilities