Re: Re: Shadow Alterntive - Redux.

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009, Bert Latamore wrote:

# if you do decide to go ahead with a new Shadow, I would really recommend 
# that you do it in Java. This will make it relatively easy to port it 

	I forget if you're a developer or not; a lot of people seem to 
always fall for the 'advertising' about java without knowing the reality 
of it, however ;) It was pushed as a big cross platform language, and in 
many ways that is true -- the language is cross platform; of course, most 
languages are equally cross platform. Its the libraries (APIs, SDKs etc) 
that are the problem...

	Android is actually a very compliant Java environment (on a 
not-quite JVM), though they're not a certified Java partner. You can look 
to RIM for being an official Java developer, but their Java environment is 
terrible. Theres WinMobile (which doesn't count so much these days), with 
no official JVM but a half dozen you could buy, but adds a lot of cost to 
an application. Theres no real JVM for iphone or WebOS. And of course, any 
mobile device that does have Java has a 100% custom API for its UI, though 
you could of course at least share some back-end code. J2ME is a terrible 
terrible thing, but perhap those days are more behind us (heck, using 
phones without even a garbage collector for their JVM makes me cry inside 
;)

	So Java has never really been all that compelling on mobiles; its 
slowly changing, but yet its always first on peoples minds because the 
'advertising' worked.

	In truth, the only real cross platform environment is general 
straight C (not even C++), with exceptions; RIM I don't think allows you 
to make a native binary, but the others are either supporting it or 
courting the idea. New technologies keep coming out, but they're never as 
universal, which is a _Damned Shame_.

	So, as always it is complicated; as I mentioned the other day -- 
with mobiles, it has only gotten _more_ complicated, when usually things 
get better over time.. no mobiles, they get worse :) (in terms of making a 
product across them I mean.. they do certainly get better for users.)

	*grumble*

	I used to sya many things, but one thing I used to say was.. you 
could make a living on Palm and WinMobile because they were such a total 
PITA to support that no one in their right minds would do it, except for 
suicidal folks like me. So the market was medium sized, but the developer 
base, the _Real_ developers who stuck through all the insanity for years 
at a time.. were very few. It was a painful existance, but it was also 
crazy fun :)

	Now I'm looking for a less painful approach, so I'm going with the 
mobiles that are interesitng and don't fight against me every step of the 
way; my heart can't take the fight anymore sometimes :)

		jeff

--
If everyone would put barbecue sauce on their food, there would be no war.