One thing I didn’t talk about is one of the most important things to think about before deciding to start anything. In the last post, I talked about getting the iPhone, but what I didn’t discuss was the cost. Now there were a lot of other phones out there where the price was cheaper and if I didn’t do my homework, I would have probably got a Samsung or other big name phone or an old Android type phone that was cheaper. But after reading about all the other people that had iPhones and really enjoyed them, I decided to bite the bullet and get one. Also having a payment plan helped also. So that is one item I decided to get started with. By the way, i'm still running the same iPhone after 4 years and still find no need to update!
So next I started studying about what type of development program Apple has and how to get started. The more I read about it, I saw that theirs was just as good as Visual Studio that I had experience with in the past. One of the things I was used to with Visual Studio is it costs some big money to get it. But I was used to the Microsoft way and paid the cost to get it. It is really good software because it covers C++, Visual C, etc. so it gives you a big selection of programming languages to pick from for the Windows op-system. It like having the kitchen sink and everything else and it is a top rate way to program. Plus I hope you like learning because there is a lot of languages there to program with!
Apple’s development software is called X-Code and even though it doesn’t cover the 6 or so different languages, Apple decided to stick with one, well two now. What I like is X-Code is it is used for all of Apple’s op-systems. These are the following: IOS, used in iPhones, iPads, and the small tablet like computers. OS-X is the op-system that is with all Apple computers like the iMacs and their different variations. The new kid on the block which just recently became available is IOSTV. This is a variation of the IOS op-system that just recently became available when the Apple TV4 internet device became available. What this has done was open a whole new market for making apps for the Apple TV!
Another thing is the Apple op-system is based on UNIX. UNIX is one of the first op-systems that was made for the bigger mainframes in the early days of computers. It was one of the first op-systems that did multitasking of programs via the command line. Because of this, it is one of the most stable op-systems around. And if you heard of Linux, it is a UNIX clone, also very stable. Later another computer system was designed by Steve Jobs, who after he was let go from Apple, started a company called NEXT. The NEXT computer was designed with a visual based op-system instead of the UNIX command line based. Then Apple, because of failing sales decided to bring back Steve Jobs, this is where Steve Jobs took the idea and made the first Mac. The Mac was all visual based with graphics and windows and also used the mouse! From this after lots of changes came the visual op-system which then became OS-X and later IOS. IOS is like it's big brother OS-X with icons, windows, etc. It totally change the whole idea how a phone based op-system looks and is used.
One big selling point I saw was this is given to developers for FREE! Everything you need for developing for any Apple device is included. It is also capable of drag and drop! Need a button or text box, just drag and drop. And it is easy to program these features in code too! Another plus is X-Code looks for errors as you program and if it can will suggest a fix in real time! Very Cool!
Another selling point is Apple has a Apple conference at least twice a year. It comes in 2 conferences. One is the Apple Conference where you find out about all the new products and features that are coming. The other one is the Apple Developer’s Conference. Here they talk about the the changes in features on the devices and also the programming changes and discussions for doing the programming with X-Code. They also caries the previous year’s conferences on the Apple developers site so you can see those videos. So that is a big plus for learning.
Another selling point is Apple has a Apple conference at least twice a year. It comes in 2 conferences. One is the Apple Conference where you find out about all the new products and features that are coming. The other one is the Apple Developer’s Conference. Here they talk about the the changes in features on the devices and also the programming changes and discussions for doing the programming with X-Code. They also caries the previous year’s conferences on the Apple developers site so you can see those videos. So that is a big plus for learning.
Another thing that I liked is the X-Code Simulator. Now for people that doesn't have a Apple product, that is iPhone, iPad, iMac etc. yet, the simulator will test your program as a software device. This is mostly used for the Apple iPhones, iPads and Apple TV4 for a start. So lets say I want to develop for the iPhone 4S. Set it for that and it will show a simulation for an iPhone 4S. Want to see how it looks for an iPhone 6, set it and recompile. The simulator works just like an actual device on the screen. Very cool!
Now how about for an actual iPhone? Well for only $99 a year, you will be able to do that too! Also you will now have access to a lot more X-Code development library and courses. And believe me, the first time you do that successfully it is a big thrill! This is the best way to test your app on an actual device, because if it runs on your device with no problems it will probably pass hopefully at Apple. And if it passed with Apple, you are on your way to having an app for sale in the app store!
The next post will discuss what can make or break your idea for becoming an Apple Developer, so we will discuss that next.
See you there!
No comments:
Post a Comment