Faced with the prospect of learning Java or C# for Android programming, it was a no brainer.


Faced with the prospect of learning Java or C# for Android programming, it was a no brainer.  I am maintaining a Java Android App and I hate everything about it compared to other languages I am more comfortable with.  I know everybody has their quirks and prejudices, but having the ability to port my c# code to IOS and Windows with little effort is a great thing.

Also having the ability to do this for free using Mono for Android is a bonus.  I was looking forward to investing in AppMethod for my pet projects, but as a developer, their extortionary (!) licenses make it a non-starter.

Sadly, the 30 days I spend doing the Appmethod trial were the most productive I have ever been on a Mobile programming evaluation exercise.   The licensing model they employ is just not worth considering.

Whenever I try and learn a new tool, I find a nice project which I can use to cut my teeth on.

I've selected a Media Library Manager for my various media servers.  Not sure where it will go, but I will need to learn how to use local db storage via sqlite, http download/upload, xml parsing, json parsing, and interacting with the web api's of various other tools.

I hope I can make it work...

Tonight I got my environment up and running and the app deployed to an emulator.  It does nothing except look ugly ;) #android   #xamarin

Comments

eric j scott said…
Love reading your posts.
Aware I am not the target demographic.
Keep having fun
August 13, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Ian Stoffberg said…
I should blog about these instead with more detail.  so lazy...
August 13, 2014 at 1:36 PM
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