Well, yes, it exists for all software ever written, but you are comparing oranges and apples when you call the problem the same.
After all, the obvious conspicuous difference is that when the software is written in C or C++ and distributed in binary form (whether executable or linkable), there is far, far less incentive to decompile and copy the code. But with Java, whether Sun's or Android's, the incentive to decompile the code is greater, because the decompiled code is much more readable. Of course, it is still not as readable as the original source (assuming the author used inline comments to throw light on what he was doing instead of obscure the code as some have done); but it is readable enough to steal the code. That is why people use obfuscators. But they don't help much, so yes, we do have a problem. People should think about this problem when choosing a business model, choosing it in such a manner that the incentive to stick with legal software is clear to the customer. The subscription model is one such example, there are others. On Dec 30, 1:47 pm, Mark Murphy <[email protected]> wrote: > Who is "we"? This problem exists for all software ever written, where > the software is distributed. Desktop applications and mobile > applications are equally susceptible. Even Web apps, where this data > is distributed via Javascript (versus being run on the Web server) can > have this problem. > > > > On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 4:20 PM, jacek <[email protected]> wrote: > > Apps that integrate with various web services and APIs, such as > > Twitter, > > need to use service provisioned API keys and shared secrets > > which are Java Strings. > > > Such Strings should be retrievable by anyone who decompiles an .apk > > (I must try this myself against my own apk) > > > In the next step the malicious developer will be able to impersonate > > the decompiled app... > > > Am I missing something, or do we have a problem? > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "Android Developers" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected] > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en > > -- > Mark Murphy (a Commons > Guy)http://commonsware.com|http://github.com/commonsguyhttp://commonsware.com/blog|http://twitter.com/commonsguy > > Android Training in Atlanta:http://bignerdranch.com/classes/android -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
