Hi, i'm the guy behind libGDX (http://libgdx.badlogicgames.com) and am currently also working on RoboVM (http://www.robovm.com) which allows you to run Java/Scala/Kotlin/... on iOS. Just like with libGDX, my main concern with RoboVM is to make cross-platform app development easier for people coming from a Java/JVM/Android background. We want to get input from the broader Android developer community to help us shape the future of RoboVM. It would mean a lot to us, a team of 4 devs, if you find the time to comment on the below blurb.
A lot of people here are working in app shops that probably create apps for customers or themselves that need to work on both iOS and Android. Some may only focus on Android but may wish to expand to iOS. There are a few frameworks/platforms out there that can help with sharing code between both Android and iOS (C#, Java, JS, Ruby, pick your poison). Some of these frameworks/platforms allow you to share business logic and use the native UI APIs on each platform. This means you'll have to write the UI for each platform separately. The UX will most likely be better, but at the expense of more development time. Let's call this the "native UI" solution. Some frameworks allow you to share both the business logic and the UI code. A cross-platform UI API either wraps the native UI API (lowest common denominator between the two platforms), or it uses something like a webview, emulating the native UI. The UX will most likely be worse, but development time can be reduced. Let's call this the "cross-platform UI" solution. I'd be super happy if you have any input on the following questions 1. Do you think cross-platform development is viable at all? Why/Why not? 2. Would you rather use the "native UI" solution or the "cross-platform UI" solution? Why? Our focus with RoboVM at the moment is on the "native UI" solution and making the code-sharing of the business logic as easy as possible. Once this is complete, we also want to offer a "crossplatform UI" solution. We are currently evaluating different approaches: 1. JavaFX. That's already alpha quality, there's a whole community around it and we enable them to work on iOS. But it isn't the most natively looking & feeling option. It also carries the Swing heritage with it. 2. Webview. Quite flexible but shares all the same problems that Phonegap et. al. have (performance, look & feel). 3. Custom cross-platform UI. Gives us the most freedom. Maps a common API on top of native UI APIs, so the look & feel is native. Might be a leaky abstraction though. I do have my preferences regarding the above 3 options, but i'd really love to get input from you folks on that. Thanks for your time, really appreciate it. Ciao, Mario -- 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
