I use Delphi for Android now. I am not developing MAJOR apps. but some that are interesting. Before Embarcadero provided android support, I used a tool called Basic4Android. I can highly recommend it. Yes, as the name suggests, its a basic language, but its a bit more VB.NET in style. It compiles down to a java classes etc. and has a gui designer and I have to admit, the debugging is a lot quicker than the Delphi one. Take a look. I think there is a free trial, if not its only $49 for support.
Jeremy On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 9:11 PM, Robo <[email protected]> wrote: > If it's a brand new app for Android only, just use Android Studio. It's > now base on IntelliJ instead of Eclipse, you should revisit it. > > On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 7:33 AM, Eric A <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Many thanks to all contributors for the feedback. >> >> I just need to develop a Bluetooth App for Android devices only (with >> some WiFi network transfer also). >> >> I did try Eclipse with ADT some years ago and was very disappointed with >> the UI designer so gave up. I understand that Android Studio has a >> completely new UI designer so I will give that a try. >> >> --- Original Message --- >> >> From: "Jolyon Smith" <[email protected]> >> Sent: January 22, 2015 7:17 PM >> To: "NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List" < >> [email protected]> >> Subject: Re: [DUG] XE7 and Android Development >> >> @David Brennan - I don't see how you reach the conclusion that XE7 + >> FireMonkey makes sense "if you have an existing code base", given that if >> you aren't already developing in FMX then that existing codebase is almost >> certainly VCL and given all the observations you made about how utterly >> UN-re-usable your existing VCL code base was in your case. >> >> The pre-amble seems to point to the exact opposite conclusion. No ? >> >> For Eric, I would ask why you are interested in using Delphi for this ? >> >> If it is to exploit existing VCL code, then you have little chance of >> realising any benefit without an awful lot of work (perhaps even more than >> starting from scratch with an alternative tool/tech). >> >> If you seek to leverage familiarity with Delphi to fully exploit any and >> all Android devices, I suspect you will be similarly disappointed both >> because the Android support is simply not complete as well as because >> "Delphi for Android" is a quite different animal than the Delphi you are >> used to. You might as well learn Java or apply any knowledge you may have >> of C# with Xamarin. >> >> >> Or, if you simply wish to continue using Pascal, you could look at >> RemObjects Oxygene (also previously known as Delphi Prism, in it's .NET >> garb as re-branded by Embarcadero for a time). >> >> I developed a very simple app in Oxygene for Android, iOS and WinPhone. >> In all three cases the app was developed using Oxygene (ObjectPascal with >> knobs on) but compiles to genuine, platform native binaries (i.e >> indistinguishable from those produced by Android Studio, Xcode or Visual >> Studio). >> >> The Android version is here if you are curious: >> >> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=itchbox.txt2park&hl=en >> >> >> The downside of the Oxygene approach (as some see it) is that you have to >> learn how to develop for each platform since there is no comprehensive >> cross platform abstraction library (although there is a library - Sugar - >> which makes a certain amount of re-use possible at the RTL layer - sharing >> common string manipulation routines etc etc). >> >> But imho this platform specific aspect of the approach is absolutely NOT >> a downside for any serious mobile developer as you will quickly realise >> when you come to appreciate the differences between the platforms and learn >> how to write apps properly that look and behave properly on each platform, >> instead of taking a "one size fits all" approach. >> >> It also means that you are learning those platforms and if necessary >> can apply that knowledge directly to development using the platform native >> tool chains. >> >> i.e. With my simple app I have learned how to program a (simple, VERY >> simple) SMS sender app for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. I happened to >> use Pascal, but what I learned about the platforms is just as directly >> applicable in Java, Objective-C or C# (respectively). It also means that >> you can *learn* from people with expertise in the framework even if they >> are using other languages. >> >> It is worth mentioning that all 3 versions of the app were developed in >> just one weekend even though there was zero code re-use between them. The >> app is essentially 100% UI, and each platform works completely differently >> when it comes to the SMS APi's so there was no real chance for useful code >> re-use in such an app anyway. >> >> Actually, there were 6 apps in total since I also learned the advertising >> API's and controls appropriate for each platform (again, different in each >> case) and created two separate versions of the app for each platform, one >> free/ad supported, the other paid for with no ads. >> >> Creating the 3 ad supported apps was another weekend. :) >> >> >> But Oxygene also is not hosted on Linux, being a Visual Studio plug-in >> (it is also supported by the free VS Community Edition, so there's no extra >> cost for using VS "Pro" any more). >> >> However RemObjects are also working on "Fire", an OS X hosted IDE (still >> not Linux but at least also Unix based) for all their languages, since they >> also provide their own C# compiler as well as 'Silver' - a.k.a Apple >> Swift. All three languages support all platforms: Java/Android, iOS/OS X, >> .NET/WPhone. >> >> >> Just my $2 (it was going to be 2c but thought I'd better protect it >> against future inflation). :) >> >> >> On 22 January 2015 at 16:29, David Brennan <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> We created an Android app in XE6 using a moderate amount of code from >> one of our big Delphi projects. It went OK and we successfully demonstrated >> the app on phones at a trade show recently, people liked the app. During >> development we had a few annoyances with how Firemonkey behaved but in >> general it wasn’t too bad. >> >> >> >> However getting our existing code (even units with no forms/frames) to >> work was a bigger issue than expected. We did it in a development branch >> were we hacked things a moderate amount to get uses clauses and everything >> to compile with ifdefs, commenting stuff out, etc. A surprising amount of >> basic classes such as TPoint, TRect, etc (I think if I am remembering >> correctly) are not available in Firemonkey so we had to do quite a bit of >> hacking. As a result the ‘hacked’ development branch can’t be used to >> compile VCL apps and will be thrown out (effectively it was a prototype). >> The next step is for us to refactor our code properly to allow us to cross >> compile between VCL and Firemonkey with a minimum of ifdefs. This will be a >> reasonable sized project so it is waiting while other more valuable >> projects are being worked on. >> >> >> >> Based on that fairly limited experience we believe Firemonkey to be >> viable for serious apps and we think it makes good sense if you have an >> existing code base which you want to cross compile between Windows and >> Android/iOS. Whether Firemonkey is the best choice for someone who doesn’t >> need to cross compile is a different matter, you get some benefits from >> prior Delphi experience but the controls, designer and some RTL portions >> are different so you still have a bit of a learning curve. >> >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> David. >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* [email protected] [mailto: >> [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Eric A >> *Sent:* Thursday, 22 January 2015 3:15 p.m. >> *To:* [email protected] >> *Subject:* [DUG] XE7 and Android Development >> >> >> >> Has anyone in the DUG : >> >> >> >> a) done serious Android device development using XE? >> >> >> >> b) installed and used XE7, particularly for Android apps? >> >> >> >> If not XE, what are people using/recommending as the best development >> platform for Android app development? (would be nice if it could be hosted >> on Linux, but not essential). >> >> >> >> Eric >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list >> Post: [email protected] >> Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi >> Unsubscribe: send an email to [email protected] with >> Subject: unsubscribe >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list >> Post: [email protected] >> Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi >> Unsubscribe: send an email to [email protected] with >> Subject: unsubscribe >> > > > _______________________________________________ > NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi mailing list > Post: [email protected] > Admin: http://delphi.org.nz/mailman/listinfo/delphi > Unsubscribe: send an email to [email protected] with > Subject: unsubscribe >
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