When the mobile phone boomed, few people imagined that one day, the priority of buying a phone would change from a good antenna and clear sound to features and performance and, most importantly, the quality of the phone’s camera. Today, installing various applications or mobile software is one of the important demands of users. Building and developing a variety of mobile applications can create a good financial market for mobile developers. Have you ever wondered how you can become a mobile developer? If you are eager to this topic, stay with us until the end.
Advancement of technology
The day Steve jobs unveiled Apple’s first iPhone, the iPhone in 2007, made one of man’s oldest dreams come true. A small versatile device, which had many features, including a touch screen. The unparalleled popularity of the iPhone marked the beginning of a new era in mobile phone technology.
IOS Mobile Operating System
One of the things that made the iPhone so popular was the iOS operating system. iOS is a mobile operating system designed and built by apple for their hardware products. The operating system came to the first iPhone in 2007 and its name originally was the iPhone’s mobile operating system. But in 2010 iOS became iPhone’s rename. And now, in addition to the iPhone, it is for Apple devices, including the iPad and iPod Touch.
Initially, native third-party applications were not on this operating system. But in October 2007, Apple announced that it was building a native software development Kit (SDK) postponed until Apple introduced the iPhone SDK at a press conference in March 2008. iOS is now the second popular mobile operating system in the world after Android.
Android mobile operating system
In 2008, HTC introduced its first smartphone with Android operating system. Google’s Android mobile operating system is open source and based on the modified Linux kernel, and with its entry into the market, iOS has found a serious competitor. Android user interface and peripherals use Java programming language, But this operating system does not have the Java virtual machine. To run Java applications on this mobile operating system, Java code coverts to dalvik code and then rubs on Dalvik virtual machine. (Dalwick is a Java virtual machine which Android operating system use it to consume less RAM, CPU, and battery.)
iOS and Android competition
iOS is Apple’s proprietary mobile operating system for iPhone. But Android is an open source mobile operating system that is for most corporate mobile phones today. Different versions of these two operating systems enter market until today. Over the years, other companies, including Microsoft and Nokia, have sought to promote their mobile operating systems. But they did not have the strength to compete with Android and iOS and left the competition scene soon.
Now the world market is full of mobile phones with android and iOS operating systems, and making and developing software for these two operating systems is the concern of languages that allow programmers to build mobile applications.
Mobile languages
Android or iOS application development requires tools and tools specific to each platform. In this part of the article, we will introduce the Android and iOS development.
Android application development
First, we will introduce programming languages that have the ability to develop Android applications. The differences between the different Android programming languages can be a bit complex and subtle. In order to choose which one, e need to get acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of each one.
Java programming language
The first and most popular option for Android application development language is Java, which is the official language of Android development. This means that it has the most support from Google and most of the applications in the Android Play Store are built with it. One way to develop Android applications with Java is to use Android Studio. Android Studio is provided with a set of tools to facilitate Android development called SDK Android. With this environment, everything you need to develop and execute programs is provided to you. Google tutorials and official documents refer to this method, and most libraries and tutorials focus on this method.
Java itself was published in 1995 by Sun Microsystems and is used to develop a wide range of applications. Its code is executed by a “virtual machine” that runs on Android devices and interprets the code. Java language has many complexities and of course many uses, and as a first language, learning it is a bit time consuming, but learning it opens the way for you to work in many areas. If you are a beginner and looking to build a game or are planning to learn programming, we suggest starting with an easier language first and returning to it once you have learned the basics to make working with Java easier.
Kotlin
Kathleen has recently emerged as another official language for Android development. Some speculations suggest that this language could become the next Swift. Kathleen also works in the Java Virtual Machine and also interacts fully with Java and does not reduce or increase the file size. The difference between Kathleen and Java is that it has a simpler and easier code to read. In short, if you are new to Android, Kathleen is great. So Kathleen is an easier starting point for beginners, and the fact that you can still use Android Studio is a big advantage.
Basic
Basic language with symbolic instructions is a versatile and beginner language that is very pleasant to use. Unfortunately, Basic is not officially supported by Android Studio. It is also not available on Unity or Xamarin, but the good news is that there is a lesser-known option for developing Android apps on BASIC called B4A (BASIC 4 Android). Which allows you to develop Android applications in Basic language.
B4A is designed as a fast application development environment. It has many smart design decisions to make coding easier, and if you have any questions, there is a very active population to support it. BASIC is a great way to learn encryption, and you can use this language to build very powerful applications. But it is not ideal for making higher level games.
Other languages
Here are some other languages that can be used for Android programming:
- C / C ++: Android Studio supports C ++ using Java NDK. These programs enable native programming, which is suitable for things like game development, but C ++ is more complex.
- C #: A good alternative for beginners C or C ++. C # is supported by some very useful tools such as Unity and Zamarian, which are great for game development and cross-platform building.
- Corona / LUA: Another cross-platform tool built on LUA. This greatly simplifies the program-building process and allows you to work with native libraries.
IOS app development
Like Android, different programming languages can be used in iOS to develop iOS applications. Some of these programming languages are: Swift, Objective-c, C #, Python, Java, C ++ and HTML5. But Swift and Objective-C are the two main languages used that Apple supports.
Objective-c programming language
Objective-c is a general, object-oriented programming language. This language is based on C and is similar to C ++ and C #. This means that the Objective-C base structure and operating system are similar to the C language. So programmers familiar with C are no strangers to many of its features.
The terms Objective-C and C are the same. For example, each line of Objective-C must end with a semicolon. Code blocks must be inside brackets or parentheses. The math symbols as well as the assignment and comparison symbols are similar. At the syntactic level, the C and Objective-C languages are not similar. The combination of function, method of calling, counting and some Objective-C properties are different. Although Swift has replaced Objective-C, Objective-C still has its own distinctive features. Even if Swift is considered a better language, it cannot completely replace Objective-C.
SWIFT programming language
Swift is the main language of the iOS operating system, developed by Apple in 2014. Before Swift, Objective-C was the main language of iOS application development, but due to its age, it did not support modern needs. That’s why Swift language, which has new features, was replaced.
Swift is a powerful and dynamic programming language and does not have the complexities of C language. This language has a concise and expressive syntax and works very fast. Swift is dynamic, flexible, and modern, and requires more secure programming protocols. Swift is used all over the world because of its efficiency. This language is one of the best options for coding iOS apps.
Here are some features of the Swift programming language:
- Easy to read
- Dynamic Library
- Working with less code
- Be faster
- Efficient memory management
Java programming language
Using the Java development kit to develop software is very popular. Using Java to develop iOS applications with Swift and Objective-C may not be the best programming option, but it can be used to build games through LIBgdx, a game engine for iOS, Android, and Windows.
Developing iOS applications with Java requires the use of excellent libraries and instrumentation. While Swift programming has more fans due to its elegance and suitability for application development.
What is the future of mobile software development?
Given the growing popularity of mobile phones among users, it is not far-fetched that in the not too distant future, we will see the elimination of personal computers among ordinary users. This foreshadows the doubling of the importance of programming and mobile application development in the future. Today, we see that mobile programming has a reliable job market. Undoubtedly, in the future, this labor market will not only not decline, but will also experience increasing growth. If you are interested in programming for mobile applications, we suggest that you learn mobile programming as soon as possible.
Conclusion
There are several programming languages for developing Android and iOS applications, and this can help those programmers who are familiar with each language to enter the field of mobile programming faster. Java, Kotlin, Corona / LUA C ++, C #, C and BASIC languages are used for Android development. For iOS, despite the different languages, it is recommended to use Swift, which is one of the newest programming languages. With its modern features, Swift allows you to experience speed and flexibility in iOS programming. If you have experience in mobile programming, or are interested in this field, what do you think about the advantages and disadvantages of each of these languages for mobile programming?