Monday 13 April 2009

I'm a PC (thankfully)

This Easter bank holiday weekend, I decided I wanted to learn some new stuff.  So since I have been sporting my new IPhone for the last few weeks, I thought learning how to develop on the IPhone would be cool.

So I have borrowed my mates MacPowerbook Pro, and I picked some books on IPhone development and Objective-C.

I haven't developed any IPhone apps yet, as I thought I would concentrate on the Objective-C language, which I feel I have a good grip of now.

So later today, I will attempt to create my first IPhone application, however I just want to say one thing.  I am a PC (and thank God I am).

Using XCode, and Objective C is like taking a step back 7/8 years.  I so much prefer Visual Studio over XCode and I so much prefer C# over Objective-C.

Don't get me wrong I can see the influences of other languages (such as Objective-C) that have shaped C#, and I can see features in Objective-C that are now coming to C# or that I would love to see in C#, but I have to say I prefer C# and the .NET Framework.  I will probably expand up on this in future posts.

The one thing I want to say about Objective-C is that it is a little weird having to go back to explicit memory management (it really is like stepping in a time machine).  However at the same time it feels kind of nice, going back to the core (just not sure I would want to do this everyday).  I can easily see that with Mac Development most of your time will be spent thinking about Memory Management (which is just something we don't worry about so much these days).

Anyways, no matter what, after spending the weekend with Objective-C, I feel like a better developer but boy it makes me a appreciate Visual Studio, C# and the .NET Framework

4 comments:

Joeyw said...

It's been a while since I dabbled, but isn't there a Garbage Collection option?

Also, I heard on Ch9 that there's a Mono build that works on the iPhone.

chrishayuk said...

There is garbage collection but it is recommended that you clean up after yourself, especially when dealing with memory limited devices such as the IPhone.

I read also there was a mono build, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone

Anonymous said...

Well, I love Visual Studio, I just cannot stand using Vista. So, it is with great joy that each day I continue to research into which Mac I'm going to buy, I gleefully proclaim, "Your days are numbered Vista!"

I can't wait to begin Mac development. I don't care if it requires the use of Punch Cards. I'm so sick of Vista and "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

So, Goodbye Vista and Goodbye Microsoft. It's been a frustrating 10 years of development.

chrishayuk said...

Anonymous,

I'm sorry to hear your frustration with Vista.

I guess if Macs work for you good luck to you. I personally hold very different views. I have found that this weekends worth of development has been far more frustrating than all my time in the world of .NET.

I have enjoyed it, but I don't think I could do this everyday, the development world has moved on.

I may dream of owning and driving a classic car, however that doesn't mean I would drive it to work every day.