Developing a mobile application

Question

I found here many articles and threads on mobile application development. But still I want to get simple guidance to start programming in this.

Let me say, I am totally new for mobile business application development technologies. So tell me the way for a beginner to choose best technology and also how to start it. What will be the requirements in terms of resources and skills.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

You can use C# to develop applications for Android but not for free; you need to purchase either Mono for Android or Xamarin. Xamarin is very new and is not yet available. There is a lot of talk about it but very few useful details. We know that the initial developer of Mono and the Mono tools for mobile phones is the owner of Xamarin or at least the cheif developer of Xamarin. Many software developers are confident that Xamarin will be useful, very successful and is worth waiting for. Mono for Androidis available but most software developers would say that it is a big mistake to use it; most of them want their money back. All of that however is likely more than what you can afford. Actually I think there is a demonstration version of Mono for Android that you can get for free but it only works in an emulator; it does not work in a real device. You can download and use the Android SDK but you must program in Java to use that. If you knew C++ then you could use that but I think you said you don't know C++. If you want to use C# then choose Windows Phone 7. Most of what you learn about Silverlight for Windows Phone 7 will be useful in desktop Windows and web sites and most of what you learn about Silverlight for desktop Windows and web sites will be useful for Windows Phone 7 also. I think you can get for free everything you must have to get started with Windows Phone 7 development.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

The gates are now open for using Mono for Android and MonoTouch ; see Novell/Xamarin Partnership around Mono . Xamarin will be supporting and selliing them (see the Xamarin store for purchases) and Xamarin will now support the Mono open source community project. There will be a Monospace conference this weekend. Also see the Xamarin mobile products available now! « xamarin press release. For those interested in knowing how things fit together for Android and Mono, see Architecture - Mono for Android .

Suthish Nair · Answer

Gira Palmer, Is this a kind of spamming or promoting your product. Either of the way is not allowed here, your login credentials will get blocked. We have Announcements section where you can post about your product etc..

Anil Kumar · Answer

@Mahesh- Earlier I read a thread that you are building a light-weight of Csharpcorner for mobiles. I also got publish your article on Android "Building Android Application using C#". It was interesting. Which one you are using now? Windows Phone 7 or else ? I thing you are working on Mono, then how is your experience. I went on Sam's suggestion and googled for development in Windows Phone 7. Got many idea and easy for C# developers.

Anil Kumar · Answer

Thanks to all for your valuable suggestions. @Mahesh- I got a good basic idea & category of Mobile Appl. development. I dont have any requirement but want to do it for future / knowledge. @Sam - I have a Samsung Mobile (Android based) and willing to get tested my project on emulator in case it requires other device. You got my question point ("best technology"). Really it was what in my mind. Thanks. @Felipe - One of my colleague suggested me for iPhone for future prospect. Yet confused what to and where to start.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

When saying things like " best technology " it is important to define "best". Easiest to learn? The greatest opportunity? The most affordable for getting started with? The most portable (as in porting to different devices)? What phone do you have? Most development tools for mobiles can be tested in an emulator but it helps to have a real device. What choices are available for you for a real phone?

Mahesh Chand · Answer

When you say Mobile, it's just a broad range. So you can build a single mobile optimized web application that will work on a browser on the mobile. Or you can build separate apps for iPhone, WP7, Android, Blackberry and so on. It all depends on your needs. There are many frameworks/APIs to build these applications. To build a mobile app that targets the browser, you can use HTML or ASP.NET or JSP or PHP. The application will be hosted on a web sever like any other website and will be accessed through a browser. To build specific mobile apps (iPhone, Android, WPF7 etc), you have to build separate apps using a API/Framework provided by the vendors. These apps are installed and runs on the mobile itself. There is no need to have a web server or hosting.

Abhimanyu K Vatsa · Answer

Yes Felipe is right. Android will be good option for you as experts says. Start from here http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/mahesh/5795/

Felipe Ramos · Answer

Anil I think if you want to have the biggest coverage you will need to target the biggest players - Android, IPhone, and Windows Mobile. The issue you will have is when it comes to languages unless you use something like Mono. I would suggest starting with something other than Mobile 6 because the compact framework is crap and unless you know C++ you will find you can't do much of anything or it takes longer. The Windows Phone 7 developer tools are great and you have access to DirectX if you plan to do graphics. I would start with Android since it is open source and Java isn't that different from C#.

Abhimanyu K Vatsa · Answer

There are many frameworks to develop mobile apps. if you are confortable with .net then get started from here by watching videos. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsmobile/bb975138.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa286514.aspx http://dotnetslackers.com/articles/aspnet/Mobile-Device-Detection-and-Redirection-Using-ASP-NET.aspx

Developing a mobile application

Answers (10)