Designers Partnering with Programers - iPhone, iPad and Android - Part 2

Go back to Designers Partnering with Programers - iPhone, iPad and Android - Part 1

A basic overview of the two major languages used by the leading mobile platforms.
 
Xcode

This the programming suite for Apple’s iOS and includes provision for deploying projects on the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. This tool collection is mature and extensively documented – both by Apple and by the huge community of developers that use these tools. Xcode allows programmers to code in a language called Objective C, which is quick and powerful, but relatively unforgiving to newcomers. Seasoned programmers can also code in a variety of other languages and use Xcode to wrap these. The Xcode software is free to download and it is free to run code on the hardware simulator.

However, to distribute apps to actual devices, or to submit an app to the store, you must sign up as an Apple developer for the price of $99 per year.

Android SDK

This is a software development kit (SDK) which enables developers to create applications for the Android platform. It includes tools for programmers such as the required libraries, a debugger, a handset emulator, sample code and even some tutorials. Applications are written using the Java programming language. Android applications exist in .apk format and are stored in /data/app folder on the Android OS (the folder is
accessible only to root users for security reasons)

Read Back Designers Partnering with Programers - iPhone, iPad and Android - Part 1