How to code an app

[unknownindividual]

I currently have a great app idea that I want to create buy have no way to invent it. I just turned 15 and don't know where to start to create the app. Want to make it for iOS since it would be an app for my friends and I. Please help if you have any info on there I can start learning how to code for Apple. Thanks!

 

P.S. I have a PC not Mac

[minibois]

>learn ObjectiveC

>run OSX so you can use XCode

>follow more tutorials on how to specifically code ObjectiveC for XCode for iDevices

>publish app

 

or you can alternatively code it in some other program which can export to an iOS app (for example Unity3D, which can export to an iOS app, but you still need to do some stuff in XCode for  that)

[squirrl]

You need a Mac first, and to learn some basic understanding of programming (ideally in objective c). The basic programming syntax can be transferred between languages fairly easily but iOS uses objective C.

You could alternatively look into something like Appcelerator, which allows you to build up an app in javascript which  can be a bit easier to grasp, and also makes it easier to export to other platforms too.

 

You can also look for some existing apps and try to understand how they work, and also split up your idea into some smaller chunks and do some googling around to try and build it together based on existing code that you can find (While hopefully learning something in the process)

[DXMember]

http://code.org

http://mva.microsoft.com

http://codeacademy.com

 

 

[CNY RMB]

1 minute ago, Minibois said:

>learn ObjectiveC

>run OSX so you can use XCode

>follow more tutorials on how to specifically code ObjectiveC for XCode for iDevices

>publish app

 

or you can alternatively code it in something (for example Unity3D, which can export to an iOS app, but you still need to do some stuff in XCode for  that)

Or since he has a Windows machine right now, he can build the app for all platforms in Visual Studio Community using Xamarin in C# (more difficult, but more possibilities) or in Javascript/Html using Apache Cordova (Easier, but less possibilties) and then just borrow a friends MAC or similar to build and release the app on the appstore. Just as a warning tho, the publising license is quite expensive.

[minibois]

3 minutes ago, CNY RMB said:

Or since he has a Windows machine right now, he can build the app for all platforms in Visual Studio Community using Xamarin in C# (more difficult, but more possibilities) or in Javascript/Html using Apache Cordova (Easier, but less possibilties) and then just borrow a friends MAC or similar to build and release the app on the appstore. Just as a warning tho, the publising license is quite expensive.

whoops, didn't correctly finish my sentence in my previous post 

I meant to say he could also make the app in another program which can build/export iOS apps (I mentioned Unity3D because that was the only one I knew off the top of my head)

But indeed your advice is very good  

[CNY RMB]

6 minutes ago, squirrl said:

You need a Mac first, and to learn some basic understanding of programming (ideally in objective c). The basic programming syntax can be transferred between languages fairly easily but iOS uses objective C.

You could alternatively look into something like Appcelerator, which allows you to build up an app in javascript which  can be a bit easier to grasp, and also makes it easier to export to other platforms too.

 

You can also look for some existing apps and try to understand how they work, and also split up your idea into some smaller chunks and do some googling around to try and build it together based on existing code that you can find (While hopefully learning something in the process)

I would not recommend using Appcelerator, simply because it just adds costs to the process and is proprietary (vendor lockin [never good]). Apache Cordova can do the same thing, without costing anything. I would generally recommend learning C# tho, simply because it is an extremely versatile language and you can use it to make basically anything. Also, once you grasp the concept of C#, you can also program in many other languages such as PHP and Javascript, which are fairly similar. The best thing is tho, that you can basically just grab a copy of VS Community 2015 from https://www.visualstudio.com/ and use one of the many tutorials available online to get started. Either for Xamarin or Apache Cordova. Here is the official tutorial for Xamarin.IOS:

https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/ios/getting_started/installation/windows/introduction_to_xamarin_ios_for_visual_studio/

 

[RangerLunis]

SInce you are an absolute beginner, your gonna wanna start small first thats my advice, you'll probably want to start a few applications for desktops learning a more basic language then heading to the more advanced and to mobile applications. Personally have never worked with mobile applications in programming, but I can say it won't work out so well if you don't have more basic knowledge first, I know that's probably really disappointing, but if you keep up with it you can really do it mang. I recommend for beginner, use notepad++, It lets you code in a lot of different languages and is good for creating simple applications and practicing. As for places to learn, codeacademy, w3schools, and stackoverflow are all awesome places to learn and ask any questions. Learning all depends on the person and codeacademy really has more webdevelopment than mobile or desktop, but you might do better with books, they make great references and a lot of perhaps dated ones can be found at your local library. I'd recommend python or html/css to start out with. Their both great for understanding the basic layout of code and how it all fits together, python is great for simple applications so you might even be able to build your app, but more of a desktop version of it. Html/css is great if your into building websites which of course are great for showing off your work.

[Spartaton]

On 5/20/2016 at 11:55 AM, unknownindividual said:

I currently have a great app idea that I want to create buy have no way to invent it. I just turned 15 and don't know where to start to create the app. Want to make it for iOS since it would be an app for my friends and I. Please help if you have any info on there I can start learning how to code for Apple. Thanks!

 

P.S. I have a PC not Mac

Firstly, on iOS you have to pay a yearly fee to have an app on the App Store (I think it's $99) so keep that in mind if you still want to do iOS. I realize your friends probably have iOS phones, but making an app that would only be used by you and your friends doesn't seem like it's worth the fee to me.

Secondly, I'm currently developing an Android app using App Inventor (http://ai2.appinventor.mit.edu/) which is free and easy enough to use (but your app can't be extremely complicated). It is also online, so you can work on it from anywhere with an internet connection. Plus idk whether it's free to publish with App Inventor, but an Android developer account only cost $25 and you can publish as many apps as you want for free after that.

So if you just want to casually make an App for the firs time, I'd say develop for Android using App Inventor.

[Gachr]

I've heard that Objective-C is quite obsolete now, that Swift is easier and better, and that's what's used right now.

[AlTech]

On ‎5‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 1:55 AM, unknownindividual said:

I currently have a great app idea that I want to create buy have no way to invent it. I just turned 15 and don't know where to start to create the app. Want to make it for iOS since it would be an app for my friends and I. Please help if you have any info on there I can start learning how to code for Apple. Thanks!

 

P.S. I have a PC not Mac

I have to warn you, Swift is very difficult to learn.

 

Very annoying once you do manage to learn it and you'll need to turn your PC into a hackintosh or buy a mac.