International Mac Podcast

I recently downloaded the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) and I’m really loving it. I’m a developer for the Mac and I’ve found iPhone development an easy transition because the iPhone tools are the same as the tools you use on the Mac.

When I code for the Mac I tend to use Applescript Studio (part of Xcode). Once I installed the SDK I dived straight into Xcode to see how it had changed. The UI seemed the same – except for the intro screen which now included iPhone info.

After looking through the online documentation I discovered that it costs $99 to become a registered iPhone developer. You need to be registered to have Apple put your apps in the store. Although Blue Pyjama is growing we aren’t actually getting any money through our doors so that $99 enterance fee put my dreams of being an App Store developer a bit further out of reach.

Then I remembered webapps! Applications based on the Internet that, although they are simple, can be quite powerful. These don’t require paying Apple money because they’re just fancy web pages.

To make Webapps, instead of opening up Xcode, you use Dashcode (also part of the SDK). Dashcode gives you all of the tools that you need to build anything that you can think of. Webapps are coded in a mixture of HTML, Javascript and CSS. I know some HTML, a tiny amount of Javascript and no CSS – Brilliant huh? For me a great source of information was the W3 Schools – a web coding knowledge base.

After a bit of fumbling around I finaly worked out how to make everything work the way I wanted it to. There’s the Library of parts (like buttons, text areas, etc) and also a selection of pre-fabricated code for doing some more complicated Javascript stuff. For customizing things and for settings there’s the Get Info box.

The hardest thing that I’ve found is making all of the Javascript work the way that I want it to. Sometimes things can get really frustrating so don’t expect to be an instant expert. Another important thing to remember is that you have to make the code behave – you have to tame the lion and make it jump through hoops and do tricks the way you want it to.

I’ve made 2 Webapps that I’m very proud of. But they didn’t come without their difficulties. Before I could tame the lion, I had to learn how. I think that anyone can make great things for this amazing platform – if they have the patience to learn. Do you?