How to run .NET apps on the iPhone

Yes, that's right, on the iPhone. Not only there, but on the Wii and the Android phone as well.

Side note: I got to look at an Android phone at CodeMash. It was ok. It felt heavy for it’s size. The UI was confusing for me, but the GMail interface was very strong.

Anyway, I was browsing ArsTechnica this morning and came across this article, “Open source Mono framework brings C# to iPhone and Wii”. What really piqued my interest was because I just got back from CodeMash, where we had an iPhone development workshop.

In it Ryan Paul discusses how developers have been getting around Apple’s restrictive policies on not allowing interpreted and runtime based platforms on the iPhone. If that isn’t directly aimed at .NET, Java, and other really popular languages right now, I don’t know what is.

It seems that people are using Mono (from Novell, the brain child of Miguel de Icaza) to generate binaries. Mono provides the ability to skip CIL in the compilation process, and go straight to binaries. This bypasses the need for the runtime environment on the phone. There are other tricks they use to make this all work (pre-linking in all the other assemblies is an example).

There is also a full fledged 3-D game development platform called Unity, which was developed on Mono. You can use it to build games for the iPhone or the Wii.

This just goes to show that this is indeed the second Renaissance, as people are using these tools in ways their creators could not have imagined. These tools are following the same thought we have had with our tools. We want you to be able to migrate your skills and knowledge into other scenarios. Know .NET? Then you can use 90% of those skills on Web, RIA, Windows desktop, services, integration, XNA, the cloud, mobile, and now iPhone and Wii. To squeeze more ROI out of the investment you have in your tools and skills, you should look for more avenues to leverage them. And heck, I bet these people are smirking just a little bit by finding a way around the restrictions in the iPhone SDK.

“Let a thousand poppies bloom.”

One thing that Apple is forgetting in their policies, in their zeal to control the whole platform, is that true adoption and love comes from letting people do what they want with what they own. Think of kids with cassette tapes, and CD’s. Or the people with PSP’s, or Honda Civics. Those are examples of both industries that have restricted what you can do with what you own and paid for it in the long term, and some that are open to people doing what they want.

Sony at first restricted what people could do on and with their PSPs. Fortunately, they backed off, and even started supplying extra tools and access for home brewers. Now the PSP is a very strong mobile device segment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell

I don't often explicitly state that I work for Quick Solutions when I post to my blog. Others that work with me talk about QSI all the time. I do this because I want the articles to be what 'I' have to say about technology, not what QSI has to say. I started working for QSI in June of 2003. I was about to start my own consulting company, and they asked me to come in to help them start their solutions business (having built a high quality technical staffing business). I thought, why not? Getting to build what I want to build on someone else's dime definitely reduces my personal risk, and if it didn't work out, I could just pick back up the 'start my own company' thing. Nearly five years have passed, and we have built a great team. A team that is considered one of the leading development shops in our region. Each, and EVERY person on this team would be considered a rock star at any company. We have a great culture for the team, and a deep seated ownership
Read more

How does an Architect pack?

Today we are packing for the big move. Quick Solutions is moving to some new swanky office space, with an awesome new delivery center. The new center has wall to wall whiteboards, network projectors for group programming (pair programming is so 20th century), a game room, new open seating (shared workspace is the key to productivity), and lots of other new goodies. It is an amazing investment by the company, and shows their commitment to building the best team on the block. As we are packing, we started joking around (not that joking around is rare, and would have occurred regardless of the packing state). How does and architect pack? An architect doesn't pack anymore. He did that ten years ago. He goes to plenty of packing conferences, and has read a lot of books on packing. An architect will map out how the whole enterprise should pack, and even dictate what (clearly out of date) packing supplies and processes should be used. These processes will be the perfect match for some
Read more

Job security is a myth, and how IT Pros are Thriving

No matter how you slice it, the economy is definitely in a state of concern. Some call it a recession, some a depression, others it is a crash. Since all of those words are overloaded, I will choose to use the word Grapefruit to represent the current situation. How concerned you are with grapefruit depends on who you are, and your personal situation. It is these times of grapefruit when there is the most opportunity. Crazy, I know. But now is the time to start that crazy idea, to outmaneuver an opponent, or get desperate enough to take risks you normally wouldn’t take (personally, or as a company) during up times. All boats float in the high tide. Only great captains can navigate the low tide. There is no such thing as job security. Surprise. There just isn’t, it is a complete myth. ‘Job Security’ might have made sense two generations ago, but it just doesn’t work now. You make your own security, during good times, and during grapefruits. Through keeping your skills sharp, thro
Read more