Learning a language for mobile development with a future perspective?

Question

Android

Hello, I have been wanting to do mobile development for a long time, I really want to.
I even bought an MBP.
But I want to choose not Objective-C (I don’t want to be tied to one company), but C ++ (or C (I never climbed into this area, the choice is difficult)) in order to develop as natively as, say, obj-c for apple devices, but so that it applies to android (and maybe WinPhone7). That is, choose one universal language. I thought about Java, but Java, as you know, will not work for apples. :) That's why I'm only thinking about C/C++ for now (it's possible to get a job in this language in big companies, it seems to be relevant).
I myself am very little familiar with these areas, I am engaged in RoR development (and there is not much knowledge in PHP), so I would really like to know what people who work with this market can say. What do you advise? There are many vacancies in objective-c, but few people work specifically with C ++ for mobile applications. And this is the development of games, search services, and much more.

Answer 1

There are many vacancies in objective-c, but few people work specifically with C ++ for mobile applications. And this is the development of games, search services, and much more.

In fact, development in C ++ for mobile devices is not relevant now in my opinion. Most mobile platforms have very high quality frameworks in their languages.
If we take the development under WP7, then the development of games there is on XNA (C#).
For Android, indeed, games are written in C ++ (NDK), but one way or another, Java (the main language of the platform) is still needed there.
Under iOs, I don’t know what games are written on, but I think that it’s also on Obj-C, like regular applications.
Writing for now is possible, in my opinion, only for Windows Mobile 6.5 and younger devices. But they are slowly dying. For other devices, this will turn out to be very platform-dependent applications.
It seems to me that you need to learn either under iOS or Android - Obj-C and Java, respectively.
PS For reference: Objective-C is not inferior to regular C++ in terms of performance (well, maybe a little bit). It is a language compiled into machine code.

Answer 2

Obj-C is a complete superset of C, there is also a dialect of Obj-C++ (resp. C++). Any working code you write in C/C++ can be compiled and run on the iPhone.
Take a look at PhoneGap, it's a lightweight library that allows you to develop iPhone/iPad and Android software with JS.

Answer 3

The language depends on the platform and the desire to write "native" applications. Official languages:
WP7 and others Windows (Microsoft) - C# and .net
Android (Google) - Java
iOS (Apple) - Objective C
Symbian, Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia & Intel) - C++ and Qt.
The first two are not quite “native”, since they are compiled into bytecode, and not processor instructions.
Objective C - Apple only.
C++ and Qt allow you to develop applications not only for mobile devices, but also for desktop Windows and Linux. By the way, there is an unofficial port of Qt for Android and iOS, however, while it is unfinished and in general it is unlikely that such an application will go to the "stores".
It is very convenient when it is possible to use the same framework both on the desktop and on the mobile device. Much easier to learn.

Answer 4

There is no universal solution.
Do you want to write for Nokia phones? Learn Qt. The language is not important, although Python. And keep in mind that Qt is still actively sawing for this.
Do you want Apple? Well, there seems to be no choice.
I didn’t write for android, I won’t tell you.
Under the rest it makes no sense to write. But if a necrophiliac, then JME (like an android can do it too, right?).
Only I see you have already decided by buying MBP :)

Answer 5

C is compatible with both C++ and Obj-C
Only if it's needed.

Answer 6

In general, do not listen to those who scream that C ++ is not relevant. This is nonsense, even on Android, many people use native code. Then there is such a Qt thing, it was mentioned here a couple of times, and so it allows you to develop software for Symbian, Maemo, MeeGo - this is already a fairly large piece of the market. With some creaking, you can develop for Android.
Well, iOS and ObjC or Win Phone and C# are things in themselves.

Answer 7

I worked in an office that got fired for using Objective-C++ instead of Objective-C in non-performance-critical places.