有通用语言吗？

Question

We're designing an app that will run on Windows, OSX, iOS, and Androids. It would be really nice to at least have most of the code in a single language rather than having to use Objective C for the Apple versions, C# or C++ for Windows, and Java for Android.

We were looking at Flex (with all of its problems) as a way to avoid having to use a different language for each version, but Adobe has thrown in the towel and in the long run that's not going to do the job. Java used to promise to be universal, but it looks like Apple no longer supports it as a part of the distributed OS, and as far as I can tell Microsoft never supported it. We don't want our users to have to download and install something just so they can use our app.

Is there a solution? Or are we stuck with building the app in multiple languages?

Answer 1

HTML + css + JavaScript!

Run your app on a standard web server. All of the above have standards compliant web browsers, all of the above support JavaScript and AJAX. The only thing that really varies is screen size and this can easily be dealt with by using a custom .css file for each target browser.

Answer 2

You could host a web application on a server and use the app browsers to interact with the application.

Although not a native application, all devices would be able to use it.

The downside is that server connectivity would be required, however this may not be an issue.

Answer 3

“全球”语言最有可能使用虚拟机，所以你无法逃避“用户必须下载和安装一些东西，以便他们可以使用该应用程序”...我认为Java是你最好的选择，如果你不我不想处理编译成本机代码的语言问题。

Answer 4

You could use C# on all those platforms:

• "Normal" .NET on Windows
• Mono on OSX
• MonoDroid on Android
• MonoTouch for iOS

(If you ever wanted to write an app for Windows Phone 7, you'd be fine there too.)

Of course the UI part will have to change significantly between different platforms, and I doubt that it'll be particularly seamless , but it's worth considering at least.

Answer 5

i am not very sure, but i have heard python is a universal language. I have tried this with both mac and windows, not sure about the other plactforms

Answer 6

I believe C++ code can be run on all those platforms: Windows has full support for it; Android has NDK; and you can use Objective-C++ on iOS (and I assume OSX as well!).

I wouldn't go so far as to claim it's the best option, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

Ultimately a lot will depend on the nature of the app you are developing. If it's a large app I'd strongly suggest doing some detailed consultation with someone with experience in the area: because of the vagaries of the different platforms, this is one area where experience counts for an awful lot.

Answer 7

There are multiple options, depending on your app requirements:

First , Web app, as many said before. It is the same as the greatest common divisor - very small

Second Build the core of your app in c/c++, and for the interface use a framework that fits your needs. These suggestions are really, really great. You can even develop the interface separately for each platform, in Java for Android, Objective C for iOS, etc

Do not forget that never, ever you will be able to make the same code run on all platforms. There will always be some part with #define MAC or #define ANDROID . It's just impossible to run identical code, even for the simplest app.

Unless is a

void main(void){}

Even a web app will have a code like

if(browser()==Safari) {}
else {}

Answer 8

I think the answer depends on what kind of app you are going to build.

If it's like twitter, a good web interface is the answer. Each client just need to handle the GUI work, with the platform's own language and lib.

If it's a game, no communication with server. I prefer C and a script such as Lua to build the core of your app.

"Is there a solution? Or are we stuck with building the app in multiple languages?"

No, no solution for this. We use different languages because they run in different platforms. Universal languages, such as HTML, have lots of constrains because to be universal you must cut all the differences. It is the intersection set of all platforms, which is very very small .

Answer 9

Using HTML and Javascript is likely to be the best approach. Another option which runs on these platforms is Java FX 2.0.