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Really struggling to "click" and get my head around Objective-C coming from a C# background. Enrolled in the Apple Developer program and a little bit down about my seemingly lack of progress with Objective-C argh. I was wondering what different languages are viable to develop for iOS apart from Objective-C?

I only know of two:

MonoTouch - C# for iOS http://os.xamarin.com/

RubyMotion - Ruby for iOS http://www.rubymotion.com/

Unfortunately at £250 per year I won't be able to afford MonoTouch at any time in the near future, and I have no experience with Ruby (which also costs £128). I'll keep plugging away at Objective-C I guess, try and gain some sort of momentum but until them I'm trying to weigh up the different options - so any more information appreciated!

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mono not a language alternative but allows you to code in other languages like c# – JeffO Jan 17 at 19:12
Have you read Programming in Objective-C by Stephen Kochan? I found it to be a great book to learn the language. – Jeremy1026 Jan 17 at 19:16
Thank you for the recommendation, I shall definitely give it a look! – Kiada Jan 17 at 19:20
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You can use a more traditional approach with C++ – Daniel Ribeiro Jan 17 at 19:32
I've decided to give Objective-C a try, though I've been procrastinating way too much, so I haven't gotten anywhere yet. Anyway, coming from a .NET background, maybe this book can help you get your head around it more quickly: ijoshsmith.com/ios-for-dotnet-devs – MetalMikester Jan 18 at 12:01

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3 Answers

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You can use PhoneGap to build your iOS app using HTML & JS. It provides a means of accessing the hardware and other device features (such as contacts). Whether its suitable for your specific app would depend on what you are doing. And, of course, how much better that would be for you would depend on how well you know/like HTML & JS compared to Objective-C.

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You might want to take a look at Kivy (kivy.org) - it claims to let you write apps using python.

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Please note that Kivy doesn't use the native APIs in iOS. It has it's own graphics engine for UI. – Hakan Deryal Jan 17 at 19:46
Yeah I've just been having a read about it. It looks interesting but I'd really need to be able to use the hardware on the devices like the camera, microphone etc. Thanks for the reply though! – Kiada Jan 17 at 19:54
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Have heard good reports from someone developing apps (for multiple platforms) using RunRev's LiveCode. I believe its roots lie back in Apple's HyperCard's HyperTalk, so it may be a bit high-level and "scripty" compared with C#. It's not cheap either, but there is at least monthly pricing.

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