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Python for Android | Linux Journal

110 points by db42 15y ago

illumen 15y ago
http://pygame.org http://pygame.org also has a pygame subset for android which includes a port of cpython. Not all modules are included though. Some python packages are missing, and some pygame modules are not included too. However it works well enough for most games. Just create a directory called pygame on your sd card and put your code in there. No need to mess around with setting up java.
- pkdawson 15y ago
  Stay tuned, we're nearly finished with a release that includes Python 2.7.1 and various other goodies. SL4A is still the way to go if you want access to a significant portion of the Android API, though.
mctavjb9 15y ago
I can totally relate to the statement: "If, like me, you'd rather eat glass than sit down to write some Java code in Eclipse, it would appear that you are out of luck when it comes to implementing your next project on Android." I've been attempting to educate myself about Android development for a side project. Dealing with Java has been an impediment, as my brain seems to grok scripting languages far more easily.
- rnicholson 15y ago
  If its a less verbose language that you are looking for, you might want to checkout mirah (and pindah) -- https://github.com/mirah https://github.com/mirah I believe its still under heavy development, but really nice in that mirah can output dalvik bytecode.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
CoffeeDregs 15y ago
An important bit of TL;DR: For those who, as did I, say "that's stupid! you have to install the Python for Android APK on the target device!", see http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScripts http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScrip...
xudir 15y ago
nice
- drx 15y ago
  You are being downvoted because your comment adds nothing to the conversation.
fingerprinter 15y ago
Does anyone know if it is possible to write JRuby android applications? It would seem a natural fit given Java etc etc. I do relate to the comment ""If, like me, you'd rather eat glass than sit down to write some Java code" so I have been looking for a better way to do it. Though, I have lately resigned myself to the fact that I may well have to write Java again... As an aside...does anyone have experience with PhoneGap or Appcelerator? Wondering about experiences with those approaches (both positive and negative).
- soamv 15y ago
  Check out ruboto-core at http://ruboto.org/ http://ruboto.org/
- rpeden 15y ago
  You might want to check out Ruboto. I haven't used it yet, but it seems to allow you to do exactly what you want, i.e. write full Android apps using JRuby. I've heard there's a significant performance penalty, though. http://ruboto.org/ http://ruboto.org/ I've also heard of people having success using Mirah to write Android apps. The syntax is very similar to Ruby, so it will be comfortable for you. It compiles to a straight Java class with no runtime dependencies, so you don't get the performance hit you run into with Ruboto. http://www.mirah.org/ http://www.mirah.org/
  - imd 15y ago
    WTF? In the Mirah examples, I see a bunch of i = 0 while i < 10 ...code... i += 1 end There's no for loop? I couldn't confirm because I didn't find a manual.
RobGR 15y ago
At the Texas Linux Fest, there was a great talk that reviewed non-Java ways of programming on Android: http://texaslinuxfest.org/sessions/decaffeinated-robot-developing-android-without-java http://texaslinuxfest.org/sessions/decaffeinated-robot-devel... http://www.deepbluelambda.org/events/live/decaffeinated-robot-source-slides-and-audio http://www.deepbluelambda.org/events/live/decaffeinated-robo... There are some comparisons of code size for the different languages and environments. That was probably the most informative talk I attended at the Linux Fest.

110 points by db42 15y ago

http://pygame.org http://pygame.org also has a pygame subset for android which includes a port of cpython. Not all modules are included though. Some python packages are missing, and some pygame modules are not included too. However it works well enough for most games. Just create a directory called pygame on your sd card and put your code in there. No need to mess around with setting up java.

pkdawson 15y ago
Stay tuned, we're nearly finished with a release that includes Python 2.7.1 and various other goodies. SL4A is still the way to go if you want access to a significant portion of the Android API, though.

mctavjb9 15y ago

I can totally relate to the statement: "If, like me, you'd rather eat glass than sit down to write some Java code in Eclipse, it would appear that you are out of luck when it comes to implementing your next project on Android." I've been attempting to educate myself about Android development for a side project. Dealing with Java has been an impediment, as my brain seems to grok scripting languages far more easily.

rnicholson 15y ago
If its a less verbose language that you are looking for, you might want to checkout mirah (and pindah) -- https://github.com/mirah https://github.com/mirah I believe its still under heavy development, but really nice in that mirah can output dalvik bytecode.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

CoffeeDregs 15y ago

An important bit of TL;DR: For those who, as did I, say "that's stupid! you have to install the Python for Android APK on the target device!", see http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScripts http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScrip...

xudir 15y ago

nice

drx 15y ago
You are being downvoted because your comment adds nothing to the conversation.

fingerprinter 15y ago

Does anyone know if it is possible to write JRuby android applications? It would seem a natural fit given Java etc etc. I do relate to the comment ""If, like me, you'd rather eat glass than sit down to write some Java code" so I have been looking for a better way to do it. Though, I have lately resigned myself to the fact that I may well have to write Java again... As an aside...does anyone have experience with PhoneGap or Appcelerator? Wondering about experiences with those approaches (both positive and negative).

soamv 15y ago
Check out ruboto-core at http://ruboto.org/ http://ruboto.org/
rpeden 15y ago
You might want to check out Ruboto. I haven't used it yet, but it seems to allow you to do exactly what you want, i.e. write full Android apps using JRuby. I've heard there's a significant performance penalty, though. http://ruboto.org/ http://ruboto.org/ I've also heard of people having success using Mirah to write Android apps. The syntax is very similar to Ruby, so it will be comfortable for you. It compiles to a straight Java class with no runtime dependencies, so you don't get the performance hit you run into with Ruboto. http://www.mirah.org/ http://www.mirah.org/
- imd 15y ago
  WTF? In the Mirah examples, I see a bunch of i = 0 while i < 10 ...code... i += 1 end There's no for loop? I couldn't confirm because I didn't find a manual.

RobGR 15y ago

At the Texas Linux Fest, there was a great talk that reviewed non-Java ways of programming on Android: http://texaslinuxfest.org/sessions/decaffeinated-robot-developing-android-without-java http://texaslinuxfest.org/sessions/decaffeinated-robot-devel... http://www.deepbluelambda.org/events/live/decaffeinated-robot-source-slides-and-audio http://www.deepbluelambda.org/events/live/decaffeinated-robo... There are some comparisons of code size for the different languages and environments. That was probably the most informative talk I attended at the Linux Fest.