5 ms·

Write Android apps in Google Go

98 points by SamWhited 13y ago

axaxs 13y ago
If you do not call it AT&T C, please don't call it Google Go.
- Lerc 13y ago
  It is much easier to tell by context that you are talking about a programming language with C. Go is a common enough word that sometimes it is hard to tell. The full name reduces the chance of confusion.
  - hayksaakian 13y ago
    I thought Golang was the safer term.
    - matiasb 13y ago
      Golang > Google Go :)
    - karaziox 13y ago
      Yes Golang is the "complete name", at least way more than "Google Go", since Go isn't affiliated directly with Google anymore.
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        I would say that the "complete" name is "The Go Programming Language". Go and Golang are both shortened forms of that.
- SamWhited 13y ago
  I completely agree with you, but for the sake of a title more people will understand "Google Go" than simply "Go" (and while Golang is great for search engines, it's not the actual name of the language).
AnthonyMouse 13y ago
This is nice and everything, but why can't they just give up the charade and let people write applications for mobile devices in whatever language they like without having to jump through hoops like this? I should be able to write applications in Go (or C or whatever) and be able to use the official APIs in an officially supported way and without having to waste time screwing with shims and JNI. And while I'm complaining about it, it sure would be nice if they would include POSIX support by default. It's not like the code to do it isn't largely already written and freely available.
- gw 13y ago
  You already can use official Android APIs with alternative languages as long as they are JVM-hosted, such as Clojure or Scala. Asking for API support from external runtimes would be a tall order and a major undertaking, with probably little benefit. I fail to see what the "charade" is.
  - deniska 13y ago
    Actually Clojure and some other JVM hosted languages don't work on android as is because they rely on JVM while android uses bytecode converted from jvm to dalvik. Edit: clojure works on android now but it needed additional porting efforts
    - RyanZAG 13y ago
      Looks to me like Clojure on Android works just fine. http://clojure-android.blogspot.com/2013/06/state-of-clojure-on-android-2013.html http://clojure-android.blogspot.com/2013/06/state-of-clojure...
    - myko 13y ago
      Yeah, they definitely require work but it is possible. I had just gotten my Android+Scala setup completed before IO and am now looking into integrating Gradle+Android+Scala, which is proving more difficult.
      - 13y ago
pjmlp 13y ago
Meanwhile this is still open with no changes since November 2012, http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39482 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39482 If the Android team wanted to give proper support for Go, I think it would have done it already, instead of changing tooling between IDEs. The same goes for disabling the Objective-C support on gcc and clang toolchains.
- octopus 13y ago
  Last time I've tried (a few months ago) it was a question of modifying a Makefile to enable Fortran and Objective-C in a custom build toolchain for Android.
  - pjmlp 13y ago
    I know, but that is the main point, we are forced to use a custom build toolchain, when gcc and clang already offer support for them
z3phyr 13y ago
With the contribution from samsung, one can also write Rust programs for android. https://github.com/mozilla/rust/wiki/Doc-building-for-android https://github.com/mozilla/rust/wiki/Doc-building-for-androi...
- doublec 13y ago
  You can also use ATS with a few patches to the compiler: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=29036314 http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=290363... Quite a few languages are available for Android development now that the NDK allows native code.
- dbaupp 13y ago
  (It should be pointed out that Android is not a tier-1 platform, and so gets broken fairly regularly. The Samsung people are normally pretty quick to debug and submit a fix though.)

98 points by SamWhited 13y ago

axaxs 13y ago

If you do not call it AT&T C, please don't call it Google Go.

Lerc 13y ago
It is much easier to tell by context that you are talking about a programming language with C. Go is a common enough word that sometimes it is hard to tell. The full name reduces the chance of confusion.
- hayksaakian 13y ago
  I thought Golang was the safer term.
  - matiasb 13y ago
    Golang > Google Go :)
  - karaziox 13y ago
    Yes Golang is the "complete name", at least way more than "Google Go", since Go isn't affiliated directly with Google anymore.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      I would say that the "complete" name is "The Go Programming Language". Go and Golang are both shortened forms of that.
SamWhited 13y ago
I completely agree with you, but for the sake of a title more people will understand "Google Go" than simply "Go" (and while Golang is great for search engines, it's not the actual name of the language).

AnthonyMouse 13y ago

This is nice and everything, but why can't they just give up the charade and let people write applications for mobile devices in whatever language they like without having to jump through hoops like this? I should be able to write applications in Go (or C or whatever) and be able to use the official APIs in an officially supported way and without having to waste time screwing with shims and JNI. And while I'm complaining about it, it sure would be nice if they would include POSIX support by default. It's not like the code to do it isn't largely already written and freely available.

gw 13y ago
You already can use official Android APIs with alternative languages as long as they are JVM-hosted, such as Clojure or Scala. Asking for API support from external runtimes would be a tall order and a major undertaking, with probably little benefit. I fail to see what the "charade" is.
- deniska 13y ago
  Actually Clojure and some other JVM hosted languages don't work on android as is because they rely on JVM while android uses bytecode converted from jvm to dalvik. Edit: clojure works on android now but it needed additional porting efforts
  - RyanZAG 13y ago
    Looks to me like Clojure on Android works just fine. http://clojure-android.blogspot.com/2013/06/state-of-clojure-on-android-2013.html http://clojure-android.blogspot.com/2013/06/state-of-clojure...
  - myko 13y ago
    Yeah, they definitely require work but it is possible. I had just gotten my Android+Scala setup completed before IO and am now looking into integrating Gradle+Android+Scala, which is proving more difficult.
    - 13y ago

pjmlp 13y ago

Meanwhile this is still open with no changes since November 2012, http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39482 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39482 If the Android team wanted to give proper support for Go, I think it would have done it already, instead of changing tooling between IDEs. The same goes for disabling the Objective-C support on gcc and clang toolchains.

octopus 13y ago
Last time I've tried (a few months ago) it was a question of modifying a Makefile to enable Fortran and Objective-C in a custom build toolchain for Android.
- pjmlp 13y ago
  I know, but that is the main point, we are forced to use a custom build toolchain, when gcc and clang already offer support for them

z3phyr 13y ago

With the contribution from samsung, one can also write Rust programs for android. https://github.com/mozilla/rust/wiki/Doc-building-for-android https://github.com/mozilla/rust/wiki/Doc-building-for-androi...

doublec 13y ago
You can also use ATS with a few patches to the compiler: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=29036314 http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=290363... Quite a few languages are available for Android development now that the NDK allows native code.
dbaupp 13y ago
(It should be pointed out that Android is not a tier-1 platform, and so gets broken fairly regularly. The Samsung people are normally pretty quick to debug and submit a fix though.)