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From the Tinder clone blog post linked in the first paragraph: The days of natively developing apps in Java and Objective-C have an apparent end in sight. I l

From the Tinder clone blog post linked in the first paragraph: The days of natively developing apps in Java and Objective-C have an apparent end in sight. I love Node.js and Javascript. I wish this was true, but I can't bring myself to believe it yet.

BuckRogers 12y ago
It's not. And, native apps are likely going to make even more ground. I realize this runs against popular opinion, that webapps are some sort of inevitable future to replace native apps almost in their entirety, but we will see.
- sgdesign 12y ago
  They can replace some native apps. With Meteor, you can now use the same basic building blocks to build your web app, iOS app, and Android app. Maybe you won't reach the same quality on iOS and Android as you would with native apps, but for smaller teams this can be a huge time saver, especially in the early stages of a project. So in a lot of cases it's not so much "web app" vs "native app", as "web app" vs "no app".
- notastartup 12y ago
  You make a very good contrarian view and I agree. I'm just realizing that we may not be innovating as we think we'd like. Basically, we found a way to force the browser to act like native desktop apps but without the security and power of native apps. In the process, generating a great amount of technical barrier and debt. Businesses will still use a java swing desktop app if they paid millions for it in the 90s. We'll still work on desktop IDE's to code our stuff. Another discussion here would be how "mobile" is going to replace desktop apps. This is simply not true. Lot of important work goes on with a mouse and keyboard behind a monitor. I just don't buy reinventing the wheel. Sure it works for activities centered around the mobile phone mainly communication applications and social apps but i don't see how it can cause disruption. I have a feeling one of these days, we'll see a major correction in how we perceive our point in time as being the best possible state and we'll see more or less the return of old ideas, the true and tested technologies get more attention they truly deserve.
  - uptownJimmy 12y ago
    Good point, valid opinion, etc. But incorrect, I think. I think it's more likely that we are going to see most metropolitan areas in the US finally get world-class data/communications infrastructure installed. It's starting to build momentum now, really. And then there will be no going back. You will then be unable to convince the vast majority of enterprise users that they should pay for proprietary Java + server installations when they can get radically better functionality and useability from client-side technology, and at a VERY steep discount. I really think the only thing currently preventing a tidal wave of JavaScript dominance in enterprise is the (weird) reality that the US is still so retrograde on high-speed internet.
    - notastartup 12y ago
      I don't think it has anything to do with the speed of the internet, rather you won't see large companies who paid millions for infrastructure built on Oracle or SAP come off it anytime soon. The people that spend this much on money won't be sold on the wonders of Javascript, that's not how they make their purchase decisions.
aikah 12y ago
Objective-C is here to stay, just like C. NodeJs is great,it's really,really powerfull and easy to use.I mean i did some crazy messaging/parrallel/realtime apps with that. At the same time, i'm not a big fan of javascript itself. It's not bad,it's just that I like more rigid,typesafe languages. I was a big fan of Actionscript 3 which is in my opinion some kind of compromise between dynamism and "statism".I'm glad i began programming in it by the way,or I would have never been able to learn java or C# afterwards.
- WorldWideWayne 12y ago
  Objective-C is here to stay as long as Apple hardware is a popular target for apps. Once the Apple fad ends, Objective-C will be useless. It's already useless for the enterprise.
  - matthewmacleod 12y ago
    Which is a real shame – it's a really great language.
    - WorldWideWayne 12y ago
      It's overly verbose and useful for exactly one platform. Objective-C started out as a bunch of macros bolted on top of C and that ugliness is still obvious to me when I look at it. No, I don't think it's great at all.

BuckRogers 12y ago

It's not. And, native apps are likely going to make even more ground. I realize this runs against popular opinion, that webapps are some sort of inevitable future to replace native apps almost in their entirety, but we will see.

sgdesign 12y ago
They can replace some native apps. With Meteor, you can now use the same basic building blocks to build your web app, iOS app, and Android app. Maybe you won't reach the same quality on iOS and Android as you would with native apps, but for smaller teams this can be a huge time saver, especially in the early stages of a project. So in a lot of cases it's not so much "web app" vs "native app", as "web app" vs "no app".
notastartup 12y ago
You make a very good contrarian view and I agree. I'm just realizing that we may not be innovating as we think we'd like. Basically, we found a way to force the browser to act like native desktop apps but without the security and power of native apps. In the process, generating a great amount of technical barrier and debt. Businesses will still use a java swing desktop app if they paid millions for it in the 90s. We'll still work on desktop IDE's to code our stuff. Another discussion here would be how "mobile" is going to replace desktop apps. This is simply not true. Lot of important work goes on with a mouse and keyboard behind a monitor. I just don't buy reinventing the wheel. Sure it works for activities centered around the mobile phone mainly communication applications and social apps but i don't see how it can cause disruption. I have a feeling one of these days, we'll see a major correction in how we perceive our point in time as being the best possible state and we'll see more or less the return of old ideas, the true and tested technologies get more attention they truly deserve.
- uptownJimmy 12y ago
  Good point, valid opinion, etc. But incorrect, I think. I think it's more likely that we are going to see most metropolitan areas in the US finally get world-class data/communications infrastructure installed. It's starting to build momentum now, really. And then there will be no going back. You will then be unable to convince the vast majority of enterprise users that they should pay for proprietary Java + server installations when they can get radically better functionality and useability from client-side technology, and at a VERY steep discount. I really think the only thing currently preventing a tidal wave of JavaScript dominance in enterprise is the (weird) reality that the US is still so retrograde on high-speed internet.
  - notastartup 12y ago
    I don't think it has anything to do with the speed of the internet, rather you won't see large companies who paid millions for infrastructure built on Oracle or SAP come off it anytime soon. The people that spend this much on money won't be sold on the wonders of Javascript, that's not how they make their purchase decisions.

aikah 12y ago

Objective-C is here to stay, just like C. NodeJs is great,it's really,really powerfull and easy to use.I mean i did some crazy messaging/parrallel/realtime apps with that. At the same time, i'm not a big fan of javascript itself. It's not bad,it's just that I like more rigid,typesafe languages. I was a big fan of Actionscript 3 which is in my opinion some kind of compromise between dynamism and "statism".I'm glad i began programming in it by the way,or I would have never been able to learn java or C# afterwards.

WorldWideWayne 12y ago
Objective-C is here to stay as long as Apple hardware is a popular target for apps. Once the Apple fad ends, Objective-C will be useless. It's already useless for the enterprise.
- matthewmacleod 12y ago
  Which is a real shame – it's a really great language.
  - WorldWideWayne 12y ago
    It's overly verbose and useful for exactly one platform. Objective-C started out as a bunch of macros bolted on top of C and that ugliness is still obvious to me when I look at it. No, I don't think it's great at all.