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As a strongly leaning iOS developer, something like the "Xcode for Android" was something that was holding me back from committing more to experimenting on the

As a strongly leaning iOS developer, something like the "Xcode for Android" was something that was holding me back from committing more to experimenting on the platform. The fact that Instruments, Interface Builder, etc are integrated well alongside the editor is huge and I think Google is wise to invest here. Developers, developers, developers!

msoad 12y ago
What? You don't hate XCode? How?! ;)
- weavie 12y ago
  XCode was terrible around 2009, but it has come on a long way since. I'm not using it much these days, but when I need to it does amaze me how easy it actually it is to use. I normally depend on vim keybindings, but I find that the autocomplete in XCode is so good that I actually don't seem to mind reaching for the cursor keys for navigation (much).
  - kjf 12y ago
    If it's vim keybindings you're missing then check out https://github.com/XVimProject/XVim https://github.com/XVimProject/XVim It's the only way I can use Xcode and keep my sanity :)
    - weavie 12y ago
      Wow! Thanks.
  - apetrovic 12y ago
    Just to check - you're not a time traveller, and you're talking about the current XCode, not some future version which isn't a rude joke compared to any decent IDE around (AppCode, Visual Studio, even Eclipse)? Edit: sorry if I came up like a complete tool, but every time when someone say that XCode is a good IDE small part of me dies :)
    - Watabou 12y ago
      Am I the only person that really likes Xcode? It's the first IDE that I've used that doesn't dedicate the entirety of its chrome to 100 different buttons. The developer workflow is nice (Open Files Quickly, Go to Line, Symbol navigation, pragma marks, breadcrumb bar, continuous build cycle, CI integration with OS X server, etc). I can get Vim bindings with Xvim, (this is not an Xcode feature by default but it's worth mentioning because it's the best Vim emulation plugin I've used apart from IntelliJ's). It has Interface Builder, Instruments, etc all integrated and super easy to work with. Most of all, Xcode's simplicity. I started iOS and Mac dev with 0 experience working with Xcode and I didn't need any, since it's so easy to use. Yes, it's a good IDE. Is it a perfect one? Of course not, there are still hundreds of issues like Xcode complaining that a certificate already exists when I try to code-sign my app but Xcode doesn't use it, first few releases of new versions of Xcode are always crash happy, and Xcode's build settings are the ugliest part of Xcode. Different people prefer different things I suppose. Maybe people became so used to Eclipse and Netbeans ugly UI and incomprehensible buttons everywhere that Xcode doesn't seem as feature full to them.
      - hrabago 12y ago
        I got the impression before that the only people who really like Xcode are those that have never used any other IDE. Are you one of the exceptions? > incomprehensible buttons everywhere that Xcode doesn't seem as feature full to them My issues with Xcode isn't the lack of buttons, it's the lack of functionality. I started with Borland IDE's for Pascal and Java, then Jetbrains IDEs for Java, JS/HTML, and now Obj C, and through those, the tool became an extension of my person. I've been using Xcode now since 2009 and I find that it still gets in the way instead of helping me translate thought into code. It's gotten better in letting me know what I might need, but still falls short of actually letting me have it.
        orbitur 12y ago
        > My issues with Xcode isn't the lack of buttons, it's the lack of functionality. I always hear this, but never the specific feature that some other IDE offers. Please share.
- jfernandez 12y ago
  I wouldn't say Xcode is perfect by any means, however I think Apple has a deep appreciation for workflows and simplicity. Whether it's about the end-user consumers or the developers themselves any sort of friction inhibits delight, engagement, etc.
- BigChiefSmokem 12y ago
  Say what you want about Xcode but it is not in as bad a state of most of the Android IDEs. And Visual Studio is light years ahead of both.
  - 72deluxe 12y ago
    In what way? I use VS every day alongside Xcode and it's like pulling teeth (but with easy remote debugging, admittedly). I am using an old VSC++ version (2010) but has it significantly improved since then?
    - robwilliams 12y ago
      Visual Studio's C++ support is far, far behind its C# support. Using Visual Studio with C# is perfect, but I always hate using it for C++. Disclaimer: MS employee, not on VS team though.
estel 12y ago
There's nothing quite like Instruments integrated well with Android Studio, sadly.
imd23 12y ago
xCode today is and extremely sophisticated IDE. I think there's no other software more complex than it that is so well designed to maintain simplicity, ease of use and speed. It was ultra slow years before, but nowadays every time I develop for Android I'd kill for having an xCode like realtime autocomplete and documentation. XCode it's extremely solid and you feel it every time you use it. Android Studio is build on Java, then it's slow and the UI is nowhere near as polished as Xcode. If I were Google I'd start coding my own IDE from zero ASAP.
- matwood 12y ago
  XCode is fine for what it is, and its strength is the tool integrations. For everything else like actually editing and refactoring code it is worlds behind something like Intellij/Android Studio. If Google does anything, they need to build/buy a simulator (Genymotion for example) instead of the emulator.
- stevebot 12y ago
  From someone who uses both daily, this is far from the truth, and I can only conclude that you have not used Android Studio in your day job.
- jsankey 12y ago
  This is a subjective issue, of course. Personally I find autocomplete and navigation in Xcode still sorely lacking compared to IDEs in the Intellij family, to the point where I happily pay for AppCode to do most of my iOS work (basically any serious coding, although I return to Xcode for UI work). I will concede the AppCode can be sluggish at times, though, which is my major gripe. Conversely I find Xcode more buggy: every other version seems to be plagued with crashing bugs. As for the idea that Google should start from scratch: that would just put them back a decade. I'm very glad they decided to build on an existing great platform instead.
- 21echoes 12y ago
  > xCode-like realtime autocomplete and documentation XCode's autocomplete is a joke compared to Android Studio's -- a strongly typed & non-dynamic language does wonders for how efficiently & accurately an IDE can fill in your dots for you.

msoad 12y ago

What? You don't hate XCode? How?! ;)

weavie 12y ago
XCode was terrible around 2009, but it has come on a long way since. I'm not using it much these days, but when I need to it does amaze me how easy it actually it is to use. I normally depend on vim keybindings, but I find that the autocomplete in XCode is so good that I actually don't seem to mind reaching for the cursor keys for navigation (much).
- kjf 12y ago
  If it's vim keybindings you're missing then check out https://github.com/XVimProject/XVim https://github.com/XVimProject/XVim It's the only way I can use Xcode and keep my sanity :)
  - weavie 12y ago
    Wow! Thanks.
- apetrovic 12y ago
  Just to check - you're not a time traveller, and you're talking about the current XCode, not some future version which isn't a rude joke compared to any decent IDE around (AppCode, Visual Studio, even Eclipse)? Edit: sorry if I came up like a complete tool, but every time when someone say that XCode is a good IDE small part of me dies :)
  - Watabou 12y ago
    Am I the only person that really likes Xcode? It's the first IDE that I've used that doesn't dedicate the entirety of its chrome to 100 different buttons. The developer workflow is nice (Open Files Quickly, Go to Line, Symbol navigation, pragma marks, breadcrumb bar, continuous build cycle, CI integration with OS X server, etc). I can get Vim bindings with Xvim, (this is not an Xcode feature by default but it's worth mentioning because it's the best Vim emulation plugin I've used apart from IntelliJ's). It has Interface Builder, Instruments, etc all integrated and super easy to work with. Most of all, Xcode's simplicity. I started iOS and Mac dev with 0 experience working with Xcode and I didn't need any, since it's so easy to use. Yes, it's a good IDE. Is it a perfect one? Of course not, there are still hundreds of issues like Xcode complaining that a certificate already exists when I try to code-sign my app but Xcode doesn't use it, first few releases of new versions of Xcode are always crash happy, and Xcode's build settings are the ugliest part of Xcode. Different people prefer different things I suppose. Maybe people became so used to Eclipse and Netbeans ugly UI and incomprehensible buttons everywhere that Xcode doesn't seem as feature full to them.
    - hrabago 12y ago
      I got the impression before that the only people who really like Xcode are those that have never used any other IDE. Are you one of the exceptions? > incomprehensible buttons everywhere that Xcode doesn't seem as feature full to them My issues with Xcode isn't the lack of buttons, it's the lack of functionality. I started with Borland IDE's for Pascal and Java, then Jetbrains IDEs for Java, JS/HTML, and now Obj C, and through those, the tool became an extension of my person. I've been using Xcode now since 2009 and I find that it still gets in the way instead of helping me translate thought into code. It's gotten better in letting me know what I might need, but still falls short of actually letting me have it.
      - orbitur 12y ago
        > My issues with Xcode isn't the lack of buttons, it's the lack of functionality. I always hear this, but never the specific feature that some other IDE offers. Please share.
jfernandez 12y ago
I wouldn't say Xcode is perfect by any means, however I think Apple has a deep appreciation for workflows and simplicity. Whether it's about the end-user consumers or the developers themselves any sort of friction inhibits delight, engagement, etc.
BigChiefSmokem 12y ago
Say what you want about Xcode but it is not in as bad a state of most of the Android IDEs. And Visual Studio is light years ahead of both.
- 72deluxe 12y ago
  In what way? I use VS every day alongside Xcode and it's like pulling teeth (but with easy remote debugging, admittedly). I am using an old VSC++ version (2010) but has it significantly improved since then?
  - robwilliams 12y ago
    Visual Studio's C++ support is far, far behind its C# support. Using Visual Studio with C# is perfect, but I always hate using it for C++. Disclaimer: MS employee, not on VS team though.

estel 12y ago

There's nothing quite like Instruments integrated well with Android Studio, sadly.

imd23 12y ago

xCode today is and extremely sophisticated IDE. I think there's no other software more complex than it that is so well designed to maintain simplicity, ease of use and speed. It was ultra slow years before, but nowadays every time I develop for Android I'd kill for having an xCode like realtime autocomplete and documentation. XCode it's extremely solid and you feel it every time you use it. Android Studio is build on Java, then it's slow and the UI is nowhere near as polished as Xcode. If I were Google I'd start coding my own IDE from zero ASAP.

matwood 12y ago
XCode is fine for what it is, and its strength is the tool integrations. For everything else like actually editing and refactoring code it is worlds behind something like Intellij/Android Studio. If Google does anything, they need to build/buy a simulator (Genymotion for example) instead of the emulator.
stevebot 12y ago
From someone who uses both daily, this is far from the truth, and I can only conclude that you have not used Android Studio in your day job.
jsankey 12y ago
This is a subjective issue, of course. Personally I find autocomplete and navigation in Xcode still sorely lacking compared to IDEs in the Intellij family, to the point where I happily pay for AppCode to do most of my iOS work (basically any serious coding, although I return to Xcode for UI work). I will concede the AppCode can be sluggish at times, though, which is my major gripe. Conversely I find Xcode more buggy: every other version seems to be plagued with crashing bugs. As for the idea that Google should start from scratch: that would just put them back a decade. I'm very glad they decided to build on an existing great platform instead.
21echoes 12y ago
> xCode-like realtime autocomplete and documentation XCode's autocomplete is a joke compared to Android Studio's -- a strongly typed & non-dynamic language does wonders for how efficiently & accurately an IDE can fill in your dots for you.