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So, let me get this straight: * You can write part of your app in Go * You can share that code across your Android and iOS apps? Is that right? If so, seems

So, let me get this straight: * You can write part of your app in Go * You can share that code across your Android and iOS apps? Is that right? If so, seems like a solid use case for Go. Until Swift compiles to Android...

anonova 11y ago
I currently do this with Rust, as it can target both iOS [1] and Android [2], but you do have to build your own cross-compiler. [1]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Doc-building-for-ios.md https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Do... [2]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Doc-building-for-android.md https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Do...
- rkapsoro 11y ago
  Hey, if you can share, in what kind of project are you using shared Rust code on both iOS and Android? That's pretty awesome!
- McElroy 11y ago
  I had no idea. Thanks!
aikah 11y ago
it's a good replacement for C if you were using it in Android or Ios. But you can't write classic Android or Ios apps with Go.You can however use Opengl so potentially write games, but using Cocoa and co? zip. Go on android doesn't even support android's own NDK ...
- steinnes 11y ago
  Yeah, being able to compile and link a binary is pretty far from having a nice SDK :-)
akhilcacharya 11y ago
Is it really that beneficial to do this? Your system API's are still in Java/Obj-C/Swift, so all you can really share is business logic. Has anybody had any real benefit from doing this in the past? I know Facebook did it with moments, but the image processing code could at least be shared here.
- tl 11y ago
  Depending on how you structure your application, "business logic" may include persistence, network code, and everything that's not UI.
- threeseed 11y ago
  And even 99% of the business logic these days is pushed server side. I've worked on about 20 enterprise apps and they are nothing more than pretty API wrappers with some trivial functionality implemented on the phone.
- sandGorgon 11y ago
  is that still correct after the Dalvik -> ART move ? I always thought a long term strategy around ART was to move away from the jvm dependency. Just in time for all the Oracle lawsuits confirming that Java apis are patent encumbered.
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    ART still uses dalvik bytecode.
    - sandGorgon 11y ago
      from my understanding, it uses dalvik bytecode (dex) as input format. but the resultant .oat files are binary/ELF [1] [1] http://newandroidbook.com/files/Andevcon-ART.pdf http://newandroidbook.com/files/Andevcon-ART.pdf
  - on_and_off 11y ago
    Nothing official but after all these efforts with ART and jack&Jill both of which are not tied to java, it seems likely that Google is at least experimenting with another language.
0x0 11y ago
You can do that with C and C++ as well. It's the native platform framework interfacing problem that usually makes this not as amazing as it sounds
- wiremine 11y ago
  Agreed. I guess the most amazing part is that you don't need C or C++.
- mahyarm 11y ago
  You can actually do that with a lot of languages now. C# with xamarin, java/clojure with robovm, java with j2objc, etc. I was tempted with robovm, but found the 30s minimum build & run cycle for trivial code changes too slow for me. And the performance is pretty good for these guys, they're all as fast as objective-c: https://medium.com/@harrycheung/mobile-app-performance-redux-e512be94f976 https://medium.com/@harrycheung/mobile-app-performance-redux... At my last job we did the C++ cross platform layer, and it was very painful. C++ is slow to compile and can create bloated binaries. There can be something said for the freedom of having separate platform teams with just a server api.
  - devsquid 11y ago
    RoboVM has been working pretty hard recently to cut the compile times down. I haven't used it in a year, but I read a blog post where Nick said he cut the compile times down by a ton. Plus he added incremental compiling recently as well, which should resolve your issue. :D
    - mahyarm 11y ago
      This was from me playing with it a week ago in the new robovm studio. It's still 30s with no code changes after you have built once, most of it being the robovm build part.
  - yoklov 11y ago
    Long compile times and bloated binaries do come with the platform for C++, but (with experience) you get pretty good at minimizing both of those with little effort. This also tends to lead to a fairly clean dialect of C++ (closer to C), and has higher performance code as well. It basically boils down to not really using templates. That means no stl or boost, but (and this is not a popular opinion at all) this tends to lead to cleaner code, and more productive programmers. My experience is that templates do allow for more code reuse than you can typically get in other languages, however they do so at a high complexity and maintenance cost -- not to mention binary bloat and long compile times.
nileshk 11y ago
Haven't tried this myself, but Swift compiles to Android: http://elementscompiler.com/elements/silver/ http://elementscompiler.com/elements/silver/
pjmlp 11y ago
It doesn't save you from JNI or Objective-C/Swift fun. Regardless of what is going on with Oracle, the Android team sees the NDK as a nuisance and only offers NDK APIs suitable for games. How does Go represent UIkit and similar APIs?

anonova 11y ago

I currently do this with Rust, as it can target both iOS [1] and Android [2], but you do have to build your own cross-compiler. [1]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Doc-building-for-ios.md https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Do... [2]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Doc-building-for-android.md https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-wiki-backup/blob/master/Do...

rkapsoro 11y ago
Hey, if you can share, in what kind of project are you using shared Rust code on both iOS and Android? That's pretty awesome!
McElroy 11y ago
I had no idea. Thanks!

aikah 11y ago

it's a good replacement for C if you were using it in Android or Ios. But you can't write classic Android or Ios apps with Go.You can however use Opengl so potentially write games, but using Cocoa and co? zip. Go on android doesn't even support android's own NDK ...

steinnes 11y ago
Yeah, being able to compile and link a binary is pretty far from having a nice SDK :-)

akhilcacharya 11y ago

Is it really that beneficial to do this? Your system API's are still in Java/Obj-C/Swift, so all you can really share is business logic. Has anybody had any real benefit from doing this in the past? I know Facebook did it with moments, but the image processing code could at least be shared here.

tl 11y ago
Depending on how you structure your application, "business logic" may include persistence, network code, and everything that's not UI.
threeseed 11y ago
And even 99% of the business logic these days is pushed server side. I've worked on about 20 enterprise apps and they are nothing more than pretty API wrappers with some trivial functionality implemented on the phone.
sandGorgon 11y ago
is that still correct after the Dalvik -> ART move ? I always thought a long term strategy around ART was to move away from the jvm dependency. Just in time for all the Oracle lawsuits confirming that Java apis are patent encumbered.
- s73v3r 11y ago
  ART still uses dalvik bytecode.
  - sandGorgon 11y ago
    from my understanding, it uses dalvik bytecode (dex) as input format. but the resultant .oat files are binary/ELF [1] [1] http://newandroidbook.com/files/Andevcon-ART.pdf http://newandroidbook.com/files/Andevcon-ART.pdf
- on_and_off 11y ago
  Nothing official but after all these efforts with ART and jack&Jill both of which are not tied to java, it seems likely that Google is at least experimenting with another language.

0x0 11y ago

You can do that with C and C++ as well. It's the native platform framework interfacing problem that usually makes this not as amazing as it sounds

wiremine 11y ago
Agreed. I guess the most amazing part is that you don't need C or C++.
mahyarm 11y ago
You can actually do that with a lot of languages now. C# with xamarin, java/clojure with robovm, java with j2objc, etc. I was tempted with robovm, but found the 30s minimum build & run cycle for trivial code changes too slow for me. And the performance is pretty good for these guys, they're all as fast as objective-c: https://medium.com/@harrycheung/mobile-app-performance-redux-e512be94f976 https://medium.com/@harrycheung/mobile-app-performance-redux... At my last job we did the C++ cross platform layer, and it was very painful. C++ is slow to compile and can create bloated binaries. There can be something said for the freedom of having separate platform teams with just a server api.
- devsquid 11y ago
  RoboVM has been working pretty hard recently to cut the compile times down. I haven't used it in a year, but I read a blog post where Nick said he cut the compile times down by a ton. Plus he added incremental compiling recently as well, which should resolve your issue. :D
  - mahyarm 11y ago
    This was from me playing with it a week ago in the new robovm studio. It's still 30s with no code changes after you have built once, most of it being the robovm build part.
- yoklov 11y ago
  Long compile times and bloated binaries do come with the platform for C++, but (with experience) you get pretty good at minimizing both of those with little effort. This also tends to lead to a fairly clean dialect of C++ (closer to C), and has higher performance code as well. It basically boils down to not really using templates. That means no stl or boost, but (and this is not a popular opinion at all) this tends to lead to cleaner code, and more productive programmers. My experience is that templates do allow for more code reuse than you can typically get in other languages, however they do so at a high complexity and maintenance cost -- not to mention binary bloat and long compile times.

nileshk 11y ago

Haven't tried this myself, but Swift compiles to Android: http://elementscompiler.com/elements/silver/ http://elementscompiler.com/elements/silver/

pjmlp 11y ago

It doesn't save you from JNI or Objective-C/Swift fun. Regardless of what is going on with Oracle, the Android team sees the NDK as a nuisance and only offers NDK APIs suitable for games. How does Go represent UIkit and similar APIs?