Is Visual Basic compatible with Android? - android

If something is written in VB is it compatible with android?
If so, can you give me some documentation?

No, you can not use programs written in visual basic on android. Android uses java. The closest you'll get is Mono For Android which currently doesn't support VB.NET.

EDIT: (7/12/2016): This is now supported via Xamarin
I assume you are talking about VB.NET, then Mono does not yet support it.
Currently Mono for Android does not support Visual Basic.
We are looking at adding support for Visual Basic on upcoming versions
of Mono for Android.
Technically, what needs to happen is the following: we need to provide
the Visual Basic helper library (part of Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)
and compile it to work with the Mono for Android mscorlib.dll instead
of the standard Mono 2.0 mscorlib.dll
With the above it will be possible to use Microsoft's Visual Studio to
compile VB code that will run on Mono for Android. But we want to
support Mono's own Visual Basic compiler, but that will also require
the compiler to run using the Mono for Android mscorlib.dll. This is
not difficult, but requires time to get done and integrate into our
release process.
At this point there is no ETA on when the above will happen.
2: http://mono-android.net/FAQ
You could try however Basic4android if that suits your needs.

The closest you're probably going to get is VB.NET via MonoDroid, which according to their FAQ currently does not support Visual Basic. (But they do have it on their radar at least.)

VB is a Microsoft product. While there are some 'nix' implementations of .Net product like Mono, Android is unlikely to support .Net mainly due to liscencing.

Related

Android application only in C++

Is it possible to make an Android application only in C++? I don't know Java. I've tried Visual Studio 2019 approach but I guess my computer isn't good enough for emulating Android phone.
You can write code for Android in C++, if you have the appropriate programming tools. You'll need a cross-compiler and linker for the appropriate architecture. These are readily available in Google's Native Development Kit:
https://developer.android.com/ndk/
I don't know if these tools can be used with Visual Studio -- I suspect it will be fiddly to set up.
The problem with programming in C or C++ for Android is that it's hard to integrate the application with the regular launcher and, even if you can do that, it's hard to provide a regular Android graphical user interface. Android simply does not provide a C API for the user interface.
I write/port a lot of command-line stuff for Android, so the lack of a graphical user interface doesn't bother me. However, most developers provide the user interface in Java and, if parts of the app needs to be in C or C++, it gets integrated with the app in the form of a native library.
Android Studio and similar tools know how to manage a project that has a mixture of C or C++ and Java code. Using well-established Android tools for developing complex, mixed-code apps like this is way simpler than trying to figure it all out yourself using a hodge-podge of tools from different places.

convert a visual studio app to work for android os

I Have developed an application/software using MS-Access database in Visual Studio 2010. How can I convert it or make it run on Android os?
There is no simple way to "convert it". There is no comparable functionality for Access in Android. Your closest match would be SQL-Lite.
Your best bet, if you want to use existing libraries, is to use Mono for Android.
This should allow you to use your C# code in the Android framework.

MonoDroid VS Java in android development?

I know C# rather well and just love Visual Studio as IDE. :) Yet now I want to start developing for android...
I found out about MonoDroid and wanted to ask if it has any downsides to it that would make Java more preferable, or should I uninstall Eclipse and dive straight into MonoDroid?
If I understand right, MonoDroid deploys/compiles native android applications and does not need any additional .net-like framework or anything?
Are there any significant limitations to what I can do with MonoDroid? For example, having the app run in the background or using some external .net libraries for image editing, etc. ?
I've been worrying about the same thing - productivity in C# instead of playing with an unfamiliar language, vs developing how the OS developers intended it to be.
Its easy to list pros vs cons -
pros (of monodroid, for C# developers)
familiar dev environment, can develop using Visual Studio
C# instead of Java
Reusable code assets - you can use a lot of code in your iphone project or Windows phone 7 project using monotouch and the WP7 SDK.
cons -
debugging could be difficult, due to lack of api documentation from Google. Will have to depend solely on monodroid documentation.
there could be a lag when it comes to latest cutting edge features - safe to assume that the monodroid team will require some time to wrap around the latest android features every time there is a new OS release
availability of libraries - I am not sure how you can use the open source libraries that would have evolved around the android platform, that could cut down on development time
Much of the documentation available is in Java: so if you run into difficulties with phone behavior when using MonoDroid you won't really find that much help or debugging information so you may want to stick with Eclipse.
There's a lot more than just a set of wrappers running under davlick, truth to be told, there is much more of a horizontal relationship between MonoDroid and Android;
When did using the same language as the OS developers become a big issue? There's lots of C++ programmers wondering how to use BSD or SVR5 and many C programmers who want to know what the heck to do on Windows++...
If you will write in c# anyway you will be have to wrap it into a Java code, so what's the point ? Also you may head with a very difficult issues while trying to understand the APIs who written for Java programming...
Here are some points that you can mull over:
Android applications are predominately written with Java. The Android SDK itself is natively written in Java.
Working in Mono may not provide all the functionality available in the Java SDK.
If you are a C# Developer you wont be able to find, in Java, some of the (cool) features available in C# (like Property Delegates etc).
Code written in .NET can be re-used for other environments - this may save a lot time that would have been spent learning a new language/environment (like Objective C), and coding in it.
.NET extends the Android development stack with it's existing libraries and API's.
I think both are good for certain reason. It will be very hard to say which one is preferable for Android development - in the end that is up to you too decide.
Also note that any release build using monodroid adds an additional 4mb to the apk filesize and increases app startup time with a few seconds.
For simple apps this can mean a 500-800% increase in filesize - whic is pretty bad in my book.

What programming languages can one use to develop Android applications? [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Closed 12 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
Which programming languages can I use on Android Dalvik?
Mostly, Android applications are written in Java. But i heard that its also possible to use Scala or some other languages. And I also read that it's possible to include native C/C++ code.
Is there a refernce/list available that shows which languages can be used?
At launch, Java was the only officially supported programming language for building distributable third-party Android software.
Android Native Development Kit (Android NDK) which will allow developers to build Android software components with C and C++.
In addition to delivering support for native code, Google is also extending Android to support popular dynamic scripting languages. Earlier this month, Google launched the Android Scripting Environment (ASE) which allows third-party developers to build simple Android applications with perl, JRuby, Python, LUA and BeanShell. For having idea and usage of ASE, refer this Example link.
Scala is also supported. For having examples of Scala, refer these Example link-1 , Example link-2 , Example link-3 .
Just now i have referred one Article Here in which i found some useful information as follows:
programming language is Java but bridges from other languages exist (C# .net - Mono, etc).
can run script languages like LUA, Perl, Python, BeanShell, etc.
I have read 2nd article at Google Releases 'Simple' Android Programming Language . For example of this, refer this .
Just now (2 Aug 2010) i have read an article which describes regarding "Frink Programming language and Calculating Tool for Android", refer this links Link-1 , Link-2
On 4-Aug-2010, i have found Regarding RenderScript. Basically, It is said to be a C-like language for high performance graphics programming, which helps you easily write efficient Visual effects and animations in your Android Applications. Its not released yet as it isn't finished.
Here's a list of languages that can be used to develop on android:
Java - primary android development language
Kotlin, language from JetBrains which received first-party support from Google, announced in Google I/O 2017
C++ - NDK for libraries, not apps
Python, bash, et. al. - Via the Scripting Environment
Corona- One is to use the Corona SDK . Corona is a high level SDK built on the Lua programming language. Lua is much simpler to learn than Java and the SDK takes away a lot of the pain in developing Android app.
Cordova - which uses HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, and can be extended with Java
Xamarin technology - that uses c# and in which mono is used for that. Here MonoTouch and Mono for Android are cross-platform implementations of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) and Common Language Specifications.
As for your second question: android is highly dependent on it's java architecture, I find it unlikely that there will be other primary development languages available any time soon. However, there's no particular reason why someone couldn't implement another language in Java (something like Jython) and use that. However, that surely won't be easier or as performant as just writing the code in Java.
Scala is supported. See example.
Support for other languages is problematic:
7) Something like the dx tool can be forced into the phone, so that Java code could in principle continue to generate bytecodes, yet have them be translated into a VM-runnable form. But, at present, Java code cannot be generated on the fly. This means Dalvik cannot run dynamic languages (JRuby, Jython, Groovy). Yet. (Perhaps the dex format needs a detuned variant which can be easily generated from bytecodes.)
As stated above, many languages are available for developing in Android. Java, C, Scala, C++, several scripting languages etc. Thanks to Mono you are also able to develop using C# and the .Net framework. Here you have some speedcomparisions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It8xPqkKxis
Clojure can be used, but it's slow.
See also: Clojure fork for Android, and a tutorial.
I made good experiences with Scala.
I use the simple build tool (sbt: http://code.google.com/p/simple-build-tool/) with the Android-Plugin (http://github.com/jberkel/android-plugin)
Java and C:
C used for low level functionalities and device connectivities
Java used for Framework and Application Level
You may find more information in Android developers site.

Creating Android apps without Java

I'd like to start creating Android apps but I don't like Java. I read that scala can be used to do it. Are there another option?(Clojure?)
I'm a Python/Django developer so it would be great to learn a pretty different language.
At this point Scala is the one that is most mature..I wanted to try groovy myself but its not even out of alpha..
Plus Scala on android has docs..:)
It's not hard to do with Mirah (formerly Duby), a very young language based on Ruby that compiles to bytecode that's basically indistinguishable from Java's, but adds some great new features like closures, type inference, and obviously a Ruby-like syntax. It's particularly well-suited for Android because it has no runtime or standard library (it uses compiler plugins instead) outside the JDK, whereas basically all other JVM languages bring along a lot of baggage, especially languages that weren't designed to target the JVM (like Ruby and Python).
http://github.com/technomancy/Garrett
Much nicer than writing Java!
for clojure development a useful tutorial: http://riddell.us/ClojureAndAndroidWithEmacsOnUbuntu.html
Clojure gets a LOT of benefit from android-2.2's JIT compiler and has not really been widely adopted on previous versions.
Appcelerator Titanium is an awesome environment for using web-ish skills (like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) to build native apps for Android (and iPhone, and desktops, etc.). For example, the gang at Intridea have made several popular Android & iPhone apps with Titanium Mobile, including the OilReporter app that has been used for gathering data on the extent of the Gulf oil spill.
If you use Python, maybe SL4A (Scripting Layer for Android) is a good choice.
You could write python script that runs on Android and use Android API, but it also has a drawback that you need install Python/SL4A runtime library on your Android device.
In addition to the other solutions listed here previously, you have:
PhoneGap
Rhodes
AIR (pre-release)
AppInventor
Clojure
Another immature implementation is JRuby/Ruboto: http://blog.danieljackoway.com/first-ruboto-release.html

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