Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Android

Posted by j s
j s
31 Points

Can anybody help me i'm really very confused pleasee??

Ben Jakuben Ben Deitch Hello Ben sir, can you please help me i'm really confused why people learning android, ios, windows phone while they can learn JS and make app for all mobile platform through react native and i'm also not able to understand why people learning to make desktop app for windows desktop, macos, linux while they can learn JS can use electron framework they can make single app that can run on all desktop platform and also apply that logic to webapp and moboapp

I mean with JS, react native, electron, node.js we can make app for all mobile platform and all desktop platform so why people learning all these thing android, ios, windows etc etc they can just learn JS and can make what ever they want please help me i'm really very confused .......

j s
j s
31 Points

*react native

1 Answer

Philip Gales
Philip Gales
15,193 Points
Philip Gales
Philip Gales
15,193 Points

Using a certain language to build an app for every platform is doable, even with Java, but often is not ideal. Also, certain languages will take too much space, will be slower than others, and may not offer all of the functionality of others.

Once you begin to program you will better understand the idea that each language having something it is better at than other languages.

j s
j s
31 Points

Why google's android choose Java for its app development why not Python I'm asking because I uses both first java and then Python and I really like Python because it's very easy to make any thing in Python from scratch in less code as compared to java so why android choose Java ???

j s
j s
31 Points

Python 3 is powerful as Java

Philip Gales
Philip Gales
15,193 Points

That is a good question for Google. Here are some good answers by professionals.

http://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/140848/why-was-java-chosen-for-android

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11600364/what-are-the-limitations-of-python-on-android

Because of the aforementioned issues, Python is essentially never used to make full fledged applications published in the app store, and so the literature on how to handle the many sundry issues with SL4A (Scripting Layer For Android) is very thin.

j s
j s
31 Points

ok thankyou for your time can you please answer my last question can i make a full fledged android and ios app in react native with same code base ???? an app built with react native is better or native app is better which to choose android or react native ????

Philip Gales
Philip Gales
15,193 Points

An app built with java is going to be the best for android. Same with swift for iOS. I am not sure about building apps with JavaScript, I even asked a good friend who runs a large firm that builds apps who said don't bother.

j s
j s
31 Points

what does "don't bother here means" does means don't get worried about JS you can make app with JS or does it means don't bother me good apps only build with native language????

Philip Gales
Philip Gales
15,193 Points

He meant that he wouldn't waste his time trying to build a large app with JavaScript. He would only use the native languages like Java for android.

j s
j s
31 Points

Then why facebook and instagram uses react ???

Philip Gales
Philip Gales
15,193 Points

Everyone is different, and react is growing in popularity. I am not going to continue this discussion, but I am sure if you post this question on StackOverflow someone else would love to.

I will leave you with this. Programming is not about knowing a particular language, but knowing how languages work. Understanding patterns and when to use them.

Today X might be popular, and tomorrow Y. If you jump ship to Y because it is cool and promising then you will forever be jumping ship because that shiny new tool will change frequently.

As for me, I am happy with the tools Google and Apple provide for building apps.

j s
j s
31 Points

thank you so much and good bye i'm also happy with the tools provided by google and apple but as the android uses java and ios uses swift both are the languages with lots of jargon means i wanted to get the simple json data i have to code lots of line may be 10 to 15 in both languages but in case of JS i have to code 2 to 3 line means i cant understand why to write lots of code when i can do the same work with less code so why not go with less code and i wanted to be versatile programmer that's why i'm choosing JS you are also right thanks man for your time