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Platform Development Enviroment
( 0 Votes )Each of the platforms for mobile applications also has an integrated development environment which provides tools to allow a developer to write, test and deploy applications into the target platform environment.
The following table summarises the elements in each of the development environments.
| Programming language | Debuggers available | Emulator available | Integrated development environment available | Cross-platform deployment | Installer packaging options | Development tool cost | |
| Airplay SDK | C, C++ | Yes | Yes | Visual Studio, XCode | All native: Android, BREW, iOS (iPhone), Maemo, Palm/webOS, Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile 6.x and desktop, OSX | The native distribution format of each platform | Commercial licenses available; free for Indies to target iPhone |
| alcheMo | Java | Debugger integrated in Visual Studio, Eclipse or XCode | Emulator is available in corresponding IDE | Visual Studio, Eclipse, XCode | Android, BREW, iOS (iPhone), Windows Mobile | The native distribution format of each platform | Commercial licenses available |
| Android | Java but portions of code can be in C, C++ | Debugger integrated in Eclipse, standalone debugging monitor available | Yes | Eclipse, Undroid (plugin for NetBeans) | Android only, because of Dalvik VM, March 2009 | apk | Free |
| Appcelerator | JavaScript | Yes, in Titanium Studio, currently in beta. | Emulator is available using 3rd party tools | Internal SDK | Android, iPhone; BlackBerry planned | The native distribution format of each platform | Apache 2.0 license, commercial licenses available |
| Aqua | C, C++, JavaScript | Yes | Yes | Visual Studio, XCode, Eclipse | Android, BlackBerry Playbook, iOS, Palm/webOS, Samsung bada, Windows Mobile 6.x, Windows Desktop | The native distribution format of each platform | Free & commercial licenses available |
| Celsius | Java | Yes | Yes | Eclipse, NetBeans | Java ME, Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile | The native distribution format of each platform of a Java binary | Commercial licenses available |
| Bedrock | Java | Yes | Yes | Eclipse | Java ME, Android, BREW, BlackBerry, DS, iOS (iPhone), Palm/webOS, PSP, Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7 | The native distribution format of each platform | Commercial licenses available |
| BlackBerry | Java | Debugger integrated in IDE | Yes | Eclipse | BlackBerry only, because of RIM API | alx, cod | Free |
| Blueprint | XML routed through Yahoo Mobile servers and displayed in native browsers | None beyond a schema check | N/A, translates to web or mobile as needed | N/A, any XML editor | N/A, translates to web or mobile as needed | Combined config upload at Yahoo with self-hosted dynamic XML | Any XML editor |
| BREW | C; the APIs are provided in C with a C++ style interface | Debugger support for the native ARM target code.Can use Visual Studio to debug the x86 testing code | No Emulator for the target ARM code, has a simulator for the x86 testing code | Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Studio 2003 .NET, Visual Studio 2005 | Compile for the specific BREW version available on the handset | OTA | Related dev fees typically needed for Brew App Certification - VeriSign annual fee for becoming a certified developer. Realview ARM compiler for BREW (the free GNU C/C++ is available, but with limited function and support). TRUE BREW testing fee for distributing the application. |
| DragonRAD | Visual drag & drop tiles | Yes | Uses 3rd party emulators | Proprietary IDE | Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile | OTA deployment | Free & commercial licenses available |
| FeedHenry | HTML, CSS, JavaScript | Yes | Yes | Studio includes full IDE and Eclipse Plug-in | Apple iPhone & iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, Nokia WRT. | The native distribution format of each platform | Free, Professional and Enterprise Plans available |
| iOS SDK | Objective-C | Debugger integrated in Xcode IDE | Bundled with iPhone SDK, integrated with Xcode IDE | Xcode | iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch | Only via App Store, needs review and approval by Apple Inc. | Tools are free for an Intel-based Mac. Simulator testing is free, but installing on a device needs a fee for a developer signing key |
| Java ME | Java | Yes | Free emulator, Sun Java Wireless Toolkit, mpowerplayer | Eclipse, LMA NetBeans Mobility Pack | Yes although many VM implementations have device specific bugs necessitating separate builds | Jad/Jar packaging; PRC files under Palm OS | Free |
| JMango | JMango | N/A | N/A | JMango Flash IDE | Java ME, Android, Bada, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile 6, Windows Phone 7 available soon | The native distribution format of each platform | Free |
| Lazarus | Object Pascal | Yes, can debug in IDE via ActiveSync for Windows CE | Uses the emulators of the platforms | Lazarus IDE, including integrated GUI designer and debugger | Compiled language available for Windows CE, Linux-based devices, SymbianOS port in development | The native distribution format of each platform | Free |
| Macromedia Flash Lite | ActionScript | Yes | Bundled with IDE | Macromedia Flash MX2004/8, Eclipse | Yes | SIS / CAB deployment or OTA/IR/Bluetooth SWF files | Varies, free but limited with MTASC |
| Microbrowser based | XHTML (WAP 2.0), WML (WAP 1.2) | Yes | Many | Many | Basic page rendering with per page customizations for different browsers | N/A | Free |
| MobiFlex | Visual drag & drop tiles | N/A | N/A, runs on phone in seconds | Web Portal, comes with data management add-ins | Android, iPhone | N/A | Free for development only |
| Moscrif | JavaScript | N/A | Bundled with Moscrif SDK | Internal SDK (Mono based) | All native: Android, iOS (iPhone), Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile | The native distribution format of each platform | Free & commercial licenses available |
| MoSync | C, C++, Lua | Yes | Yes | Eclipse, Visual Studio 2005 and later, MoBuild w/ text editors | Android, Java ME, Moblin, iOS (iPhone), Smartphone 2003, Symbian, Windows Mobile (Pocket PC), Blackberry (experimental) | SIS, CAB, JAD, JAR, APK, OTA deployment | Free, GPL 2.0; commercial licenses available |
| .NET Compact Framework | C#, VB.NET, Basic4ppc | Yes | Free emulator, source code available, also bundled with IDE | Visual Studio 2008, 2005, 2003, Basic4ppc IDE | Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Symbian-based devices via third party tools | OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync | Most tools free, but commercial editions of Visual Studio needed for visual designers |
| OpenPlug | ActionScript, XML | Yes | Yes | OpenPlug ELIPS plugin for Adobe Flash Builder | Android, iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), Symbian, Windows Mobile | The native distribution format of each platform | Free & commercial licenses available |
| Palm OS | C, C++, Pascal | Yes | OS 1.0 - 4.1: Free Emulator provided by PalmSource (Access); OS 5.0: - 5.4 Device-specific Simulators provided by Palm (palmOne) | Palm OS Development System (Eclipse), CodeWarrior, PocketStudio, HB++ | Palm OS handhelds, or Windows Mobile with StyleTap emulator | PRC files, PalmSource Installer (.psi) | Free (POSE or GCC for Palm OS), or commercial (CodeWarrior), or various commercial rapid-development frameworks |
| PhoneGap | HTML, CSS, JavaScript | Yes | No, 3rd party tools | No, 3rd party tools | iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Palm | The native distribution format of each platform | MIT license |
| Python | Python | Yes | Add-on to Nokia Emulator | Several, including plugins for Eclipse | Interpreted language available natively only on Nokia Series60 (and desktops) though ports exist to other mobile platforms, including PalmOS | Sis deployment with py2sis or can use Python Runtime | Free |
| Resco MobileForms Toolkit | C# | Yes | Yes | Visual Studio | Windows Mobile (Pocket PC), Windows CE, Android, iOS, Smartphone | The native distribution format of each platform | Free & commercial licenses available |
| Rhomobile | Ruby with HTML interface features compiled through an interpreter into native applications. | Yes | N/A, applications can run in Win32 runner, or in device emulators for supported platforms. | xCode or Eclipse, on-demand RhoHub version includes full IDE | Yes, supports iOS (incl. 3.0) on iPhone and iPad, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Mobile Windows 6.0 Standard, BlackBerry 4.6, 4.7, 5.0, 6.0 (BlackBerry 4.2 and 4.5 supported but database access is very slow on these devices), Symbian and Android 1.6 and higher | OTA deployment, iOS through App store, .SIS, .CAB, .APK, .COD | Rhodes is free and open source under the MIT License, RhoSync is under GPL or commercial, Commercial support available. Subscription for RhoHub |
| Smartface Platform | Drag-and-drop tools and action editing | No, not needed | Yes | Smartface Designer | Yes: Android, BlackBerry, J2ME, Symbian S60 | The native distribution format of each platform | Community licenses available |
| Symbian | C++ | Yes | Free Emulator | Many choices | Compile per target | SIS deployment | Commercial and free tools available |
| TotalCross | Java | Yes | Yes | Eclipse | Android, BlackBerry, iOS (iPhone, iPad), Palm OS, Windows Mobile. Windows Phone 7, Symbian planned | The native distribution format of each platform (cab, jad, apk, pdb/prc, deb) | SDK is open source and free for desktop development. VM for target devices must be licensed |
| WebORB Integration Server | C#,VB.NET, Java, PHP, ActionScript, JavaScript, Objective-C, XML | Yes | Uses emulator for corresponding mobile SDKs | Works with Eclipse, Visual Studio, intelliJ IDEA and Amethyst IDE | Android, iOS (iPhone/iPad), BlackBerry Playbook, Windows Phone7 | The native distribution format of each platform | Free development licenses; Free and Commercial deployment licenses |
| webOS | JavaScript, CSS, HTML, C and C++ through the PDK | Yes | Free emulator | Eclipse | webOS, Palm only | OTA deployment, webOS through App store, Web URL, Precentral, .ipk | Free |
| WinDev Mobile | WLanguage | Yes | Yes | WinDev Mobile, Android DSK | Android, Windows Mobile | OTA deployment, apk, CAB files, ActiveSync | Commercial licenses available |
| Windows Mobile | C, C++ | Yes | Free emulator (source code available), also bundled with IDE | Visual Studio 2010, 2008, 2005, eMbedded VC++ (free) | Windows Mobile, Windows FU, Windows CE | OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync | Free command-line tools or eMbedded VC++, or Visual Studio (Standard edition or better) |
| WorkLight Mobile Platform | Mix of standard web dev skills such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and native languages | Yes | Bundled with the IDE | Eclipse-based plug-in | Yes, supports Android, BlackBerry, iOS | The native distribution format of each platform | Downloadable free evaluation version, commercial licenses available |