Woo!

Just been given the go ahead to do some experimental/proof of concept iPhone development at work!

I've been messing around at home with it and although I'm the newbie in the dev team I'm the only one with any experience of any programming beyond Progress (a procedural ::spit:: 4GL database language). Also, I'm the only one who had programming knowledge before starting here (i.e. a "formal" programming education).

Can't wait to get started on it. I'm going to need to learn a hell of a lot and very quickly but that's what I do best

I'll also have to bring my MacBook Pro into work to code on as we don't have any Macs in the company... yet.

Yay

Broadening horizons FTMFW!

Cool cool. What sort of app are we talking aboot here?

Edd, don't start talking iPhone apps unless you want to tell me about your Flickr one.

Mark

I just don't have the time at the moment for any development Once I spend less time travelling, or more time with my laptop then that can happen. But all the time I'm not coding everything else is getting better. Now Yahoo's brought out their flickr app, I'm not sure what the value is in developing one. I want to do some more iPhone work, but I'm not convinced that's the right target.

For the moment it's just a simple app that performs a stock enquiry for a given item.

i.e. the user will enter the item code "ABC123" and will get a list of depots back with the current stock amounts and statuses.

I'm going to have to write a few web services to go along with it which is the main hurdle at the moment as I have never done anything with them.

iPhone/smart phone stuff is something that we were planning on looking at in a few years but one of the big wigs has requested this which is why it has come early.

But it's rubbish. (8+(

Mark

Is it? Hmmmm. I bet they'll crack down on the clause about not using the "flickr" name when naming stuff. We'll see.

I have issues with it. I'll e-mail you about them when I get in a little later on.

Mark

Coolio. And there's lots of potential for iPad fun I reckon. But it'd be a very different app.

Congrats

Been looking at a Mac Mini + ipod touch when I get my bursary as a means of getting into it myself

If that's the case then it sounds like a targeted web app written in your favourite language maybe best. Although, I think you can get barcode scanners for the iPhone's camera, link one of those up to an app on the phone and you can save the guys a lot of typing.

I've been reading around the requirements of it and it seems about 90% of writing this to work on the iPhone is writing stuff in the ABL that I use anyway and setting up web services.

Once the web services are written the communication with the iPhone is fairly simple and all done in XML which can then be translated easily into a browser webpage, java phone app, .NET windows mobile app and many other different formats.

Why not do it all server side then? Style it for various mobile browsers using appropriate CSS.

Because that would be web design.

I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a ballpoint pen than do web design.



Besides, I'd rather get the experience and CV comments to say that I have done iPhone development.

Well, after 2 days of struggling with Unix settings and Java and Tomcat and stuff we finally managed to get the Web Services working

LOL

Time now to start development.

I've found out that my colleague has a dev job for some "extranet" stuff where users or customers can log onto the system and access stock info etc... and these web services will be of good use for him also