I have tried numerous times at creating iOS applications. Unfortunately I always get bogged down with Objective-C, X-Code and end up starting again in JavaScript.
Having to not only use a different language but needing to changing editor and work flow at once is not enjoyable.
Perhaps that is what attracted me to RubyMotion. The option to avoid XCode altogether while still retaining TDD in my prefered editor seemed ideal.
There are however, some major disadvantages with RubyMotion. Costly and closed-source being the major concerns. For me, considering the possibility that I would never complete a native application meant that it is worth it for me.
The speed at which you can develop is brilliant. Much of the verbose SDK is abstracted away using libraries that provide intuitive interfaces such as BubbleWrap. Additionally the awesome open source CocoaPods packages are available for use in RubyMotion applications.
For experimenting, I created two simple applications:
MotionSickness
A kitchen sink iOS application to test out various widgets and features.
It includes:
- Almost all the UI Components
- WebView including JS bridge
- TableView and Maps
Calculatrice
A copy of the default iOS calculator written using TDD.
