[sdcellar]

Not apps, my friend, not apps. And that includes the built-in apps as well.

It’ll pay the bills, but the iPhone and Blackberry pretty much ate everybody else’s lunch. Most apps on other phones are just noise. If you’re lucky, you’re working on something that competes with those (Palm Pre comes to mind). If not, you better send your resume over to flu.

[sdcellar]

Okay, let’s clarify a few things about emulators, the first of which is any phone that’s worth developing for has an emulator that you can be very productive with. If it doesn’t, you better build one for yourself. (and, btw, flu, a developer capable of such would best fill your needs). An emulator is at least capable of getting you productive for the platform (which is also the question at hand). If you were doing production code, would you want to get things onto a real phone, you bet.

With regard to hardware dependencies, it all depends if you’re writing driver/API code. If you’re developing an app on top of that (which most folks are), you can make a ton of progress with an emulator. And, in many cases, you better be if the hardware implementation doesn’t exist yet. If, instead, you’re the driver/API guy, you still have to consider the emulator, just from a different perspective.

Finally, and this last bit is important, the best developers won’t make poor assumptions based on how things work in an emulated environment. Rather, their assumptions are based on their knowledge and experience with embedded platforms that, while closer to desktops than ever, still have important considerations regarding resource limitations. That is, folks who just might recall what it was like to deal with a megabyte of memory and slow storage mediums are much less likely to embark down a dead end road. This notion doesn’t apply, of course, to things like pixel madness in bad emulators, but does apply to things like, well, reading every damn file on a device when you mean to display information about eight or so (or indexed information is required or whatever). Heck, the bigger mistake people make here is not considering scale in the first place. E.g. it works on the emulator, it works on the phone. It just works like crap when somebody who’s thinking puts 5000 contacts in it.

[sdcellar]

Okay, let’s clarify a few things about emulators, the first of which is any phone that’s worth developing for has an emulator that you can be very productive with. If it doesn’t, you better build one for yourself. (and, btw, flu, a developer capable of such would best fill your needs). An emulator is at least capable of getting you productive for the platform (which is also the question at hand). If you were doing production code, would you want to get things onto a real phone, you bet.

With regard to hardware dependencies, it all depends if you’re writing driver/API code. If you’re developing an app on top of that (which most folks are), you can make a ton of progress with an emulator. And, in many cases, you better be if the hardware implementation doesn’t exist yet. If, instead, you’re the driver/API guy, you still have to consider the emulator, just from a different perspective.

Finally, and this last bit is important, the best developers won’t make poor assumptions based on how things work in an emulated environment. Rather, their assumptions are based on their knowledge and experience with embedded platforms that, while closer to desktops than ever, still have important considerations regarding resource limitations. That is, folks who just might recall what it was like to deal with a megabyte of memory and slow storage mediums are much less likely to embark down a dead end road. This notion doesn’t apply, of course, to things like pixel madness in bad emulators, but does apply to things like, well, reading every damn file on a device when you mean to display information about eight or so (or indexed information is required or whatever). Heck, the bigger mistake people make here is not considering scale in the first place. E.g. it works on the emulator, it works on the phone. It just works like crap when somebody who’s thinking puts 5000 contacts in it.

[sdcellar]

Okay, let’s clarify a few things about emulators, the first of which is any phone that’s worth developing for has an emulator that you can be very productive with. If it doesn’t, you better build one for yourself. (and, btw, flu, a developer capable of such would best fill your needs). An emulator is at least capable of getting you productive for the platform (which is also the question at hand). If you were doing production code, would you want to get things onto a real phone, you bet.

With regard to hardware dependencies, it all depends if you’re writing driver/API code. If you’re developing an app on top of that (which most folks are), you can make a ton of progress with an emulator. And, in many cases, you better be if the hardware implementation doesn’t exist yet. If, instead, you’re the driver/API guy, you still have to consider the emulator, just from a different perspective.

Finally, and this last bit is important, the best developers won’t make poor assumptions based on how things work in an emulated environment. Rather, their assumptions are based on their knowledge and experience with embedded platforms that, while closer to desktops than ever, still have important considerations regarding resource limitations. That is, folks who just might recall what it was like to deal with a megabyte of memory and slow storage mediums are much less likely to embark down a dead end road. This notion doesn’t apply, of course, to things like pixel madness in bad emulators, but does apply to things like, well, reading every damn file on a device when you mean to display information about eight or so (or indexed information is required or whatever). Heck, the bigger mistake people make here is not considering scale in the first place. E.g. it works on the emulator, it works on the phone. It just works like crap when somebody who’s thinking puts 5000 contacts in it.

[sdcellar]

Okay, let’s clarify a few things about emulators, the first of which is any phone that’s worth developing for has an emulator that you can be very productive with. If it doesn’t, you better build one for yourself. (and, btw, flu, a developer capable of such would best fill your needs). An emulator is at least capable of getting you productive for the platform (which is also the question at hand). If you were doing production code, would you want to get things onto a real phone, you bet.

With regard to hardware dependencies, it all depends if you’re writing driver/API code. If you’re developing an app on top of that (which most folks are), you can make a ton of progress with an emulator. And, in many cases, you better be if the hardware implementation doesn’t exist yet. If, instead, you’re the driver/API guy, you still have to consider the emulator, just from a different perspective.

Finally, and this last bit is important, the best developers won’t make poor assumptions based on how things work in an emulated environment. Rather, their assumptions are based on their knowledge and experience with embedded platforms that, while closer to desktops than ever, still have important considerations regarding resource limitations. That is, folks who just might recall what it was like to deal with a megabyte of memory and slow storage mediums are much less likely to embark down a dead end road. This notion doesn’t apply, of course, to things like pixel madness in bad emulators, but does apply to things like, well, reading every damn file on a device when you mean to display information about eight or so (or indexed information is required or whatever). Heck, the bigger mistake people make here is not considering scale in the first place. E.g. it works on the emulator, it works on the phone. It just works like crap when somebody who’s thinking puts 5000 contacts in it.

[sdcellar]

Okay, let’s clarify a few things about emulators, the first of which is any phone that’s worth developing for has an emulator that you can be very productive with. If it doesn’t, you better build one for yourself. (and, btw, flu, a developer capable of such would best fill your needs). An emulator is at least capable of getting you productive for the platform (which is also the question at hand). If you were doing production code, would you want to get things onto a real phone, you bet.

With regard to hardware dependencies, it all depends if you’re writing driver/API code. If you’re developing an app on top of that (which most folks are), you can make a ton of progress with an emulator. And, in many cases, you better be if the hardware implementation doesn’t exist yet. If, instead, you’re the driver/API guy, you still have to consider the emulator, just from a different perspective.

Finally, and this last bit is important, the best developers won’t make poor assumptions based on how things work in an emulated environment. Rather, their assumptions are based on their knowledge and experience with embedded platforms that, while closer to desktops than ever, still have important considerations regarding resource limitations. That is, folks who just might recall what it was like to deal with a megabyte of memory and slow storage mediums are much less likely to embark down a dead end road. This notion doesn’t apply, of course, to things like pixel madness in bad emulators, but does apply to things like, well, reading every damn file on a device when you mean to display information about eight or so (or indexed information is required or whatever). Heck, the bigger mistake people make here is not considering scale in the first place. E.g. it works on the emulator, it works on the phone. It just works like crap when somebody who’s thinking puts 5000 contacts in it.

[sdcellar]

[quote=meadandale]Don’t get me wrong, I’m always learning a few new things here and there (I read alot) but going full bore into doing phone development on a new platform requires an investment in equipment (you need at least one phone to develop to) and quite a bit of time.[/quote]A real handset, er phone, is nice at some point, but the majority of your work can (and should) be done with an emulator.

[edit]Never mind. Just read your follow-up post on emulators, and yeah, a real phone is key at some point.[/edit]

[sdcellar]

[quote=meadandale]Don’t get me wrong, I’m always learning a few new things here and there (I read alot) but going full bore into doing phone development on a new platform requires an investment in equipment (you need at least one phone to develop to) and quite a bit of time.[/quote]A real handset, er phone, is nice at some point, but the majority of your work can (and should) be done with an emulator.

[edit]Never mind. Just read your follow-up post on emulators, and yeah, a real phone is key at some point.[/edit]

[sdcellar]

[quote=meadandale]Don’t get me wrong, I’m always learning a few new things here and there (I read alot) but going full bore into doing phone development on a new platform requires an investment in equipment (you need at least one phone to develop to) and quite a bit of time.[/quote]A real handset, er phone, is nice at some point, but the majority of your work can (and should) be done with an emulator.

[edit]Never mind. Just read your follow-up post on emulators, and yeah, a real phone is key at some point.[/edit]

[sdcellar]

[quote=meadandale]Don’t get me wrong, I’m always learning a few new things here and there (I read alot) but going full bore into doing phone development on a new platform requires an investment in equipment (you need at least one phone to develop to) and quite a bit of time.[/quote]A real handset, er phone, is nice at some point, but the majority of your work can (and should) be done with an emulator.

[edit]Never mind. Just read your follow-up post on emulators, and yeah, a real phone is key at some point.[/edit]

[sdcellar]

[quote=meadandale]Don’t get me wrong, I’m always learning a few new things here and there (I read alot) but going full bore into doing phone development on a new platform requires an investment in equipment (you need at least one phone to develop to) and quite a bit of time.[/quote]A real handset, er phone, is nice at some point, but the majority of your work can (and should) be done with an emulator.

[edit]Never mind. Just read your follow-up post on emulators, and yeah, a real phone is key at some point.[/edit]

[sdcellar]

In my personal experiece, it’s been challenging to find truly talented developers for some time now and I don’t expect that the larger candidate pool that exists as a result of layoffs has done much to improve upon that.

I’m certain I’d be able to help you, but I’d also need to understand your needs more completely. To be clear, I’m a developer and not a recruiter. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

[sdcellar]

In my personal experiece, it’s been challenging to find truly talented developers for some time now and I don’t expect that the larger candidate pool that exists as a result of layoffs has done much to improve upon that.

I’m certain I’d be able to help you, but I’d also need to understand your needs more completely. To be clear, I’m a developer and not a recruiter. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

[sdcellar]

In my personal experiece, it’s been challenging to find truly talented developers for some time now and I don’t expect that the larger candidate pool that exists as a result of layoffs has done much to improve upon that.

I’m certain I’d be able to help you, but I’d also need to understand your needs more completely. To be clear, I’m a developer and not a recruiter. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

[sdcellar]

In my personal experiece, it’s been challenging to find truly talented developers for some time now and I don’t expect that the larger candidate pool that exists as a result of layoffs has done much to improve upon that.

I’m certain I’d be able to help you, but I’d also need to understand your needs more completely. To be clear, I’m a developer and not a recruiter. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

[Author]

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