Android and Programming?

[Jakeula]

So I've been looking into getting rid of my big desktop computer for some time now. With my Evo I have little need for most of the functions of my PC other than for school work and for my love of programming. I'm no master programmer that knows a million languages and can give great advice over the internet but I do love the challenge and freedom given by programming. I program namely in PHP, Python, and Javascript, however every school year I take a computer science class to help keep me current. Do any Android tablets in the near future have any IDE's or any real way of programming right from the tablet? even something as simple as Notepad++? I like the look of the HTC View for sprint because of the ability to take notes with the pen, making it a very valuable asset for a student. Any ideas??

 

[novox77]

I'm a programmer, and I would say that without a physical keyboard, coding is not very fun, especially since a large percentage of the characters you type are non-alphanumeric. For virtual keyboards on phones and tablets, getting to these non-alpha chars are a pain. I'm also much slower and prone to more typos on virtual keyboards.

I'd much rather focus on cranking out code, thinking about the logic, etc, instead of having to focus on the actual typing.

 

[mikedt]

So I've been looking into getting rid of my big desktop computer for some time now.

How about getting a small laptop or netbook instead? Then you'll have the IDEs, languages and OSs you're familiar with. As already commented by 'novox77', seems to me it's going to be a real PITA to do any kind of coding with the on-screen virtual keyboard of a tablet.... especially all those {} [] () etc.

 

[Jakeula]

Yeah the brackets etc would be very annoying on a virtual keyboard. So how about something more like the Asus Transformer? I know that Google released Simple which is pretty much just Visual Basic, so I guess I'm hopeful that sometime in the future I could simply own an Android tablet for all my needs and not need iOS or Windows to make my life work.

 

[novox77]

I just don't see tablets being a total replacement for the PC. Tablets so far are only good for media consumption and routine Internet-related activities, like surfing the web, checking email, etc. The touchscreen enables a new dimension of interactivity, but it's not necessarily the best input method for productivity, and that includes coding, photo/video post processing, word processing/spreadsheet work, engineering/CAD tools, etc.

So I think a good compromise device is what Lenovo is trying to do with its IdeaPad U1 + tablet. Basically it's a tablet that runs Android when it's used by itself. When you dock it onto the laptop base, it becomes a monitor for a Windows OS, but the kicker is that files can be shared between them.

While such a solution wouldn't be sufficient for me to replace my PC (I require a much higher resolution and screen size than any handheld tablet can offer), it can probably replace the desktop and laptop PC for a lot of people.

I'm not a fan of the Atrix or Transformer dock, because I'm still not convinced that Android has the application support/choice as a Windows or Mac-based machine. In other words, I want to do my word processing in MS Office, not Documents To Go. I want to use Audacity to edit my sound instead of RingDroid. Photoshop instead of Picsay, etc.

Tablets for casual work and play. PC for hardcore work and play.