Best programming language for app like MyFitnessPal

[Oak1]

Hello everyone,

I have an idea for an app like MyFitnessPal. Because I really like learning code I was wondering, which programming languages are suitable for making an app like this?

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks.

 

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[z6Evolved]

I've been toying around with Mono and c# recently. C# is easy to pick up and Xamarin's Mono lets you build an app in visual studio or their IDE and then deploy it to both android and iOS. It's a pretty slick setup. I'd check that out if you're not uncomfortable with .NET or willing to learn C#.

 

[Oak1]

I've been toying around with Mono and c# recently. C# is easy to pick up and Xamarin's Mono lets you build an app in visual studio or their IDE and then deploy it to both android and iOS. It's a pretty slick setup. I'd check that out if you're not uncomfortable with .NET or willing to learn C#.

Thanks for your reaction. Do you prefer C# or Mono?

 

[z6Evolved]

Mono extends c#. It's a package deal.

 

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[Ninjakid]

What's MyFitnessPal? And it also depends on whether you're making it for iOS or Android.

 

[Oak1]

Mono extends c#. It's a package deal.

Alright, thanks .

What's MyFitnessPal? And it also depends on whether you're making it for iOS or Android.

It's an app for counting calories and nutrition macro's.

 

[PopEmersen]

Are you asking about myfitnesspal.com or the actually mobile iOS/Android apps?

 

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[Ninjakid]

Assuming it doesn't require internet connection, if it's for iOS, you need Objective-C. It's a programming language that's similar to C, but tailored for Apple. There's also a new language called Swift, which is a more comprehensive version of Objective-C; because C is considered an older and more complex language, and I suspect in a few years it will be archaic.

For Androids, you definitely need to learn Java. But you can use just about any language for an Android app; because the designs of Android apps are very fluid in concept, whereas Apple is very secular.

 

[Oak1]

Are you asking about myfitnesspal.com or the actually mobile iOS/Android apps?

An app for Andriod and iOS.

Assuming it doesn't require internet connection, if it's for iOS, you need Objective-C. It's a programming language that's similar to C, but tailored for Apple. There's also a new language called Swift, which is a more comprehensive version of Objective-C; because C is considered an older and more complex language, and I suspect in a few years it will be archaic.

For Androids, you definitely need to learn Java. But you can use just about any language for an Android app; because the designs of Android apps are very fluid in concept, whereas Apple is very secular.

Thanks! It does require internet to select different meals from a database.

Isn't there a programming language that's suited for both Andriod and iOS?

 

[Milkanic]

It totally depends on what features you want and what budget you have (cross platform, performance, native controls, offline sync, web interface, etc).

Each method has pros/cons but I would take a look at cross platform frameworks.

http://xamarin.com/
http://phonegap.com/
http://ionicframework.com/
http://www.robovm.com/
http://cordova.apache.org/

 

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[debitandcredit]

Yep ios is objective c. However, mono was developed for .net programmer to excuse c# code, so they don't have to relearn new language.

 

[Writer]

for iOS you have Obj-C or Swift.

 

[Ninjakid]

Isn't there a programming language that's suited for both Andriod and iOS?

There actually isn't, because the software for iOS is nothing like that used by Android.

Okay, if it requires internet connection, you may need to learn html5 and CSS as well, because those are meant for web pages. Also, learn about server applications like Django (yes it's actually called that). Python is one of my personal favourite languages, and Django is coded with Python.

I could go on and on as there's no one formula, so my recommendation would by dive deeply into books and resources about coding and making apps.

Oh, and don't listen to anyone here who tells you it's a waste of time to learn to code, and that you can't figure it out. I said once before, anyone who's at least a bit tech-savy who can learn a second language and write an essay in it can learn code and write a program in it.

 

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[Writer]

There actually isn't, because the software for iOS is nothing like that used by Android.
Okay, if it requires internet connection, you may need to learn html5 and CSS as well, because those are meant for web pages. Also, learn about server applications like Django (yes it's actually called that). Python is one of my personal favourite languages, and Django is coded with Python.

Don't forget PHP... I would go HTML5, PHP, CSS, Python and the specific language (e.g. Obj-C for iOS). Also, a basic understanding of JavaScript will not kill ya.

 

[tchombo]

native frameworks are good as you can maximize functionality of the target device. but like some already said there sooo many ways to do this but if I was to go down that path i would use a hybrid framework. you can code once and deploy to many platforms.

• so why use hybrid framework like ionic or phonegap? in order to make a good app you are going to have to learn the code and that is going to take time. remember you are competing so you want yours to standout which means the way you design has to be good.
• Personally i find it takes time to learn native languages and it may limit your future development to that platform unless you are willing to learn another language for a different platform.
• With hybrid you can simply use html and css for your front end. if you already know these languages you are at an advantage.
• The only issue here is if you dont know your javascript well.. it can be a bumpy road. i use angularjs. amazing yet pain in butt.

of course these are based on my personal experience very recently. i just thought you may yet find some it useful. and for the record hybrid frameworks do utilize quite a lot of the phone functionality.

 

[Alxander]

What are you good at and what do you find important?

• Hybrid/Ionic app = easy, for everyone, but slow due to it being a website. This can change in a few years to be just as good as native.

• https://facebook.github.io/react-native/ = programming in Javascript and translated to native code. Kinda new still but it works if you know what to do.

• Cross platform = Xamarin, code in C# with either Xamarin.Forms what is the same for almost all apps, or you create it in Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.IOS. If you choose the last one it's more like actually programming in Android Studio and XCode but then just in C#.

• Native = XCode and Android Studio. It's best if you want the best support for third-party plugins like Braintree payments and for maximum performance(Same as Xamarin still)

MyFitnessPal automatically synchronizes online so you have to host the back-end, it can be in Node.js (great for real-time apps) with Microsoft Azure hosting, but you can also create it in FireBase or just host your own VPS(most complex).

-If you choose for Xamarin I would create it in Azure.

-If you create it in Android Studio/XCode I'd choose for FireBase, what is the easiest to grasps, it's just a real-time database. But also the most expensive I think.
There are much more options to choose from, Amazon, Google cloud hosting etc.

Just try to find out what you like and then adjust what you need and what you want to pay for it.

 

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[NetBorn]

Any opinion about ClojureScript + React Native ? It should be most worthy if you are just starting to invest in a language to take a look into Clojure.

OP, I wonder why wouldn't you first try to conquer one platform at a time ... hardly would someone "steal" the idea and you'd put energy on getting customer feedback, going more lean with that start-up ... just wondering.

 

[AdrianL]

Depends on what your priorities are.

For Android/iOS, as fellow members have already mentioned, there's Xamarin in which you could make it once and deploy it on multiple platforms, or native which implies Java and Swift for Android and iOS respectively.

But, that's just the FrontEnd, you'll also need the BackEnd, which again, depends on what your priorities are. If you wanna make it fast you could go with C#, or Python or NodeJS, my personal recommendation would be Go.

You'll probably also need a website which could be made with Angular or React.

In any case, there's no best programming language, and making such an app is usually either a team effort or a full stack experience.

Also, don't forget about SQL!