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How do I identify the programming language used to build an app?

There are some apps that I love their layouts and functionalities. I'm looking to build an app that connects buyers and sellers on android and iOS platforms. Please advise how I can go about this. Which programming language is the best to learn/use?

Thanks

posted to Icon for group Developers
Developers
on April 9, 2020
  1. 4

    If you're asking about ios and Android it's going to be basically impossible to know for sure, but the good news is there's only three choices for each:

    ios - Swift, Objective C, React Native
    Android - Java, Kotlin, React Native

    But honestly the language has absolutely nothing to do with the "layout and functionality"

    1. 1

      Thank you so much. So what do you think would impact the layout and functionality? To be honest, I don't want to dive deep into the technical aspect of building an app. I assume an understanding of the various technologies will allow me to relay my needs perfectly to freelancers.

    2. 1

      I'm surprised nobody mentioned Ionic + Cordova/Capacitor. I get that it's not as popular or trendy as React Native, but if you're an Angular dev (now supports React as well), it's much easier to get started with. I work at an angular shop so it's what we use for our mobile stuff with our smallish dev team, and I have a love/hate relationship with it, but I think it's a solid choice for making something quick and dirty.

      1. 1

        I'll look into that. Thanks buddy

    3. 1

      Just to be clear here, you can build apps natively for one platform or use a cross-platform solution depending on your exact needs.

      Native and will only work on one platform:
      iOS - Swift, Objective-C
      Android - Java, Kotlin

      Cross Platform / Both:
      React Native
      Flutter
      Xamarin
      Games engines like Unreal or Unity

      I think there may be a few more cross-platform options, but those seem the most popular.

      1. 1

        React Native seems to top this race. Thanks Nick

  2. 2

    Do you know Javascript or React? If so, React Native would be my first choice for building a mobile app MVP. Especially if you're planning to support both platforms out of the gate.

    1. 1

      Unfortunately, I don't know any. But I'm particularly interested in learning React Native to build an MVP. Though I intend to outsource the complete product.

  3. 1

    Just pick a language. Development is not about language, it's about problem solving.

    Your problem: you want a nice layout and cool functionalities. Well, it's more about idea and execution: what functionality would you like for your app, and what layout?

    Write them somewhere. Draw the layout. Then, pick whatever language which can run on Android, iOs or whatever device you want, and execute your idea. You'll have to change many things along the way, but that's normal. It's the daily life of a software developer.

    Any language supported by these devices can bring you the solutions to your problems.

  4. 1

    For Android it's common/recommended to use material design https://material.io. Google helps you a lot with implementation guides, libraries, etc. It is definitely the easiest way to build a great looking and functioning Android app.

    It also has guidelines for web apps and there are open source libraries to help with that. You could use it for iOS as well but iOS apps should not look/work like Android apps and the opposite is true.

    1. 1

      I'll check it out. Thank you!

  5. 1

    Whatever easiest is good for u. Don't bother with language but the time to market is more important

  6. 1

    It always depends on your background and what you’re building (cause that might affect the ecosystem at your disposal).

    I’d personally recommend you checking out https://flutter.dev (to me it’s powerful enough while learning curve is not steep at all).

    1. 1

      I'll check it out. Thanks a lot

  7. 1

    You're not going to get "layout and functionality" from a programming language (that's what programmers are for!), but it you're just looking to follow in their footsteps, the easiest approach is to just ask. It might take a while to get an answer from a marketing e-mail, but it's rarely a secret. You can also usually guess from who the company is hiring, if that doesn't work.

    As to which language you should use, that's a matter of (your) taste. I'd recommend checking out the community chats for the different systems. If it's active, they're interested in the sorts of things that interest you, and they speak to each other in a way that makes you comfortable, that support system is usually more valuable than how quickly the system can render a page or other technical details.

    1. 1

      I'll stick around to see related topics. Thanks for the insight.

  8. 1

    If you're interested in web apps checkout:

    https://builtwith.com/

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