A Developer's Hands-On Exploration of Native App Development Across Multiple Platforms
By
jmusall
2mo ago· 19 min readenInsight
100/100
Golden Brown
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Summary
A developer with decades of experience but no modern app development background documents their journey exploring native app development across multiple platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android) without using web technologies like Electron. The article chronicles their hands-on experience building a simple 'Hello World' app on each platform, comparing development environments, tooling, documentation quality, and overall developer experience. The author provides practical insights into the current state of native app development, highlighting differences in approach, complexity, and ecosystem maturity across operating systems.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledI've been a computer toucher for decades, but I've never been an 'app developer' and have always interacted with computing in an idiosyncratic way.
This project began with a live-toot stream, an exploration of what it's like to build native apps across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
I wanted to get a personal 'feel' for what the 'new developer experience' is actually like across all of the current platforms if you don't resort to web tech such as Electron.
Although I did build GUI programs using WinForms, I haven't been actively keeping up. This is therefore a gap in my skillset!
The goal was simple: build a basic 'Hello World' app on each platform and document the process, challenges, and overall experience.
I touched "every" OS so you don't have to
