touchdevelop
introduction
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programming with touchdevelop
technology shift
o
smartphones outsell PCs
o
smartphones might be first and
possibly only computing device for
many people
o
smartphones
perform many
common PC tasks
programming with touchdevelop
smart phone
specs
iPhone 4
minimum Windows Phone 7 specs
Processor
?
800 Mhz
Display
960x640
800x480
Memory
512 MB
256 MB
“Disk”
16-64 GB
8 GB
more than your PC:
 hardware-accelerated graphics, touchscreen
 WiFi, cellular (GSM 3G or CDMA), bluetooth
 high-resolution camera(s)
 GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, ambient light
sensor, proximity sensor, FM tuner, …
programming with touchdevelop
smartphone
uses
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
text messaging
taking photos
internet browsing
emailing
downloading apps
gaming
social networking
navigating
watching video
…
what you haven’t done
on your phone yet:
writing code,
creating entire apps!
programming with touchdevelop
walled garden
many platforms
only allow user to
run apps from
vetted “app store”
or “Marketplace”
have you already
tried to create a
mobile app?
programming with touchdevelop
what if…
o
we could write an app on the phone
directly?
•
o
without a PC
and share it with your friends?
programming with touchdevelop
challenges
o
small screen
o
no keyboard, but touchscreen
o
easily lost
programming with touchdevelop
touchdevelop
mobile application
development environment
o create applications
(aka “scripts”) on the
phone itself
o no PC required
o access to phone
sensors, camera,
music, web, etc.
o share scripts with other
people
programming with touchdevelop
demo
o
similar to built-in “take the tour” tutorial,
built song player
programming with touchdevelop
this is for you
o
o
for students
•
engaging experience
•
work with your personal data (pictures, songs,
…)
•
create games
•
on the go
lowers bar of entry to programming
•
create tailored apps for micro-business
programming with touchdevelop
language+edito
r
o
typed language
•
•
•
o
enables precise auto-completion suggestions
imperative
object-oriented, but doesn’t
allow definition of new objects
semi-structured editor
•
•
•
structured at statement level
unstructured at expression level
structured at token level
programming with touchdevelop
available APIs
all phone features are available via touchdevelop:
o
camera, touch, accelerometer, compass, gyro,
microphone, …
o
contacts, calendar, email, …
o
pictures, songs, …
o
web queries, search, maps, social networks
o
graphics with physics engine
o
tiles
✿
http://touchdevelop.com/Documents/whatcanido.pdf
✿ http://touchdevelop.com/help/api
✿ http://touchdevelop.com/help/languagecloud
programming with touchdevelop
script sharing
script bazaar in cloud:
central authority for script sharing
o backup
o anyone can publish a script
o script source code
is made available
o discover new scripts!
o all published scripts are
analyzed (privacy)
programming with touchdevelop
website
programming with touchdevelop
book + slides
available free online
touchdevelop.com/book
touchdevelop.com/slides
o
introduction to
programming on a
phone
o
how to use app +
language
o
for teachers + students
programming with touchdevelop
real apps
o
submit scripts as apps to Marketplace!
o
requires App Hub developer account
(free for students via Dreamspark)
o
app needs to pass regular certification process on App
Hub
o
Learn more…
programming with touchdevelop
reception
o
TouchDevelop is popular (released April 2011)
•
•
o
great for teaching
•
•
o
> 150K downloads
in top 1% of all apps (out of 60.000) of Windows Phone
Marketplace
Rated 4.7/5 by users
engaging programming experience
using personal device and data (songs, pictures, etc.)
embraces new reality
•
•
•
language and editor optimized for touchscreen
first-class access to sensors and services
sharing and learning with friends in the cloud
programming with touchdevelop