iPhone/iPad development

[Uncle Peter]

Hey there,

I did a quick search of the boards and didn't see an answer to my questions so I have a few quick questions for you all

I have an idea in mind that I see as being quite a successful little project for the iPhone/iPad. I am literally in the first few days of thinking about it/planning it so forgive me if I ask simple questions. I'm not completely in the dark about Ogre, but I haven't used it for quite a few years, and a lot of developments have happened in the meantime.

I don't know the first thing about developing for the iPhone platform, but I understand that it uses objective-C as the primary language in use, correct?

I also understand that Ogre has a branch dedicated to rendering on the iPhone platform, as I saw from the wiki.

Does that mean, that the port has been re-written in objective-C, and would the project need to be completed wholy in that language?

Is the iPhone port good/up to date/maintained or is it just an experimental project to prove it can be done?

I'm also unsure of whether development needs to take place on an apple OS (I don't know the latest version), is that true, or can I develop on a windows machine?

If that is not true, can I somehow install an apple OS inside a virtual machine on a windows OS?

(I've just ordered a couple of books on iphone development, so hopefully I wont be so clueless on this soon)

As for licensing, I am a little naive when it comes to this area - I take it the licensing has changed for Ogre recently. If I make an application available via the apple app store, where do I stand with Ogre? Do I have to release my source code still, or has this area been changed?

I appreciate this may not be the place to ask all these questions, but as I am eyeing up Ogre as my rendering engine, I thought I would ask while I am here. I'm sure I had more questions, but I've gone blank now - no doubt I'll be back

Thanks!

[Uncle Peter]

Ooops, sorry - didn't see this subforum. I'll have a quick rummage around in here.

[masterfalcon]

Many of Apple's API's are written in Objective-C but C and C++ are also fully supported. With the exception of window/view creation everything for the iOS port is shared with the rest of Ogre. The iOS port is maintained and is officially supported as of Ogre 1.7.

I don't know if you can do any development on Windows for iOS but it is not supported.

As for the licensing, you don't have to release the code to your app unless you want to.

[cadabra]

I don't know the first thing about developing for the iPhone platform, but I understand that it uses objective-C as the primary language in use, correct?

Does that mean, that the port has been re-written in objective-C, and would the project need to be completed wholy in that language?

Most of Apple's APIs are Objective-C, but it is trivial to mix C/C++ and Objective-C. You can write your project in C++ and only use a little bit of Objective-C here and there to interact with the device.

I'm also unsure of whether development needs to take place on an apple OS (I don't know the latest version), is that true, or can I develop on a windows machine?

If that is not true, can I somehow install an apple OS inside a virtual machine on a windows OS?

(I've just ordered a couple of books on iphone development, so hopefully I wont be so clueless on this soon)

Definitely no development on Windows. Mac OS X Server allegedly supports virtualization, but it might not be ideal. You know, you could probably buy a Mac mini for less than you spent on the books.