Python For iOS Brings Coding To iPad, iPhone
Python for iOS supplies a much-needed scratch for those with an itch to write programs for the iPad or iPhone by letting you write software for the device on the device itself. The app provides a familiar interactive interpreter interface for Python programmers plus some extras that make it easy to use, especially on an iPad.
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Python for iOS is a throwback. It turns your iPhone or iPad into a personal computer that you can program yourself. There was a time when every PC shipped with some version of the BASIC programming language and every PC user dabbled in programming. It was common to hear about a PC owner writing software to solve some task. This period of computing history is long gone, and today's phones and tablets certainly don't come with programming tools to write your own software. But this doesn't mean you can't scratch the programming itch using a mobile device. For instance, Diet Coda and Microsoft on{X} For Android let you use an iPad to write software on a remote network connected device, and program your Android phone from a desktop Web page, respectively.
Python for iOS goes a step further. It lets you write programs for iOS devices--iPhones, iPod Touches, or iPads--on the device itself. I've been using Python for the last few weeks and it's become a useful tool for quickly testing ideas and refreshing my memory about how to do things in Python. The app does not create native apps, but this isn't a problem for people like me who use the app as an adjunct software development tool. It is good to see software development tools like this one appear to not only enhance personal productivity, but help dispel the myth that tablets are useful only as content consumption devices.
Name: Python for iOS
Price: $2.99
Python for iOS scratches an itch for developers who have been wanting to write software for iOS devices on the device itself. The app provides a familiar interactive interpreter interface for Python programmers and a few extras that make it very usable, especially on an iPad.
Pro:
Lets you use a popular programming language right on an iPhone or iPad.
Web-based support and a clear development roadmap.
In-app Python language documentation available.
Con:
Does not work well with Bluetooth wireless keyboards.
Developed and supported by a lone developer.
Does not build standalone apps.
Python for iOS is based on Python 2.7 instead of the intentionally backward-incompatible next-generation Python 3. This is a good thing for old-school Python developers like me who never migrated to Python 3. Note that the Python 2.7 fork is still maintained as a viable programming language version. Python for iOS provides the familiar command-line interactive interpreter, which looks and feels the same as you might remember from using it on some *nix server in the past. The app augments the iPad's soft keyboard with a scrollable row of mini-keys for characters that are used often. The mini-keys are small but useable.
Tapping the Menu button in the upper right gives you access to a history of the commands you've typed into the interpreter, a way to save your work, the option to email your work, a reset function, and a tool to change your font and colors.
Tapping the second button from the left (see bottom of previous screen) switches to a split-screen mode. Python lines appear in a script editor in the left pane and output appears in the right. This simulates running and testing Python programs in a terminal viewing mode.
The third button from the left--a green cartoon python--launches the documentation. This is an invaluable resource for quick language research and refreshing your memory about all things Python. Although the docs are hard to read on an iPhone, the type is big enough to easily read on an iPad.
The fourth button at the bottom of the display, the gear icon, provides access to settings and contact information for the developer and participating in the app's Web forum.
The only issue I have with Python for iOS is that it's not fully aware of when an external keyboard is in use. Above, the iPad's soft keyboard disappeared as expected when I used a Bluetooth wireless keyboard. However, the app's mini-keys covered up its own four menu icons, making them unusable. However, the app's developer told me that this will be rectified in the next update.
The only issue I have with Python for iOS is that it's not fully aware of when an external keyboard is in use. Above, the iPad's soft keyboard disappeared as expected when I used a Bluetooth wireless keyboard. However, the app's mini-keys covered up its own four menu icons, making them unusable. However, the app's developer told me that this will be rectified in the next update.
Python for iOS is a throwback. It turns your iPhone or iPad into a personal computer that you can program yourself. There was a time when every PC shipped with some version of the BASIC programming language and every PC user dabbled in programming. It was common to hear about a PC owner writing software to solve some task. This period of computing history is long gone, and today's phones and tablets certainly don't come with programming tools to write your own software. But this doesn't mean you can't scratch the programming itch using a mobile device. For instance, Diet Coda and Microsoft on{X} For Android let you use an iPad to write software on a remote network connected device, and program your Android phone from a desktop Web page, respectively.
Python for iOS goes a step further. It lets you write programs for iOS devices--iPhones, iPod Touches, or iPads--on the device itself. I've been using Python for the last few weeks and it's become a useful tool for quickly testing ideas and refreshing my memory about how to do things in Python. The app does not create native apps, but this isn't a problem for people like me who use the app as an adjunct software development tool. It is good to see software development tools like this one appear to not only enhance personal productivity, but help dispel the myth that tablets are useful only as content consumption devices.
Name: Python for iOS
Price: $2.99
Python for iOS scratches an itch for developers who have been wanting to write software for iOS devices on the device itself. The app provides a familiar interactive interpreter interface for Python programmers and a few extras that make it very usable, especially on an iPad.
Pro:
Lets you use a popular programming language right on an iPhone or iPad.
Web-based support and a clear development roadmap.
In-app Python language documentation available.
Con:
Does not work well with Bluetooth wireless keyboards.
Developed and supported by a lone developer.
Does not build standalone apps.
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