how to develop an app when you dont know programming?

filmguy

Disciple
how do i go about developing an idea i have for a mobile app if i have no coding/programming language knowledge?

ideally i would like to first develop it into a android app &, depending on the response, later port it to other mobile OS's as well as have a website & a facebook app.

apparently for android you need to know java. now if i were to even decide to learn it then later that wont help me with the other OS's/facebook etc. is there any language that can be used commonly for all?

also, if i were to hire someone (company/individual) how much would it cost & how could i ensure a facebook like situation (ie someone running away with my idea) didnt occur?

i tried a few of the make your own app websites but they seem to be very basic & you can only create info based apps & not some that require some more depth/coding.
 
I think you have basically answered your own question in your post.
Your idea would require a fair amount of customisation and thus needed to be done the proper way and not by using softwares which help you make basic apps.
I myself have just started learning coding and i am finding java easy and fun.
 
@vantheman5211, Can you share few online links for learning Java, it'd be great if they are from the beginning i.e. installation (Deployment)
Thanks
 
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I basically started from c++ and then jumped to java. Took me about 3 months ho learn. BTW i dont have an engineering background, i am learning it just for fun.
I started with programming basics by lynda.com. Then used a few books with regards to the languages.
I will post the name of the ebooks when i reach home.
 
@vantheman5211, Thank you for the prompt reply, even I'd like to start from C++ but I've heard it's difficult and complicated, Kindly rate the difficulty on the level 1 to 5, and please do share the links for that also, Like you even I don't have the Engg. Background and just want to learn for Personal use or fun purpose.
Thanks again
 
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Vantheman, Thanks, I know I can google it but Lynda Tuts are not free, I was thinking that you must be having some links for the sites which teaches for free like codecademy
 
If you want to develop android apps without having programming knowledge, you have to use either PhoneGap or Titanium. I feel Phonegap is easier.

I am an engineer so I would suggest you start with C++ or C. Ideally, if you had all the time in the world I would tell you to from C to C++ to Java. But, I directly started learning C++.
AFAIK C++ is easier than Java, although I haven't used java. Use this website to learn C++ its awesome and free: learncpp.com
 
hey guys

thanks for all your feedback

yes, ideal would be to learn & code yourself (& more satisfying too)

but thing is even if i spend few months learning java then (& pls correct me if i'm wrong) i still have to learn XML for UI & later even that wont help if i want to port it to WP, iOS, BB, web, facebook etc

is there any "code that rules them all"? ie any programming language that is common to all.

also any one have an idea of a ballpark figure in case i was to hire a firm/individual to do it? i know it depends on the app & its complexity but even a minimum/maximum range would help
 
PhoneGap, Titanium, Sencha etc. are few of the cross-platform mobile frameworks. Apps created via them though would never be as good as native though.
 
will give PhoneGap, Titanium, Senchatry etc a try

anyone have a idea of this even if a rough approx -

also any one have an idea of a ballpark figure in case i was to hire a firm/individual to do it? i know it depends on the app & its complexity but even a minimum/maximum range would help
 
will give PhoneGap, Titanium, Senchatry etc a try

anyone have a idea of this even if a rough approx -

Hmm.. well do you at least know HTML/CSS/JS/MYSQL , because even if you want to use Phonegap or the others, you will have to know these.
In layman language, what you do in this case is make a webpage/app and these apps port that webpage into an app for the various mobile platforms..

So about developing your own application if you don't know HTML/CSS etc. as well you may be better off working natively for Android..
Search for The Android Bootcamp videos(by Marko Gargenta) and start there.. buy a Java book(Hard Copy) for reference.. Head First Java(Latest Ed) would be my suggestion.If you work with some dedication it just keeps getting easier.In a week you can make a basic android app, developing for android using their SDK is very easy and Google gives a lot of Fundamental Tutorials as well : http://developer.android.com/training/index.html
If you know HTML/CSS/.. , even then if your app requires more than just good looking UI and simple web interfacing then I would suggest the native way.

Also I'd like to disagree with others here because I think Java is a much simpler and easy to use language than C/C++. Even I learned C /C++ first first but making a full fledged GUI app on C/C++ would mean a lot of Memory Management and other OS related issues(I have never made a C app), java handles these on its own. And Java has a very large library of pre-existing code which is commonly used making my job that much easier.

As for your query about how much it would cost to make an android application through a company would really depend on the number of hours it takes to complete your application.. So if its a really small application with lets say 3 Views and minimal Backend Support then it would cost around 20-30k , a good company may charge more, individuals would most likely give cheaper rates. This is just a ball park figure, its really hard to give an estimate without any idea how much work would be put into making the app.

EDIT: Oh ya there is no one language you can learn that you can use to develop for all mobile platforms..Sorry, but once you understand programming logic, learning a new programming language isn't that difficult. So do make a start. Best of Luck!
 
Hmm.. well do you at least know HTML/CSS/JS/MYSQL , because even if you want to use Phonegap or the others, you will have to know these.
In layman language, what you do in this case is make a webpage/app and these apps port that webpage into an app for the various mobile platforms..

Best of Luck!

yes i realised that abt phonegap etc

will prob'ly give learning java a shot

thanks for the advice @coolcrook :)
 
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