Monotouch vs Flash CS5 for iPhone App Development

Question

Hi,

With the recent loosening of the Apple Developer licence on third-party development platforms, I have had a brief look into app development with Monotouch and Flash CS5 but am unsure of which to develop with. I am competent in both C# and ActionScript so the language isn't so much the issue (but i dislike objective-c so please don't suggest it).

What I would like to know is which development platform (if either) has the bigger advantages in terms of execution speed (FPS in games) etc. (Assuming that the code efficiency be of the same degree on both). Also if there are any other advantages/disadvantages between them I would love to know. (Please also ignore pricing, i am purely looking at this from a development point of view).

Cheers.

Answer 1

If you are looking into Mono, you might also want to check out Unity.

I started working through their tutorials last week and am having a blast. They have support for making iOS games with C#, JS, and Boo (Similar to Python). They offer a no cost stripped down version and a more advanced one for a price.

Along with the detailed tutorials on their website in pdf format, this site also provides video tuts specific to the iPhone, which you might enjoy. 3D Buzz

Here is a write-up on the unity site about how their framework integrates with Visual Studio/Mono Unity FAQS. They use their own C# compiler, but you can still work from VS or their Mono implementation.

Answer 2

I would strongly suggest using Monotouch over CS5. I've only really used Monotouch, so my answer won't be complete but I can tell you about my experiences with it.

Although it is only a subset of Mono, it brings a lot of C# wonderful features to the iPhone and it has a 1:1 binding with the native APIs which means you're learning how to develop for the iphone using the native APIs. Due to the fact it is a 1:1 binding, if you come across a problem, you can always see how it's done in Objective-C and then apply it to C#.

Granted, Monotouch does come at a price, I've found the price worth it due to the constant updates and the amazing speed at which the support staff will respond to any queries.

There is a great community envolving around it too - see Monotouch.info as example, which will link you to many great articles to get you on your way.