So how did I go from IOS to Android in less than two weeks? Well, I could really go on a rant about how the Cocos2dx documentation is limiting, and by attempting to circumvent Objective-C, I would be limited (knowledge-wise) to mainly programming games only. However, that is not the real reason why I have decided against learning anything related to Apple development. The truth is, I paid $100 for the developer's license, therefore the commitment was there. Unfortunately, I was looking at another $500 plus dollars in hardware upgrades due to my mac mini's hardware not being eligible for the OS version needed - currency issue. The hardware barrier was more of a turn off than the lacking documentation of Cocos2dx.

Now I have turned my attention to Android and I honestly can't say why I did not choose this platform to begin with. In comparison to Apple development, right off the back there are a few pluses; for me at least.

1. I can use whatever PC I want
2. Familiarity with Eclipse
3. More than comfortable with JAVA
4. Excellent documentation (Note) I am not comparing to Cocos2dx since that is not an Apple offering
5. Developer license for Android is $25 dollars a year versus $100 for Apple

It's been about five days since I've started teaching myself the Android sdk platform. Fortunately, I write code for a living and I am no stranger to complex architectures. Even so, I would venture to say that for a true beginner attempting to write non-gaming apps for Android, it is a really deep dive. However, the gaming side of things seems to hide a lot of the complexity needed to create actual applications and is a softer entry point.

That said, I've decided to learn the Android platform for both gaming and regular application development. I have also decided to code strictly in JAVA for Android. I've read enough articles to realize that although you can attempt C++, it would be too much of a headache.

....the adventure continues.....