iOS Xcode on an iPad?

[firewood]

What changes would be needed to make Xcode usable with a multi-touch interface (no mouse pointer).

For instance, there are tons of tiny little checkboxes in IB (etc.) that would need a completely new UI. A different on-screen keyboard would be needed to make typing typical code punctuation faster.

 

[AxoNeuron]

Xcode on an iPad would be a nightmare. An utter nightmare.

Thank you, now I won't be able to sleep tonight, I will be hiding in my closet, as far away from any iPads as I can possibly get now that you've put that awful thought in my mind.

 

[xStep]

Apparently Apple is working on it.

Look at the update near the bottom of this Daring Fireball reference.

 

[Essenar]

Ew, by Odin's Spear would that be horrible.

That would be like trying to build a car using a car as a tool.

That would be like trying to make a pizza using makeshift baking sheets made out of pizza dough.

Also, using Xcode without file import, external Git, terminal, drag/drop assets, desktop iTunes would just not be Xcode at all.

 

[firewood]

Would the Simulator/emulator/VM run on the iPad itself. If so, where would the debug console go? If not, how do you cable an iPad to another iOS device?

Will iCloud for Xcode host a proper GIT/SVN server?

Xcode on an iPad would be a nightmare. An utter nightmare.

To those of us who used to code on punch cards, CRT terminals, Mac Plus's, and etc., Xcode on an iPad Pro would be a comparative dream.

 

[AxoNeuron]

Would the Simulator/emulator/VM run on the iPad itself. If so, where would the debug console go? If not, how do you cable an iPad to another iOS device?

Will iCloud for Xcode host a proper GIT/SVN server?

To those of us who used to code on punch cards, CRT terminals, Mac Plus's, and etc., Xcode on an iPad Pro would be a comparative dream.

A nightmare is still a nightmare, even if you've had worse ones in the past.

I imagine Git and a debug console would be easy problems. The debug console would probably be a pull-out menu (like pulling down to get Notifications Center, except maybe you'd pull it out from the left), and Git is pretty easy to port. Cables would be pretty easy too, Apple would just need to come out with a Lightning to Lightning cable.

It's all technically possible. It would require an ENORMOUS amount of work on Apple's part, since Xcode is such an incredibly massive program in and of itself. There are so many parts to it that I cannot imagine it ever being put on iOS.

Furthermore, when I'm programming I usually have 10 different programs open, like several terminal windows, photoshop, several safari windows, the simulator, Atom, an FTP client, a VNC client, etc. Can you even imagine trying to multitask like that on iOS? Heck, I don't even think the iPad pro has enough RAM to handle it at all. Even if they improved iOS' multitasking capabilities 5x it still would be difficult.