Ask HN: Would you use a language other than Java for an Android app?

[mistrQ]

As part of my CS degree, one of my courses involves developing an Android application that helps new students choose their courses and generally familiarize themselves with the university. This is sponsored by Google.

It's recommended we use Java with the Eclipse IDE. I'm not a big Java fan, I know it's solid but I find development time slow.

However can I realistically use ruby or html5/css/javascript or anything a bit more interesting (which may also make me stand out)?

I have seen phonegap, appcelerator and ruboto but I don't know if they are stable enough or there is enough tutorials/documentation to risk my course on.

[TomasSedovic]

You can use the Android Scripting Environment[1] which supports Python, Perl, Ruby, Lua, JavaScript, Tcl and things you've probably never heard of before. Their FAQ says you can build APKs too.

There is a Clojure port for Android[2], and I hear you can compile Scala programs as well[3].

If you're a CS student, you may find Scala interesting (it's a bit similar to Haskell).

Of course, straying from the well trodden path will give you more freedom but you'll get scratched along the way. Which is probably a good thing.

[1]: http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/

[2]: http://github.com/remvee/clojure

[3]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/476111/scala-programming-...

[jp]

JRuby sounds risky on Harmony. The people behind it focus on J2EE and Rails.

The Eclipse Android plugin is solid and comes with a user interface builder. Not the best tool in the world, much worse than Microsoft Blend but on par with Samsung Bada for Eclipse. Eclipse really is a fantastic IDE.

Remember that multitouch is the big feature and that all helper API´s are Java. This might bite you in the ass later in the project if you go the "interesting" route.