[codenerdz]

based on the data in the article QEmu + Android ARM runs at approximately same speed as Nexus One phone which is a good thing, right? I dont want my development emulator to run twice as fast as actual hardware, do I.

The question is whether you can make the emulator run as fast as modern dual core android phones.

[reemrevnivek]

> I dont want my development emulator to run twice as fast as actual hardware

Why not? A lot of programmers develop native apps on high-performance workstations because it makes development faster.

Once in a while, you might hit a bug in which the execution time on a phone or in a slow emulator will cause problems. These are the exception to the rule. Use good programming practices especially with respect to multithreading and time-sensitive code and use sensible algorithms (don't under- or over-optimize), and these will be few and far between.

In general, you want fast builds, fast tests, and fast iteration. Anything that allows you to iterate faster is a good thing.

[chc]

I think his point is that it's easy to ignore serious usability problems when you're using better hardware than your customers. For example, developers with big screens are more prone to create GUIs that do not work well on small screens. Similarly, some Xbox games are unplayable in 480i or 480p mode because nobody ever bothered to check whether the interface elements were readable at low resolutions.

[ceejayoz]

> I think his point is that it's easy to ignore serious usability problems when you're using better hardware than your customers.

Only if you don't test on real devices.

[chc]

Testing is not a boolean. You won't notice if some item on a checklist took a couple of seconds during your daily device test, but a user will notice when that action is all he's doing, over and over.

[ceejayoz]

You say "testing is not a boolean", then imply that testing "over and over" is? Developing on the emulator doesn't stop you from doing nice, lengthy real usage testing on the devices once you've got everything in decent shape.

[chc]

That's true, and there's no reason most people can't use their gym memberships, but statistically they won't. Nobody's saying that you must do all your testing on average hardware — just that they prefer it because it forces them to put proper time into it.