Creating Android apps without Java

Question

I\'d like to start creating Android apps but I don\'t like Java. I read that scala can be used to do it. Are there another option?(Clojure?)

I\'m a Python/Django dev

Answer 1

If you use Python, maybe SL4A (Scripting Layer for Android) is a good choice.

You could write python script that runs on Android and use Android API, but it also has a drawback that you need install Python/SL4A runtime library on your Android device.

Answer 2

At this point Scala is the one that is most mature..I wanted to try groovy myself but its not even out of alpha..

Plus Scala on android has docs..:)

Answer 3

It's not hard to do with Mirah (formerly Duby), a very young language based on Ruby that compiles to bytecode that's basically indistinguishable from Java's, but adds some great new features like closures, type inference, and obviously a Ruby-like syntax. It's particularly well-suited for Android because it has no runtime or standard library (it uses compiler plugins instead) outside the JDK, whereas basically all other JVM languages bring along a lot of baggage, especially languages that weren't designed to target the JVM (like Ruby and Python).

http://github.com/technomancy/Garrett

Much nicer than writing Java!

Answer 4

In addition to the other solutions listed here previously, you have:

• PhoneGap
• Rhodes
• AIR (pre-release)
• AppInventor
• Clojure

Answer 5

for clojure development a useful tutorial: http://riddell.us/ClojureAndAndroidWithEmacsOnUbuntu.html

Clojure gets a LOT of benefit from android-2.2's JIT compiler and has not really been widely adopted on previous versions.

Answer 6

Another immature implementation is JRuby/Ruboto: http://blog.danieljackoway.com/first-ruboto-release.html