Richard Thomson, a principal architect for modeling, highlights the advantages of using C++ for mobile development, such as code reusability and resource efficiency. He discusses a case study of Dropbox's transition to a C++ architecture for cross-platform applications, emphasizing the benefits of sharing business and UI logic. Additionally, Thomson outlines the features of Visual Studio for mobile development across Android and iOS, including debugging capabilities and platform-specific tools.

1. Richard Thomson
Principal Architect for Modeling, Daz 3D
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@LegalizeAdulthd
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3. About Me...
 Meetup organizer:
 Utah C++ Programmers (2nd Wednesday)
 Salt Lake City Software Craftsmanship (1st Thursday)
 3D Modelers (3rd Tuesday)
 C++ language track on exercism.io
 Polyglot developer
 Currently: C++, JavaScript/NodeJS
 Previously: C#, JavaScript/NodeJS, Python, Java
 Distantly: C, Perl, FORTRAN, LISP, FORTH, Assembly, TECO
 Different languages have their strengths
 Leverage strengths where appropriate

4. Why C++ for Mobile?
 Write once, run everywhere
 Seriously!
 Modern C++ is more familiar than you think
 Come to "Modern C++", 3:40 pm, Room 5130 for more

5. No, really. Why C++ for Mobile?
 Rich variety of abstraction mechanisms
 Directly express concepts in code
 Execution model maps directly to the machine
 Wisely use precious battery life
 Deterministic resource allocation
 Hold onto resources only for as long as you need them
and no longer
 No garbage collection
 Responsive UI, even when chewing on lots of data

6. Case Study: DropBox
 Started with platform specific apps
 Write everything twice!
 Debug everything twice!
 Ship everything twice! (and not at the same time)
 Switched to MVVM architecture
 View: Thin platform-specific UI layer (Java/ObjC)
 Thin platform-specific services layer (Java/ObjC)
 Model, ViewModel: C++
 Share business logic and UI logic between platforms
 Write almost everything once

7. DropBox Deep Dive on YouTube
 CppCon 2014: T. Grue & S. Kabbes "From the DropBox
Trenches: A Deep Dive into 2 Cross-Platform Mobile
Apps Written in C++"
 CppCon 2014: Alex Allain & Andrew Twyman
"Practical Cross-Platform Mobile C++ Development"
 CppCon 2015: Jacob Potter & Andrew Twyman
“Bridging Languages Cross-Platform: Djinni
Implementation Techniques"

8. Why Visual Studio?
 Single IDE for all platforms
 Platform-specific IntelliSense:
 code completion
 code navigation
 Single debugger experience
 Fast, full-featured Android emulator
 Networked connection to Mac host for iOS debugging

9. Android Development Features
 Supported Versions
 4.4 "KitKat", API Level 19
 5.0 "Lollipop", API Level 21
 Emulator features include
 OpenGL ES 2.0
 Multi-touch gestures
 Advanced camera
simulation
 WiFi network simulation
 Debug directly from VS
 Integrated LogCat viewer
 Debugger visualizations
 Externally built native
activity apps
 Can attach to running APKs
 Stripped debugging to
reduce deployment size
 Deploy, Debug directly
from VS to emulator or
device

10. iOS Development Features
 Supports versions 6, 7, and 8
 Debug directly from Visual Studio
 Need a connected Mac to deploy and debug on devices
only (no emulator)

11. Universal Windows Platform
 Can also do Universal Windows Platform applications
 ...but not the subject of this talk :)

12. Installation

13. Android Project Templates

14. Android/iOS
OpenGL ES App

15. Android Emulator

16. Launching the Emulator

17. Selecting a Device

19. Android Debugger Demo

20. iOS Project Templates

21. iOS Import from XCode

22. iOS Building and Debugging
 Configure Mac pair machine in Tools / Options
 Used for building iOS application
 Xcode build output is shown in VS output pane
 Debugging is done remotely via gdb
 Displayed locally in VS as if you were debugging on
Windows
 Can issue commands directly to gdb if desired