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General Discussion

Laurence Bowe
Laurence Bowe
6,222 Points

Which language is best for my desktop application to run on Mac and Microsoft?

Hi, Just wondering because I was going to make a desktop application in swift but then I realised that would only be compatible with Mac, Is python cross platform or java etc. THANKS A-L-O-T!!! IN ADVANCE :)

2 Answers

Greg Kitchin
Greg Kitchin
31,522 Points

Java works on what is known as a virtual machine. Basically, your code will run on any computer that has the virtual machine installed on it, whether it be a mac or Windows PC.

I'm not sure about Python. A quick google says it comes pre-installed on Mac OS X, but whether code written on a PC will run on it, is something I don't know.

Patrick Cooney
Patrick Cooney
12,216 Points

Python will work on any platform but it's interpreted which, depending on the app being written, means it could be quite slow as compared to something like Java. As mentioned Java runs on a virtual machine. It gets compiled down to what is called byte code. The byte code then gets turned into machine code (CPU instructions) on-the-fly by the VM. Byte code is a mid-level instruction. It's going to be faster than interpreted languages but slower than native languages. This is because the native stuff compiles to machine specific code before it is ever run.

Laurence Bowe
Laurence Bowe
6,222 Points

THANKS TO EVERYONE SO QUICK AND RELIABLE IT REALLY HELPED ME AND IM NOW GONNA START LEARNING PYTHON THANKS EVERYONE AGAIN!!! :)

Josh Page
Josh Page
1,928 Points

Hi, from looking at the tasks you have completed thus might be worth looking into. https://github.com/naetech/nightrain it allows you to build native apps for mac and windows in html, css, js (and php).

Patrick Cooney
Patrick Cooney
12,216 Points

No... Just, no. If you won't listen to me, listen to Zuck. Facebook's biggest mistake was betting on HTML5

Laurence Bowe
Laurence Bowe
6,222 Points

THANKS TO EVERYONE SO QUICK AND RELIABLE IT REALLY HELPED ME AND IM NOW GONNA START LEARNING PYTHON THANKS EVERYONE AGAIN!!! :)