Cross-platform software development

[displaceAerospace]

So, I had an idea. To develop a little music player app with a nice UI. Since I just got my PowerMac G3 I would like to also run the app on OS X, where I think the UI would make a lot of sense. Can't forget to mention how attractive Matt made this backwards compatible software development look in his latest video.

If anyone here has any experience with writing an app that would work on both Windows and OS X. I'd appreciate any info! For now I read up that Qt and GTK are popular options for GUI solutions and for the programming language I was thinking C++ unless C# would also be possible, but I don't mind either.

I'll try my best to post updates in this journey but I'll have to focus on my final exams.

[flatrute]

From what I know so far, the only common ground of both OSes is to have C as an option to write programs on them. While they have their API being object oriented designed, their languages of choice is completely different with Windows siding with C++ and C# while OS X has been sticking with their Objective-C until relatively recently when Apple recommended their Swift instead. You can check this post where they made a single file C library to abstract graphics APIs of Win32, X11, and Cocoa:

https://zserge.com/posts/fenster/

[displaceAerospace]

Holy moly! This library could be the key. You, sir, have given me the golden ticket to developing this app. The end of the article even showed off a way to integrate the library into Go. I really hope I find the time and motivation to actually work on this.

[Veso42]

Hey! Sounds like a cool project! Developing a cross-platform app like a music player is definitely achievable, and using Qt or GTK for the GUI is a solid choice, especially if you want it to run smoothly on both OS X and Windows. Qt has strong cross-platform capabilities, and you’ll find that C++ works well with it. As for C#, it could be an option with tools like .NET Core, but C++ might give you more flexibility, especially with a classic UI look on OS X.

You might also want to check out this resource: https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/software-development-companies-montreal/. It gives a solid overview of software development best practices, which could be useful for navigating the cross-platform challenges. Good luck with the project and your exams!