Adobe Flash Professional for iOS Game Development : A Feasible and Viable Alternative to Xcode?

• Main Author: Svantro, Leila
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informationsteknologi 2014
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-226569

The smartphone operating system iOS is the second highest ranked after Android. The apps in App Store and Google Play combined consist of 70-80 % games, which are the primary entertainment applications. Many developers are learning game development or refreshing their skills to profit on this trend. The problem statements are: is it viable and feasible to use Adobe Flash Professional (AFP) for the iOS game development compared to Xcode and could AFP be used exclusively for iOS game development? Information on both IDEs has been analyzed. Furthermore, implementations and code comparisons have been made. The results and analysis shows differences regarding expenses while possibilities for developing the same kind of games essentially are equivalent. The conclusions are that AFP is a viable IDE for iOS game development in the aspect of possibilities. It is not feasible on a long-term basis when considering the expenses however it could be feasible on a short-term basis depending on the developer’s requirements of extension and Mac OS for App Store publishing. AFP is not able to be used exclusively for the iOS game development if publishing  to the App Store is a requirement however it is if publishing  is restricted to single devices.