quikbitz

Wow, #MonoDevelop is now available for my Nokia #N900 phone ...

Didn't expect this, but MonoDevelop, the development IDE for Mono (open source implementation of C#, .NET, etc.) has been ported to the Nokia N900 phone (i.e., to Maemo).  I mean, the full-on IDE.  Now, I'm not sure how usable it is (certainly it's a case for using the stylus, all of the controls are so small), but I'm impressed about it because it means that Mono runs for Maemo, Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone.  That makes it look like a good choice for writing cross-platform code for phone applications (albeit I know that they recommend you not do cross-platform GUIs, but the core processing code can be cross-platform).

Java to C# converter - Sharpen - http://clickth.at/htOz3U ...

I was watching the video of Miguel de Icaza's MIX session on Mono, and he mentioned a Java to C# converter called Sharpen.  It is implemented as an Eclipse plugin.  Interestingly, de Icaza indicated that the Mono team found Sharpen preferable to iKVM.NET (which converts Java bytecodes to .NET CLR bytecodes).  I'm sure Sharpen is a tool I'll be looking at sometime, as C# and .NET are interesting, but I'm still far more familiar with Java.

By the way, de Icaza's session on Mono is very interesting in its own right, well worth watching.