Microsoft has recently revealed its effective tool for bringing iOS apps onto the Windows platform and is open
sourcing this striking technology. But, this can be still considered as work-in-progress as some of the components are not ready yet. It is more commonly referred as Open source Windows Bridge for iOS apps, which is tailored for enabling iOS app developers to create Windows apps using the already existing codes and skills of Objective-C.
For
successful implementation, the bridge includes four key components:
1)Objective-C Compiler: MS Visual Studio, now, will include a compiler that is conscious about the usage of Objective-C code and its verification (Compile) into a native Universal Windows app so as to enable most of the heavy lifting. To start with, only some early drops of the compiler binary will be provided through GitHub as the compiler will not be open-sourced. The compiler will later be shipped as Visual Studio 2015 update.
1)Objective-C Compiler: MS Visual Studio, now, will include a compiler that is conscious about the usage of Objective-C code and its verification (Compile) into a native Universal Windows app so as to enable most of the heavy lifting. To start with, only some early drops of the compiler binary will be provided through GitHub as the compiler will not be open-sourced. The compiler will later be shipped as Visual Studio 2015 update.
2)
Objective-C Runtime: The motto behind introducing Objective-C Runtime is just to provide you with language features including message delegation, dispatch and the automatic count of references.
3)
iOS API Headers/Libs: Designed upon the base APIs of Objective-C, this bridge is provided with a good ratio of iOS API compatibility.
4)
Visual Studio IDE Integration:
lastly, this tool enables importing the Xcode project and unites the same with the Windows Developer Tools and SDK.
You might be wondering why this tool is referred as Bridge, not a port. This is due to the reason that the goal of the IOS Bridge is not just limited to running iOS apps on Windows. It is to help developers for writing great Windows apps rather, using much from the existing code and knowledge they have. It is definite that this iOS compatibility will tend to rise with time, and there is a lot more that you can do with the bridge.
The goal of IOS Bridge rests on three basic principles that drive the overall architecture and design of the bridge:
1)
Complete Windows API Access: Full access makes it quite easy to use Windows APIs within the code of Objective-C.
2)
iOS compatibility: This compatibility fosters developers to reuse as the existing iOS code as much as reasonably possible.
3)
No sandboxing: It implies that iOS and Windows APIs should be able to work together in a smooth and efficient manner.
The objective of releasing this open source tool (technically referred as Project Islandwood) is to elevate the number of apps available on the Windows store as this tool will serve as a source of encouragement for developers to come up with their iOS creations and port them over Windows platform.
