Google go Simple
A new Google project, Simple, aims to be as BASIC as possible. Simple is very much a work in progress, but currently consists of a compiler and runtime for the Simple language, which is a dialect of BASIC specifically for developing Android Applications. Simple programmers can define static or dynamic forms and manipulate them with BASIC like commands. The hope is that a simple programming language, based on BASIC, will open up programming Android devices to a wider audience.
When Simple was announced, an example of Simple code was shown which worked as an accelerometer driven Etch-A-Sketch. The entire program, including defining the forms, is composed of only 35 lines of code. A language definition is available and the project is available to download and install. Licensed under the Apache Licence 2.0, Simple development requires Java SE 6 and the Android SDK 1.5 to run and is available for Windows, Mac OS X or Linux, while Simple programs run on either the Android emulator or Android phones with the included runtime library.
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