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Apple Releases Xcode 4 to Developers, Coming Soon to Mac App Store for $4.99

diamond.g said:
I think it is still free, you just have to sign up as a developer (there is free access for that part).
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I just checked through the free developer account - it links to the app store and 4.99.

I too only use the command line compilers and think charging for the whole package just to use a few of the command line compilers is ridiculous.
 
Torrijos said:
What an humongous amount of BS from Apple.

I've been a member of Apple's developer connection for free since I'm a college student in computer science and xCode was one of the rare things you could download for free.
Now I should pay for an IDE update, that won't even allow testing iOS apps on devices (still need to be a REAL member for that).

I would really love to know why on earth the charge?!
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Would you like some cheese with that whine? Just because you were able to download it for free for a period of time does not mean they should give you a handout forever. It's $4.99. Get over it.
 
You don't need to buy Xcode 4 to get access to the unix dev tools (gcc etc.). You can get them all for free with Xcode 3, which is still available for free download and on the discs that came with your Mac! :rolleyes:
 
MadDog31 said:
For those that have used Xcode 4 or those experienced in such:

I'm currently at square one in learning iOS programming for the iPad. I'm going through a book right now that's just getting me to the point of writing my first simple little app. Will updating to version 4 hamper my learning much, given that a lot of on-screen examples are included in the book from version 3?

Hell, will it make it easier? I'm just curious because I want to upgrade now but wondered if I should wait until the end of this particular book first.

Thanks for your help,
Ian
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I don't have to be experienced with Xcode 4 to tell you this; Going through a book based on another IDE from what you are using is confusing. As someone just learning, why would you want to put that extra burden on your self?
 
smulji said:
I'll agree with you that Visual Studio is more polished than Xcode 4. But it doesn't change the fact that it's helluva lot more expensive. The question is, is it really worth approximately $695 better?
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I would say so, yes. The number of times Xcode has helpfully "crashed" my apps with SIGTRAP on a breakpoint in the IDE is maddening. The very last thing I want in the middle of a heated debugging session is for my IDE to crap out and take down my app, and I'd gladly pay a huge sum of money if Xcode 4 had even half the robustness and stability of Visual Studio simply because I rely on - and live and die in - Xcode each and every day.
 
Looks like the server has crapped out. I'm getting an alert box reading, "The application could not be downloaded (NSInternalInconsistencyException)" after I clicked the Purchase button.
 
Full release of Xcode 3, over 3 GB to download - Free
Full release of Xcode 4, over 3 GB to download - 4.99$
Anyone not seeing a problem with this sudden price increase - Priceless.

Seriously, what was wrong with encouraging developers to write software for your platform by providing the tools to do it for free ? Apple makes money off the dev tools by getting software for iOS and the Mac and making their platforms more attractive to users that way.

Nope, let's nickel and dime. At least Xcode 3 is still completely 100% Free. Anyway, I like the multiple windows interface of Xcode 3, it works better for my workflow.
 
Detektiv-Pinky said:
Wow, this is getting ridiculous.
I want a compiler on my Unix machine, why do they think I switched from Windows?

I only ever use gcc and FileMerge, can I get them some other way than by installing Xcode?
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Of course you can get gcc for free. It's Open Source and GPL'd These are several pre-build gcc around

I think you can get Xcode for free to. The have a free developer program. Maybe the've just changed that too. I don't know.
 
Detektiv-Pinky said:
Why don't you then go back to charge 5000$?

5$ is not going to generate any substantial income for Apple, but it pisses of a lot of folks. It discourages people instead of encouraging a playfull attitude
to try things on your Mac. I don't see how Apple is benefitting the slightest from this move.

When I now want to teach a beginners class of 'Programming' to my students, should I tell them to go back to Windows, because they can download the free Visual Studio Express?
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The kind of people who would download an 8GB development suite to be "playful" will never make a real app. Sorry, but it's true. Objective C is not the kind of thing that a total computer novice can learn in a couple hours. $5 is a good price to charge to make sure that people who would never program an actual app in their life don't waste a massive amount of bandwidth downloading a program that they have no idea whatsoever how to use. Hobbyist programmers who aren't big developers but know what an IDE is will have no problem dropping a couple dollars for an extremely well-designed development suite.
 
rlmccormick said:
Would you like some cheese with that whine? Just because you were able to download it for free for a period of time does not mean they should give you a handout forever. It's $4.99. Get over it.
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Do people really complain when a software development kit costs the same as a hamburger and soft drink?

C.
 
For the developers that bitch about the 5 freaking dollars I say sell your Mac now.

I'm not joking DO IT!
 
smulji said:
I'll agree with you that Visual Studio is more polished than Xcode 4. But it doesn't change the fact that it's helluva lot more expensive. The question is, is it really worth approximately $695 better?
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Ah, but you forget about the Express Editions for those who don't make money off their hobby. (My point wasn't about price, it was about tool maturity). (Particularly that Web Services are used EVERYWHERE).

XCode has some things that VS.net doesn't have until you get the Super-Duper $5000 version: Analysis tools. That alone is a STEAL (if you know how to use them).

$5 for a hobbyist dev environment is a steal too (which has EVERYTHING that the "full" version has is awesome).
 
PatrickCocoa said:
You want to stay with version 3. The examples in most books are very specific about what to drag where when connecting your interface. Xcode 4 makes major changes in how what used to be Interface Builder is shown. Most of the process is the same in Xcode 4 compared to Xcode 3, but as a beginner you will be lost in Xcode 4.
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I think beginners should just start with XCode 4.
it makes more sense than Xcode 3.
 
neal.young said:
The kind of people who would download an 8GB development suite to be "playful" will never make a real app. Sorry, but it's true. Objective C is not the kind of thing that a total computer novice can learn in a couple hours. $5 is a good price to charge to make sure that people who would never program an actual app in their life don't waste a massive amount of bandwidth downloading a program that they have no idea whatsoever how to use. Hobbyist programmers who aren't big developers but know what an IDE is will have no problem dropping a couple dollars for an extremely well-designed development suite.
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The world needs more barriers to entry...
 
smulji said:
And the free express versions of Visual Studio don't count since you're not allowed to use these versions for commercial purposes.
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That's not true.
You are allowed to use the Express Version for all commercial purposes. There are only feature limitations.
 
Detektiv-Pinky said:
5$ is not going to generate any substantial income for Apple, but it pisses of a lot of folks. It discourages people instead of encouraging a playfull attitude
to try things on your Mac. I don't see how Apple is benefitting the slightest from this move.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. It's not the $5 - that's less than I'm about to spend on lunch. It's that it's such an arbitrary amount that can't possibly be benefiting Apple in any measurable way. A lot of people are cheap, frugal, or just plain poor, and the $0 cost of entry was a very positive thing for aspiring developers. Now, even at a ridiculously low $5, it comes across as a negative barrier to entry.

If it's for SOX compliance, I get that - but then why not $0.99, since they only need to charge a token amount?

Honestly, I'd prefer if they charged something like $50 for Xcode, allowed you to test your apps on up to 10 iOS devices without joining the $99 annual developer program, and applied the Xcode cost toward the first year's $99 fee when you're ready to submit your app.
 
It's funny how Microsoft can release a full suite of programming IDEs for every language they support, with no limits on commercial use, FOR FREE, with the Express edition of Visual Studio :

http://www.microsoft.com/express/Support/Support-faq.aspx
Can I use Express Editions for commercial use?

Yes, there are no licensing restrictions for applications built using Visual Studio Express Editions.
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Why is Apple suddenly feeling the need to charge for what was free ? :mad:
 
Man, I can't believe all the whining about $5 for Xcode! Obviously from people who have never developed meaningful applications on windows. A decent copy of visual studio is many hundreds and goes into the thousands when you're talking team editions, architect edition, database edition, or test edition. Doing meaningful development for $5 is amazing in my book.
 
smulji said:
Yes the Visual Studio Express version is free BUT you are not allowed to use this version for commercial purposes. You can easily check that out.

If you want to make money off of developing apps using Visual Studio you HAVE to purchase a non-Express version which start at around $700 if I'm not mistaken.

You can find that out easily on MS's Visual Studio section of their website.

So from that perspective $5 for a full, commercial-useable version of Xcode 4 is a steal even with the fact you have to pay $99 a year for the developer program.
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FALSE. This is what I found easily:

Can I use Express Editions for commercial use?
Yes, there are no licensing restrictions for applications built using Visual Studio Express Editions.

http://www.microsoft.com/express/support/support-faq.aspx
 
smulji said:
I'll agree with you that Visual Studio is more polished than Xcode 4. But it doesn't change the fact that it's helluva lot more expensive. The question is, is it really worth approximately $695 better?
Click to expand...

The Visual Studio Express tools, which contain everything developers not working on Enterprise level tools, are free.
 
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