Update – Brian Scheirer pointed out that there have been some awesome community samples too! -Ed.

For me, 2012 has definitely been a year of helping developers learn about our native and Cascades development tools. If you’re like me, you’re probably spending the holiday nights doing some coding – so I’ve put together this list of “The Best of Native Development for 2012″.

Cascades Webcasts
Thousands of developers from across the globe joined us for four webcasts to learn beginner to advanced Cascades concepts.  We were able to interact with developers directly, answer questions, and get immediate feedback as samples and code were displayed.  The format proved so successful that we’ve hosted many more webcasts on topics such as the BBM social platform, augmented reality apps, and OpenGL integration.

The live web casts were recorded and are available for viewing here.

Porting Guides
If you have existing content for another platform, we are making it easy to bring that content to the BlackBerry 10 platform.  Being able to re-use code across platforms reduces development and maintenance costs.  Distributing your application to multiple platforms opens you up to whole new market segments and increases your potential user base.  There a number of informative porting guides available to help you build for BlackBerry 10.

• iOS to BlackBerry 10 - http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/12/porting-ios-apps-to-blackberry-10/
• Android to BlackBerry 10 - http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/11/porting-android-game-to-blackberry-10/
• Qt to BlackBerry 10 - http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/11/porting-qt-apps-to-blackberry-10/

Samples
The best and easiest way to learn to program is to look at sample code.  For every feature that BlackBerry 10 offers there is a sample project showing you how to put it into action.  Whether it’s integrating with BBM, using the Invocation Framework, getting sensor information, or communicating via Bluetooth, we’ve got you covered.

There are samples built right into the Momentics development environment, on the Cascades and Native microsites, and hosted on our github repo.  And if you find a feature that we missed, or an API without a clear example then let us know on Twitter @BlackBerryDev or in our developer forums and we’ll add what you need to get started!

• Cascades Samples - https://github.com/blackberry/Cascades-Samples
• Native SDK Samples - https://github.com/blackberry/NDK-Samples
• Cascades Microsite - https://developer.blackberry.com/cascades/sampleapps/

Stump the BlackBerry Devs
In August we launched a challenge to the BlackBerry Developer community to come up with a UI that would be difficult to implement in the Cascades UI framework.  The Cascades tools development team would try to implement the submissions in a flexible manner that could handle multiple screen resolutions and form factors.  They implemented three of the challenges and presented the solutions during the Unconference Day at BlackBerry Jam Americas.  We were able to show that Cascades is robust framework that is able to create stunning interfaces even when faced with challenging design requirements.  All the solutions are hosted on ourgithub repo.

If you have any Cascades or native dev questions – check out our forums and connect with me on Twitter.

Why BlackBerry?

Over the past months, we’ve been showing you what the new BlackBerry 10 platform is all about and how easy it is to create rich and astonishing-looking apps for BlackBerry 10 using the Cascades UI framework. Not only does BlackBerry 10 offer an awesome platform and an extensive set of tools to choose from, but BlackBerry World is the most profitable mobile application store for app developers to submit their apps. According to the Evans Data Corporation, 13% of vendors using BlackBerry World are making over $100,000, which is more than Apple, Android and Windows Mobile. With BlackBerry 10, you have the option to integrate your application with BBM functionality, thus increasing the engagement and discoverability of your app. It is reported that BBM connected apps make up 20% of the app downloads from BlackBerry World. Also, the Built for BlackBerry Program and the $10K Developer Commitment programs are offering amazing incentives to bring your app to BlackBerry 10. I’d say that is a pretty convincing motivation to start developing apps on BlackBerry 10. So let’s get started!

Tips on Porting Native iOS apps to BlackBerry 10

Knowing that you’ve already developed and deployed profitable apps on the iOS platform, we would also like to see your great apps on BlackBerry 10 and watch you march toward another successful launch. To help you along, we have compiled several tips to help you through the porting process. We published a detailed porting guide for iOS apps on our Cascades microsite. The guide describes the similarities and differences between native iOS and BlackBerry 10 apps and platforms, as well as providing information and best practices for the porting process.

Tip 1: Know the Platforms and SDKs: iOS VS BlackBerry 10

Both the iOS and BlackBerry 10 platforms:

• Manage the device hardware and provide the technologies and services to develop native apps;
• Provide their own SDK to build, test and deploy native apps which can run directly on their devices;
• Communicate directly with underlying hardware through well-defined APIs;
• Are structured similarly in a layered manner, outlined in the image above. BlackBerry 10 is based on the QNX Neutrino RTOS. The QNX Neutrino RTOS acts as a kernel and gives the platform key functionality such as multi-tasking and memory management. Both platforms offer core services, graphics and audio accessibilities, application and UI development frameworks.

Because both platforms use this layered architecture, the way you use frameworks is similar between iOS and BlackBerry 10. As a best practice for both platforms, you want to use higher-level frameworks over lower-level frameworks in your app whenever possible. This helps to reduce the amount of code you have to write, and can simplify complex features. This applies when creating new apps, as well as porting existing apps. The important thing to note for the porting process is that in most cases, although the frameworks are different between iOS and BlackBerry 10, there are equivalent APIs that you can use to map iOS frameworks to BlackBerry 10. In our iOS porting guide, we provide more detailed mappings for commonly used classes and UI components between iOS and BlackBerry 10.

Tip 2: Know the Development Tools: Xcode VS QNX Momentics IDE

One of the challenges of bringing your app to a different platform is learning to use a new IDE. Xcode and the QNX Momentics IDE share a number of similar features such as creating projects, designing user interfaces, writing code, debugging and running applications on simulators or devices which should offer some familiarity for experienced iOS developers. Both tools come with a project explorer, a source editor, and a UI previewer/editor to organize and write the application code using static libraries and plug-ins. Both tools support the gcc compiler to compile C/C++, and it is possible to perform source level debugging using GDB.

Xcode has an integrated UI design tool called Interface Builder and uses Objective-C for creating the UI for apps.

The QNX Momentics IDE is an Eclipse based environment to develop native BlackBerry 10 applications. It comes with the built-in Cascades Builder for the UI development using C/C++ and QML. Understanding and familiarizing with the development tools will lead you to make better choices during the porting process.

Tip 3: Know the Development Language: Objective-C, C/C++ and QML

Native iOS apps are built using Objective-C language and frameworks while Native BlackBerry 10 apps can be developed using C/C++ and QML. Because Objective-C is a set of extensions to the standard ANSI C language, you can mix Objective-C with C/C++ code. This similarity between Objective C and C/C++ allows you to reuse the Objective-C code that you already have by wrapping to C++ using the PIMPL idiom. In the context of porting your app, wrapping allows you to use your existing Objective C libraries on BlackBerry 10.

QML is a JavaScript-based, declarative language for developing an application’s user interface. If you are not familiar with QML, don’t worry! Cascades gives you the flexibility to create your UI in both QML and C++. Here is how to integrate the two in detail. The following two code samples written in QML and C++ achieve the same result when the application is run.

Adding a label using QML

import bb.cascades 1.0
Page {
    content: Label {
        text: "Hello world"
    }
}

Adding a label using C++

Page* root = new Page;
Label* label = Label::create()
                .text("Hello world");
root->setContent(label);
app->setScene(root);

Tip 4: Design your app targeting multiple platforms: Reuse! Reuse! Reuse!

It will save you a lot of time during the porting process if your native application is designed and developed targeting multiple platforms by separating UI code, business logic and platform dependent code. Follow the best practices to develop cross-platform applications:

• Separate business logic from UI code following the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern. BlackBerry 10 doesn’t enforce you to follow the MVC pattern. Although you can develop your app’s UI in both QML and C++, it is encouraged to write UI code in QML and business logic in C++ since the benefits of this practice are greater when porting apps.
• Use cross-platform libraries, frameworks, and engines to maximize the reuse of your app code. For example, consider using Open Audio Library (OpenAL) interface for audio and OpenGL ES for graphics. They are a cross-platform standard.
• Use SQLite for the app’s database engine. It is supported on both iOS and BlackBerry 10.
• Wrap your Objective-C code to C++ to reuse.
• Isolate platform dependent code and package them separately. You can replace or rewrite the platform specific code by mapping the equivalent or similar classes and functions.

There isn’t an easy way to reuse your UI code and platform specific code. After all, iOS and BlackBerry 10 are two different platforms. You would have to spend some time researching and finding similar classes, UI elements, and/or equivalent components between iOS and BlackBerry 10 for porting. The good news is that we put significant amount of resources to guide you through the process. The porting guides, webcasts, blogs and forums are one click away on our BlackBerry Developer’s Website.

Tip 5: Quality, not Quantity: Follow BlackBerry 10 UI guidelines and best practices

Follow the BlackBerry 10 UI guidelines and design principles to create the best experience possible for your users and take advantage of the unique BlackBerry 10 features. BlackBerry 10 eliminates gaps between action and response, makes the experience smooth and effortless avoiding any interruption in the flow, and creates an experience where content is maximized in your app. Aim for 60 frames per second (FPS) so that the UI and the screen refresh rate are in sync.

There you have it. Port responsibly!

For more information about porting iOS apps to BlackBerry 10, please refer to the following:

BlackBerry 10 Best Practices
Porting native iOS apps
Porting apps from iOS
BlackBerry 10 Library Support at a glance

Here’s a guest post from Marysia – Ed.

Calling all UK devs! Want to develop an app for BlackBerry 10?

Have a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha testing device, but hit a few stumbling blocks and need some help to just get it moving again?

Got an Android, iOS or Qt app that you want to port to the platform?

Are you an HTML5 dev with a great app that could be a hit on BlackBerry 10?

Then look no further! We are holding a series of open days at our Tech Centre in Slough in December with a technology focus for each event! Just book your place at the event that suits you, come along and spend the day with our experts who will guide you through the process and give you some one to one help with your development issues.

To find out more and register for a place visit https://developer.blackberry.com/supportjams and click on “BlackBerry Support Day” and hover over the relevant date on the calendar!

• 4^th December – Come port your Android apps to BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10
• 6^th December – Learn from the experts on how to port from iOS to BlackBerry 10
• 11^th December – No platform loves HTML5 like BlackBerry does – come learn how to port your PhoneGap, Sencha, or jQuery based app to BlackBerry 10
• 13^th December – Love C and C++? This is the day for you.
• 18^th December – Qt pros – come learn how to expand your market using BlackBerry Cascades.

Here’s a guest post from Luca F. – Ed.

A few weeks ago we came across a blog post written by a game developer describing how he ported his iOS game, Pop Corny, to Android™. In a nutshell, it was not an easy process for him. We decided to send this developer a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet and challenged him to port his game to our platform.

The result was documented in this blog post. Here’s an excerpt:

It turns out RIM has done an awesome job with Playbook and probably with its upcoming phones. The system is based on the QNX operating system and it has strong support for standards and open libraries. I found myself right at home with it! I am going to come back with more details about the process (probably with an altdevblogaday article), but by cutting the long story short, I was able to port the engine with only native code (no java glue code like on Android) with OpenGL, OpenAL (even ALUT), freetype, etc all coming bundled with the system.

The dev also showed how fast the game is on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet — you can watch it here.

All the above was implemented in just two days! Once again the openness of the BlackBerry® 10 platform demonstrates how easy is to port your code from other mobile platforms, without any additional pain or time lost.

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is a very powerful device for gamers, and tons of developers already successfully ported their games and published them to the BlackBerry App World™ storefront. Also, as we have pointed out many times, some game developers have shared their success stories with us and highlighted how much money they’ve made in BlackBerry App World.

Kudos to the dev, Charilaos, for the great job done — and beware, that game is really addictive! I bought it for my kids but I ended up playing with it all the time. You can get it from BlackBerry App World and let me know what you think.