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Comment by dannyr | Hacker News Reader

"I would never in a million years want to develop Android software; why? Because it's written in a language I loathe, and the API is workmanlike but completely uninspired (disclaimer: I've never written any code for it). "

i.e. I'm making a judgement on something I'm ignorant about and never made an effort to know.

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No, I have made an effort to know it, but haven't actually written code for it.

I've done Android stuff for a year or so and vastly prefer Cocoa Touch. However the OP is wrong, Android is inspired, they are inspired to use idiotic API names; spinner (rather than picker, chooser, or dropdown), toast, intent, etc.

What is a picker or chooser? I know exactly what a spinner is: it's named for a spinning number control (like a mechanical odometer with a knob), unless they're using "spinner" to describe something completely different from what a spinner is in desktop UI parlance.

My point is that the API decisions are probably based on experience with a different developer culture, in which those words make perfect sense and "picker" and "chooser" are completely vague. Different groups have different terminology.

I agree the odometer-style widget makes sense as a spinner, this [1] doesn't in my opinion. First choice would probably be popup menu or drop down possibly, then picker and chooser.

[1] http://www.designerandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ds...

Okay, I stand enlightened. Yeah, popup, drop-down or combobox makes more sense for a radio button popup list.

I quite like Toast. :)

Which rather confirms his point about polish being more important in attracting people than is typically acknowledged, don't you think?

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