[OS X TeX] iOS and TeX

[Murray Eisenberg]

On Sep 2, 2012, 17:08:20 -0400, George Gratzer <gratzer at me.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks, this was very useful.
> 
> But I do nor quite see why "Apple doesn't want application environments which allow others to bypass their tools" applied to 
> " interpreted languages".
> 
> On 2012-09-01, at 11:52 AM, William Adams <will.adams at frycomm.com> wrote:
> 
>> On Aug 31, 2012, at 3:28 PM, George Gratzer wrote:
>> 
>>> 1. I was told that the problem is that TeX is an interpreted language and Apple does not allow interpreted languages in iOS. Is this true?
>> 
>> Apple doesn't want application environments which allow others to bypass their tools. There was a clause specifically forbidding such, but it has since been lifted.

It's simply FALSE that Apple doesn't allow interpreted languages on iOS devices. Case in point: the J Programming Language, by Jsoftware, Inc. See:

 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/j-programming-language/id532587550?mt=8

It runs on both iPad and iPhone. I'm running it on my iPad, in fact. (J, designed by Ken Iverson, is a descendant of his APL.)

Of course there are issues about installing add-ons, etc., for use with an app such as J. Right now, due to sandboxing, you have to do that using a third-party utility to upload from a Mac to the iOS device. (I use iExplorer: http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/.)

The issue with an interpreted language, and this is pure speculation, may be only whether it calls additional apps.

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Murray Eisenberg                     murrayeisenberg at gmail.com
80 Fearing Street                      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
Amherst, MA 01002-1912