Newbie question on speeding up compiling for Android

I love the idea of Appcelerator and Titanium, but I am really struggling to move forward with it. I am relatively new to programming and my previous experience was mostly with php, js and mysql. My machine is not the newest one, but it still performs decent for most applications I use - except for Appcelerator.

Everything is running smoothly, but compiling/running files takes for ever. Especially for someone like me who is relatively new to programming, fast trial and error circles are essential. But it takes about 15 minutes to compile a file and run it through the Android emulator. From my experience with php I am used to checking a script every few lines, just to make sure that I did not make some silly mistakes. But unfortunately this is impossible with Appcelerator.

Therefore I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions for people with slightly aged systems and how to work more efficiently. Thanks

The problem isn't Titanium, it's the emulator. The emulator is equally as slow, regardless of how you built your app.

I recommend picking up a cheap Android device off craigslist or similar. http://www.iotashan.com/2012/08/mobile-test-devices/

Don't close the emulator. Titanium will discover and stop, reload and respawn your application at the current emulation. Compile time will lower, but no were near the "f5" from php/js at web development.

Once you pass the "learning curve" of using Titanium.ui, getting values, handling events, then all the "heavy lift thing", you code do will be pure js, so you can write it at web, f5 all your way, and with minor changes bring it to titanium...

Lets walk thought some things, shall we?

Your question is improperly formatted

How can someone determine your problem, or even remotely troubleshoot it when you don't even post your system, system, specs, etc.?

Missing from your question are a number of important pieces of information. I suggest you take a look at the Using Questions and Answers article, specifically the Q&A Question Checklist. The missing information is critical to reproducing problems in a test environment and often indicates other factors that cause the undesirable outcome you are experiencing.

"But it takes about 15 minutes to compile a file and run it through the Android emulator"

Yes, something isn't correct in a normal development environment. However, again, lack of information, can't tell if you are in a normal development environment.

"From my experience with php"

Not to be snippy, but this ain't no vi/apache/refresh-browser environment. You don't seem to fully understand whats going on behind the scenes when you click 'run'.

"My machine is not the newest one, but it still performs decent for most applications I use - except for Appcelerator"

So you normally run an IDE powered by java (Titanium Studio), compile a binary using java (Titanium SDK), and try to host a virtual machine running java (emulator)?

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All that being said, the Android Emulator is a vile beast that can only be controlled through the black arts, lots of coffee and words not normally heard on land.

Even on a i7 with 16gb of ram, I still prefer to push my tests to device as its faster. That being said, as Shannon suggests, not so old kit that you wont need to connect to a telco are relatively inexpensive.