Is it possible to build an iPad app on the iPad?

I would like to minimize the number of devices I would have to purchase to do iPad development so it would be nice if it did :)

I suspect the answer is no because I really doubt apple was kind enough to put an objective c compiler on the device. I guess an alternate questio开发者_StackOverflown would be what is the cheapest apple platform I could use to build apps?

You are correct. Apple wants you to develop your apps on a Mac.

Here is a link to Apple's site describing what you need. A mac with xcode is a requirement.

No, there is neither a compiler nor and IDE available for the iPad. You need a Mac to do iOS development, but even a cheap used Mac Mini will do (and no, you cannot do iOS development on Windows, I'm afraid).

First to answer your "subject question": As far as I know, NO you cannot install Xcode development kit on an iPad and thereby producing new iPad software... Apple also would like you to buy a real Apple computer if you want to do real business with the platform.

BUT

With some effort and research, you can just buy an orignal Mac OSX 10.6 or newer. Then with some tweaking and fixes, you install this on ordinary PC hardware. This is because the Apple computers today also are running on Intel CPU's and PC motherboards.

Its not officially supported nor "okay" from Apple's licensing point of view, but once you get it running the computer / OS thinks its a real Mac and then you can run and compile Mac software as its running 100% as a Mac.

I've seen tests where the owner connected iPod and iPhones to iTunes and AppStore which didnt see anything unusual, so the owner was able to buy movies and music and applications as normally.

Same goes for installing pure Apple software such as Xcode and other Mac-Only software.

You can even install some boot-manager and be able to run Windows 7 and Mac OSX on a partioned harddrive I've been told.

The "thing" is called a Hackintosh. But I was warned that it is far from every piece of PC hardware that you can make run with Mac OSX, so a lot of studying is needed before succeeding I guess.

I am not sure if this app is compatible with ipad, but it can certainly MAKE your app. You still need the SDK to compile the code it generates, and you still need to purchase the dev program to release your app to the store.

Not to mention the functionality you can add is very limited, but it is the closest to developing on the device itself that you can get.

You could use the Notes app on an iPad, or a Javascript editing app, or a cloud hosted text editor from iPad Safari, to write HTML5/CSS/Javascript for a web app. Upload the resulting web app source text plus a manifest to some web server, go to it in Safari with your iPad, test it, and save it as a web clipping web app.

That's for a web app.

If you want to build native iOS/iPad apps you need an Intel Mac running OS X 10.6.x (but even a cheaper old used Mini or iMac will do, as long as it can run Snow Leopard 10.6).

Or at least fast network access to a Mac. You could remote access a Mac using one of the many VNC or other remote viewing apps for the iPad, and develop native iPad apps from an iPad that way, but it would still involve a Mac.