Today, if you intend to make a living, it's inadequate to simply have a job. You'll need at least 2 or 3 different sourced elements of income to make sure that you can pay all your bills just in case something unfortunate happens. Technology has evolved so much that in the past few years lots of people have discovered another way to earn money: they develop mobile applications. Many entrepreneurs have made a term for themselves by developing mobile apps, and if you're thinking about learning how to develop mobile apps yourself, keep reading this article.

Mobile app development is really a rapidly growing industry because individuals are finding more methods to earn money through their smartphones. Everyday the number of active users keeps growing. Below are a few numbers which will illustrate just how large the industry is becoming:

- The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to achieve 1 billion in 2014 ( source ).

- In accordance with statistics there have been nearly 35 million iPhone developers by December 2010 ( source ). This figure shows an increase of 25% over the prior year's figures!

If you wish to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things one which just start. This is true of any type of development, however, you especially need the following:

- Skills and knowledge – You'll need to find out how to code, and you'll also should find out about design concepts like UX (User Experience) and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).

- A pc – Obviously! Ideally it must be a laptop/netbook that runs Windows or Mac OSX since most computers nowadays run one of these simple operating systems. However, if your skills are adequate then you could be able to develop an app on Linux as well.

- A smartphone – It's not necessary for developing apps, but it will surely help since you can test them directly on your device. In the event that you don't have a smartphone then you could always work with a friend's or a household member's device.

- An IDE – A software development kit (or IDE - Integrated Development Environment) is essential to produce applications for Android, iOS and Deniz Gueney Windows Phone platforms. Popular IDEs include Xcode , Eclipse and Visual Studio.

- The developer license – You are able to develop apps without paying anything, but if you intend to publish them on app stores then you'll need to pay the annual fee which can be currently $99 for Apple App Store and Google Play Developer Console. Several payment methods can be found, including charge cards, PayPal and wire transfer from your bank account.