Today, if you wish to make a living, it's insufficient to simply have a job. You'll need at least 2 or 3 different resources of income to ensure that you can pay your entire bills in case something unfortunate happens. Technology has evolved so much that in the past few years many people have discovered another method to earn money: they develop mobile applications. Many entrepreneurs have made a name for themselves by developing mobile apps, and if you're thinking about learning how to produce mobile apps yourself, keep reading this article.

Mobile app development is just a rapidly growing industry because people are finding more approaches to earn money through their smartphones. Each day how many active users keeps growing. Here are some numbers which will illustrate just how big the industry has become:

- How many smartphone users worldwide is expected to reach 1 billion in 2014 ( source ).

- According to statistics there were nearly 35 million iPhone developers as of December 2010 ( source ). This figure shows a growth of 25% over the prior year's figures!

If you want to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things before you start. This will also apply to any type of development, nevertheless you especially need the following:

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

- Some type of computer – Of course! Ideally it should be a laptop/netbook that runs Windows or Mac OSX since most computers nowadays run one of these operating systems. However, if your skills are sufficient then you might be able to develop a software on Linux as well.

- A smartphone – It's not essential for developing apps, however it will surely help since you can test them on your device. If you don't have a smartphone then you could always use a friend's or a family member's device.

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

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