What programming language is Pokemon GO programmed in? I'm hearing Java, but how would one go about coding an app like it?

I am willing to bet that map and GPS info comes from Google maps api

@krazy-dev I wont bet against that :)

In order to make something similar I guess you would create some logic to spawn monsters along the map, use the map API to help users find them and the GPS to check where players are. When you find a monster you switch the app to the regular game logic of any game. Simple as long as you only pitch it in a few sentences but I have a feeling it took a lot of experienced people a lot of time to get it right...

If you actually do want to make something similar my best advice would be to make a list of all the technology you would have to use and make small isolated apps for each case.

GPS - output the country of the user. Then show the user on a map. Then make a "where did I park" app.

Create simple games. Then something a bit more like what you would want. Then the gameplay you want without GPS. Then add in GPS.

Get to know backend stuff well. If you make something that could be successful then it pays to learn some scalable cloud platform like Amazon, Google etc. And safety - learn it like crazy if you are aiming for public exposure.

@Elkstorm would it be advisable to use Swift then port it over to Android?

@jdmkaan No idea but qualified guess is no. There are ways to program multi platform from the start. I think that would work better. I suspect you would have little use of the Swift code aside from being a blueprint to work from. Swift and Java are quite different beasts.

There are a lot of (better and worse) ways to do it. But having a look at React native couldn't hurt I guess.

firebase, meteor js, sails js

@Elkstorm don't think they are google maps. It's marking driveways as reeds in my neighbourhood so I'm guessing they scanned satellite images

@epse Interesting. Wonder if they saved money that way or just wanted independence. But processing a lot of raw satellite images seems a bit out of scope in the context of wanting to learn how to program and do something similar.