Product Description

The ultimate developer′s guide to Symbian OS C++ programming.

Programming Symbian OS is a key skill for mass market phone application development. Whether you are developing applications and services for shipping mobile phones, or involved in pre–market mobile phone development, this book will help you understand the fundamental theory behind developing Symbian OS C++ code for constrained devices.

• A collaborative book, incorporating the expertise of over 30 Symbian engineers
• Comprehensive coverage of Symbian OS suitable for programming Nokia and Sony Ericsson systems and any Symbian OS v7.0 based smartphone
• Also provides supporting material for Symbian OS v6.0 and v6.0 phones
• Accompanying CD includes demo version of Metrowerks toolchain for the P800

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #400023 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 826 pages

Review
"...close to a ′must read′..." (CVu, June 2003)

Review
"...close to a ′must read′..." (CVu, June 2003)

From the Back Cover
Programming Symbian OS is a key skill for mass market phone application development and this book is a must–have resource for any programmer planning to tool up to take advantage of the exciting opportunities offered by advanced mobile technology. Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones is based on the experience of Symbian engineers and will help you get to grips with all aspects of application development from basics to fully functioning complex applications.

This book provides you with the ultimate developer guide to Symbian OS C++ programming. The elegant, powerful architecture of Symbian OS is optimized for the mobile environment and for the demands of advanced communication on mobile networks. Whether you are developing applications and services for shipping mobile phones, or involved in pre–market mobile phone development, this book will help you understand the fundamental theory behind developing Symbian OS C++ code for constrained devices.

CD–ROM Includes:

• demo version of Metroworks tools for Symbian OS
• UIQ Software Development Kit (SDK)
• compilers and documentation

Source code is available from www.symbian.com/books/scmp/support/scmpdownloads.html

Symbian OS is the advanced, customizable operating system licensed by the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturers. It is designed for the specific requirements of advanced 2G, 2.5G and 3G mobile phones and includes a robust multitasking kernel, integrated telephony support, communications protocols, data management, advanced graphics support, a low level graphical user interface framework and a variety of application engines.

Visit the associated websites at:
www.symbian.com/books
www.wileyeurope.com

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Customer Reviews

OK but needs to be compacted
The information contained in this book is good, but sometimes a bit convoluted. Not ideal if you want to wizz through the cornerstones of the Symbian OS/Framework though good as a tutorial. But there aren't any self assesment questions or projects, as with most tutorial type texts.

Additionally you will need the Metrowerks IDE to step through the code to really understand the examples. The book only comes with a 15 day licence for Metrowerks, not the 30 days as advertised.

Detailed but dull writing style
There is a huge amount of information in the book - all the details about creating and using resources, different naming conventions, why you should implement things using Symbian's way of doing things, rather than the standard C++ ways (sometimes because it's just not supported, sometimes because of memory restrictions).

There are bits of sample code, but the explanation is very much geared towards someone who is most likely from a Microsoft MFC background, and certainly towards experienced C++ programmers. As someone who can write C++ code, but more often works with VB, .NET or another higher-level language, the explanations are verbose to the point of tediousness. At the point of getting halfway through the book you still probably wouldn't feel comfortable trying to start writing your own Symbian UIQ programs.

There is lots of genuinely useful information, so I guess the problem is in the approach - it explains a lot about the Symbian platform, then explains the minutae of how to approach Symbian differently to desktop platforms, then moves back towards how to code for it, rather than starting with a good example, explaining the major aspects, then delving the depths, the details, and the reasons behind things.

If you're wanting to learn about the Symbian platform, its origins, its limitations, its memory management, the mind-set that you should approach it with, and then, finally, how to code for it, then this book will help you with that... otherwise, it's good bed-time reading to help you sleep at night.

An ultimate guide to developers
Pretty much similar to Professional Symbian Programming, but written more concisely. If you understand the battleship game implementation described in the book , then you will have a very good base to program for Symbian OS. Could have been better if there were some exercise project/programs. But it takes a rather professional approach.