Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones

Product Description

Richard Harrison’s existing books are the bestsellers in the Symbian Press Portfolio. His latest book, co-written with Mark Shackman is the successor to "Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones" Volumes One and Two. Written in the same style as the two previous volumes, this is set to be another gem in the series.

The existing material from the volumes will be combined, with explanations and example code updated to reflect the introduction of Symbian OS v9. New and simplified example application will be introduced, which will be used throughout the book. The reference and theory section in particular sets this book apart from the competition and complements other books being proposed at this time.

Anyone looking for a thorough insight into Symbian OS C++ before moving onto specialize on particular Symbian OS phones need this book! It will not teach people how to program in C++, but it will reinforce the techniques behind developing applications in Symbian OS C++, and more.

This innovative new book covers Symbian OS fundamentals, core concepts and UI.

Key highlights include:

* A quick guide to Kernel
* Platform security
* Publishing Applications
* View Architecture
* Multi-User games

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #783985 in Books
* Published on: 2007-08-24
* Original language: English
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 834 pages

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Back Cover
This latest edition provides you with the tools to become an effective Symbian OS developer and offers a deep understanding o the fundamental principles upon which Symbian OS is based. The text is also complemented with a suite of examples.

Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones Volume 3 includes:

* An introduction to Symbian C++, with descriptions of the basic building blocks and usage patters.
* Examples that are fully compatible with the latest Carbide.++ Symbain IDEs guide the reader through increasingly complex aspects of Symbian C++.
* The core concepts, resources and programming idioms that you need to create, test and publish a non-trivial GUI (graphical user interface) application.
* An introduction to some of the most significant Symbian OS system services: extensibility and the use of plug-ins and practical descriptions of the communications, multimedia and database services.
* Advice on the available range of graphics APIs and help to ensure that your application code is as device-independent as possible.

As it is targeted at the high-growth area where computers and mobile communications converge, Symbian OS gives you unparalleled opportunities in mass-market, enterprise and system programming.

If you've programmed in C++ at any level, and wish to develop software for mobile phones, this book is essential.

Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones Volume 3 draws on the experience of Symbian's own engineers to provide you with a thorough grounding in writing C++ applications for mobile phones using the latest version of Symbian OS and beyond.

About the Author
Mark Shackman is part of the Symbian Developer Network, which provides technical support to developers in the form of presentations, papers, books and tools. After the formation of Symbian, Mark joined the Connectivity Engineering group, with sole responsibility for authoring, producing, delivering and supporting the Connectivity SDK. He also wrote a chapter in Symbian's first book, Professional Symbian Programming.

Richard Harrison has developed Symbian OS software for 10 years. He is currently Technical Author at Symbian Ltd and is responsible for their system documentation. Richard is the lead author of the best-selling Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones, Volumes 1 and 2, also published by Wiley.
Customer Reviews

Good introduction but examples are outdated and index is useless3
My title says it all. The book starts relativly good by giving an useful introduction into Symbian Programming and introducing the basic programming paradigms. I also like the chapter about how to avoid common pitfalls and about descriptors.

After the example section the book goes to introduce the basic functionality of some libraries, but stays too much on the surface to deliver some advantage over reading the official documentation.

Some examples (for example in the file system services part) also seem to be outdated.

Not so much work seems to have gone into creating an index - it is overbloated with useless page citings. It seems as if somebody just took a number of keywords searched the document and added them directly to the index, even if the keyword at a page is not relevant at all. For example the keyword "UIDs" points to 19 different pages!

My recommendation: For an introduction take a look at S60 Programming - A Tutorial Guide by Wiley (same publisher). I found that to be organized better for beginners. If you are beyond that stage, use the internet forums or the Symbian documentation.

A good base for UIQ3
I ordered this book because I was new to Symbian/UIQ. I found it easier and more convenient to use than the SDK on-line doc.
I appreciate the battleship case-study used to illustrate the basic and intermediate Symbian/UIQ concepts. It helped me a great deal. This book also focuses on UIQ application framework. But surprisingly, I found it very scarce (as much as the SDK) on some aspects of the application framework: embedded application programming, command-line parameters processing.
However still good to have it close at hand for when I need a quick info.

Good Starting Point3
Having written software for 15 years for UNIX and Windows platforms, my move to the mobile space has been educational and humbling. Trying to learn to program for Symbian using the SDK and publicly available docs is daunting at best. The SDK docs are sparse, poorly written and provide a terrible search experience.

In contrast, Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones provides a solid foundation for learning to program this relatively new breed of devices. It covers a lot of material in a fair amount of depth and will help newbies to ascend the steep learning curve. Without this book, those new to Symbian programming will need to scour the SDK docs, trawl the newsgroups, and rely on kind souls from the UK to help with their inevitable programming questions.

I would have given this book 4 stars had it not been for several disappointing characteristics. First, there are too many authors. The writing style changes and information is repeated unnecessarily and in jarring ways. Second, the book sometimes repeats what's in the SDK docs, albeit in a consolidated form, without adding pragmatic insight and value. Third, it does not delve into some real-world, complex topics in any meaningful way. For example, the text quickly discusses messaging (SMS/MMS) but does not provide a digestible example of programmatically constructing an MMS. Fourth, it does not include Series 60 information, which is a shame given that the Series 60 is a very popular platform.

All in all, this is a good book that provides relevant, helpful information that will flatten the learning curve considerably.