Originally developed for the Psion hardware platform, Symbian Ltd.'s EPOC 5 operating system is being used by some of today's leading companies for creating smarter phones and other handheld computing devices. Aimed at the experienced C++ programmer (with a little Java thrown in),
Professional Symbian Programming is a truly indispensable guide to writing your first mobile applications for EPOC.
Weighing in at over 1,000 pages, this text is really two books in one. First, it delivers a thorough (and surprisingly candid) tour of the history and architecture of the EPOC platform from its roots on the Psion personal organizer to its present incarnation as a 32-bit OS ready to power the next generation of wireless devices. (With commitments from heavyweights like Nokia and Motorola, EPOC is clearly a mobile platform with a future.) The rest of the book is a programming tutorial, delivering a thorough guide to C++ development in EPOC, from simple applications to using its EIKON GUI classes.
EPOC programming can be quite daunting, especially when you're allocating and cleaning up memory. The author's expert advice will help you write robust, efficient applications. There's material on debugging code on the Windows-hosted EPOC emulator (included on the CD-ROM) and excellent coverage of graphics, particularly the use of over 50 built-in dialog controls for designing EPOC interfaces. The case study--a two-player version of Battleship that can be played over the phone or an infrared port demonstrates the richness of EPOC to good effect. Final sections look at EPOC's evolving support for Java, the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and the Wireless Markup Language (WML), as well as its Organizer Programming Language (OPL), for scripting applications.
With such a rich set of features and APIs, plus wide support from big players in the wireless industry, EPOC is clearly a strong choice for mobile computing solutions that merits a book like this one to navigate all of its complexities. In all, Professional Symbian Programming is a must for any C++ developer tackling EPOC for the first time. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Overview and history of the EPOC 5 platform, Symbian and the future of wireless devices, the Windows EPOC emulator, building and running EPOC applications, threads and context switching, power management, event handling, built-in EPOC applications, C++ EPOC fundamentals, EPOC classes, data types, classes, memory management and error-handling techniques, naming conventions, the thin template pattern, two-phase construction, strings and descriptors, Unicode strings, panics and assertions, debugging support, streams and stores, working with files, miscellaneous APIs, EIKON GUI, UI features, the EPOC resource compiler, designing and programming with dialogs and stock controls, standard dialogs, EIKON graphics programming and repainting tips, handling user events, key and pointer events, CONE APIs, installation hints, Battleship (sample game), device-independent drawing techniques, changing EIKON's UI, reference designs, communications programming, sample game communications protocols, active objects, client/server internals for EPOC, Java support, the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), using Wireless Markup Language (WML)/WMLScript in EPOC, porting C to Epoch C++, Organizer Programming Language (OPL).
Online discussion of the topics in this book available at Wrox's P2P site
Professional Symbian Programming starts with the basics: where EPOC came from, how it works, the demands and opportunities of mobile devices. The book contains an authoritative and comprehensive introduction to EPOC's C++ APIs for strings, error handling and data management, GUIs, comms and system programming. The full range of Symbian technology is covered, including the Java implementation, WAP, PC-based connectivity and rapid application development with the BASIC-like OPL language. Porting existing code to EPOC is also covered. A CD-ROM includes all four EPOC Release 5 SDKs, emulators for popular EPOC devices, and over 40 example projects in C++, Java, OPL, Visual Basic and Delphi, showing EPOC's capability as a platform for both stand-alone and connected applications.
For C++ programmers with any level of experience, Java programmers, consultants and trainers basing their activity on Symbian and EPOC, or for anyone with an interest in system design, this is the source of information on Symbian's technology.
