Writing Mobile Code: Essential Software Engineering for Building Mobile Applications [Paperback]

Ivo Salmre (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321269314 | ISBN-13: 978-0321269317 | Publication Date: February 11, 2005

Mobile devices have now become both much richer and much morewidespread - just look at the capabilities of the newest cell phones. At the sametime advances such as the .NET Compact Framework have opened the worldof application development for these devices to a much larger group ofpotential developers. Most of the material available to help traditionalapplication developers adapt to the very different world of mobile applications(including books) has focused on particular features sets of either thedevelopment tools or the devices. This is the first concise and practicalengineering book that lays out the principals and methods of good mobilesoftware design and uses concrete examples to back up the theaory. While thenumerous examples use the .NET Compact Framework, the general principalsdiscussed are valid for all mobile device development. This is a book which isdestined to be a well-respected guide to this growing field for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Praise for Writing Mobile Code

"This book will be your new bible for the rapidly developing world of mobile computing. From design to performance, the information you need to be successful is here."

—Doug Ellis, Area Technical Manager, Cognos Corporation

"In the often resource-constrained world of mobile device development, solid software engineering practices are essential to success. Ivo's book, with its emphasis on code performance, is refreshing and timelymdand it delivers!"

—Bill Draper, Director of Software Development, MICROS Systems, Inc.

"To write mobile, you need to think mobile. This book is a big first step in getting your head into the right gear."

—Jon Skeet, Independent Software Engineer

"Writing Mobile Code is an indispensable resource for any programmer, whether or not you are writing mobile code. That's because Salmre not only teaches you how to program mobile devices, he also teaches you how to be a good programmer. Salmre's writing is easy to follow and has real-world application. He teaches the novice how to develop robust applications with the user in mind, and he reminds us veterans that keeping things simple is very important. I am recommending this book to my peers and anyone who needs to write a program."

—Michael Maitland, Sr. Systems Architect, Target Systems

"A great reference and learning tool that covers all the main issues for software engineering on mobile devices, this is an essential book for anyone who is developing software on mobile platforms. Designing software on a mobile device has a lot of unique challenges; this book walks the developer through all of them."

—Mark Gilbert, Software Designer, Microsoft Corporation

"In this book, Ivo Salmre leverages his experience as a designer of the .Net Compact Framework and teaches us how to develop effective mobile applications. It covers the entire process of designing and developing mobile applications with a focus on performance optimization. Although the examples in this book are given in C# and Visual Basic languages, it would prove useful to mobile developers of all platforms. I highly recommend it."

—Michael Yuan, PhD., Mobile Software Consultant

"Just when you thought you knew how to write mobile code, this book makes you reconsider the things you took for granted. Salmre provides a balanced mix of software recipes and forays into the philosophy of mobile development that will help any mobile developer to write better apps."

—Alex Feinman, Software Engineer, OpenNETCF.org

Mobile computing devices have evolved from fixed-purpose communications tools to compelling and extensible mass-market computing platforms. Now, they stand poised to offer truly ubiquitous and mobile computing—and to revolutionize the way people work, communicate, and interact with the world around them.

Writing Mobile Code is the first definitive guide to writing applications for the new generation of mobile devices. In this accessible, hands-on reference, readers will find the principles and methods of great mobile software design and real-world examples to support them. While the many examples use the .NET Compact Framework, C#, and Visual Basic .NET, the design and engineering concepts Salmre discusses apply to all mobile-computing technologies and platforms.

Highlights include

• Performance considerations, including memory management, multithreading, XML, and graphics

• Designing the right user interface

• Establishing appropriate data-access and communications models

• Strategies for packaging and deploying your mobile application

Whether you are new to designing mobile device software or a seasoned mobile-computing developer, this book will give you a deep understanding of what is unique and interesting about mobile development and how to build successful mobile applications.

In short, Writing Mobile Code is destined to be the seminal guide to this growing field for years to come.

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

About the Author

About the Author

Ivo Salmre has worked at Microsoft for nearly 12 years. For almost 10 years Ivo worked in Redmond, Washington, as part of the design team for Microsoft's development tools for servers, desktops, and mobile devices. He was the Lead Program Manager for the design of the .NET Compact Framework. Following this, Ivo worked in the UK as the Product Manager for .NET and Developer Technologies. He now works in Aachen, Germany, at Microsoft's European Innovation Center (EMIC), doing research on advanced programming technologies for mobile devices and networks. Ivo holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 792 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (February 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321269314
• ISBN-13: 978-0321269317
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Computers & Technology > Mobile & Wireless Computing > Programming

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars useful for any mobile development environment, March 4, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Writing Mobile Code: Essential Software Engineering for Building Mobile Applications (Paperback)

Salmre gives a very thorough exposition of the issues involved in writing applications for mobile devices. Where you face strong constraints in available memory, screen size and lack of a mouse. Plus network connectivity might be low bandwidth and intermittent.

His analysis is mostly within the context of .NET Compact Framework. You can regard this as a slimmed down .NET/C#, analogous to the way that J2ME/MIDP is a reduced J2SE.

Several chapters transcend the Compact Framework context and apply equally well to any development environment for mobile code. Like the chapter on using a state machine to model your application. Or the chapter on whether to use XML for data interchange. These chapters, like the rest of the book, have examples in C#. But the examples are short and clearly enough written to be understandable even if C# isn't your cup of tea. So you can use the examples as pseudocode, to port to other languages.

Actually, a closer scrutiny of the book reveals that most of it is written in a logical and general enough manner to be handy for any mobile development. The guidelines in most chapters can be thusly used.