Software Development for the QUALCOMM BREW Platform (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

<p>QUALCOMM Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) is a development platform allowing software developers to create applications that operate on all handsets utilizing QUALCOMM CDMA chipsets. This cutting-edge book introduces BREW and describes differences from product competitors like J2ME, Palm OS, Symbian, and Pocket PC Phone Edition. </p>

<p>BREW offers a number of key advantages over other software environments, like secure application licensing, integrated billing, and down-to-the-metal APIs for high-performance applications. You'll learn what it takes to develop applications for BREW&emdash;not just development tools, but the methodology required to bring an application to a carrier for distribution. </p>

</>Over 1 million BREW-enabled handsets shipped during BREW's first year. And BREW is involved with both major domestic carriers (such as Verizon Wireless, boasting over 37 million subscribers) and overseas carriers. Thus, BREW is poised as a key player in the wireless handset space. </p>

About the Author

Ray Rischpater is a freelance consultant and author with over 8 years' experience writing about and developing for handheld computing platforms. During this time, Ray has participated in the development of Internet technologies for J2ME, QUALCOMM BREW, Palm OS, Newton, and Magic Cap, and proprietary operating systems for vertical handheld computers. In addition, he’s consulted during the development of websites for wireless devices using HTML and WAP. Ray is currently a senior software engineer at Rocket Mobile Inc. and holds a bachelor’s degree in pure mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (September 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159059116X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590591161
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #909,125 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars stay away!, June 15, 2004

By A Customer

This book simply rehashes Qualcomm's SDK docs and adds some sloppy example code and some absolutely incorrect statements about BREW. I know people who have contracted work to the author's BREW software company. The company described many technical limitations of BREW, which were later proved simply not true. The company's programmers simply did not understand BREW. This book continues in that tradition.

You are better off sticking with Qualcomm's SDK docs, which are skimpy but more correct and concise than this book. If you really want a gentle intro to BREW, Ralph Barbagallo 's "Wireless Game Development in C/C++ With Brew" is OK, but you will still need Qualcomm's SDK docs.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction..., June 26, 2004

By	Martin Crowley - See all my reviews

Rischpater's book is an excellent introduction, reviewing both the existing documentation and the various gotchas you're likely to run into when starting BREW development. He organizes the work by the kinds of things you're likely to do (gui, network, etc.), making it easy to start reading the book, get comfortable with the tools and Ray's style, and then skip to things that relate to the application you're trying to write.

Especially helpful is Ray's inclusion not just of sample code, but of an empty sample application which is powerful enough to be the basis of a complete application. Not simply a "Hello World", I use this starting point now any time I work with BREW, both when trying things out and when actually building a real application.

It's a good complement to Barbagallo's book, especially if you're not writing games. I have both, and look at Rischpater's more often now that I've read both.