| Overview
With more than 16 million PDAs shipped to date, Palm has defined
the market for handhelds, having dominated this class of computing
devices ever since it began to outpace competitors six years ago.
The company's strength is the Palm OS, and developers loyal to this
powerful and versatile operating system have created more than
10,000 applications for it. Devices from Handspring, Sony, Symbol,
HandEra, Kyocera, and Samsung now use Palm OS, and the number of
registered Palm Developers has jumped to 130,000. If you know C or
C++, and want to join those who are satisfying the demand for
wireless applications, then Palm OS Programming: The Developer's
Guide, Second Edition is the book for you. With expanded
coverage of the Palm OS--up to and including the latest version,
4.0--this new edition shows intermediate to experienced C
programmers how to build a Palm application from the ground up.
There is even useful information for beginners. Everything you need
to write a Palm OS application is here, from user interface design,
to coding a handheld application, to writing an associated desktop
conduit. All the major development environments are discussed,
including commercial products such as Metroworks CodeWarrior,
Java-based environments such as Sun KVM and IBM VisualAge Micro
Edition, and the Free Software Foundation's PRC-Tools or GCC. The
focus, however, is C programming with CodeWarrior and PRC-Tools.
New additions to the second edition include:
A tutorial that takes a C programmer through the
installation of necessary tools and the creation of a small
handheld application. A new chapter on memory, with a comprehensive
discussion of the Memory Manager APIs. Greatly expanded discussions of forms, forms
objects, and new APIs for the Palm OS. Updated chapters on conduits that reflect the newer
Conduit Development Kit.
The best-selling first edition of this book is still considered the
definitive guide for serious Palm programmers; it's used as the
basis of Palm's own developer training materials. Our expanded
second edition promises to set the standard for the next generation
of Palm developers.
Editorial ReviewsProduct DescriptionPalm OS Programming: The Developer's Guide, Second Edition shows intermediate to experienced C programmers how to build a Palm application from the ground up. The book follows up the success of our best-selling first edition with expanded coverage of the Palm OS, up to and including the latest version, 4.0. If you know C or C++ and want to join the demand for wireless applications, then this is the book for you. With useful information for everyone from beginning to experienced Palm programmers, it covers everything you need to write a Palm OS application: from user interface design, to coding a handheld application, to writing an associated desktop conduit. The first edition of this book is still considered the definitive guide for serious Palm programmers; it's used as the basis of Palm's own developer training materials. Our expanded second edition promises to set the standard for the next generation of Palm developers. | Amazon.com ReviewWritten for the more experienced C/C++ developer moving to Palm development, Palm OS Programming, Second Edition sets an admirable standard as a programming tutorial that will let anyone get onboard with the best techniques and APIs used to build state-of-the-art Palm applications. Few programming titles are as well written as this one. The authors consistently engage the reader with a tone that's smart and surprisingly personable given that this is a technical book. They first examine what is special about the Palm platform, including the best way to build user interfaces, plus dos and don'ts for new software. Early sections dissect real software (DateBk4 from Pimlico Software) with commentary from one of its inventors. After surveying the wide array of Palm development options (including CodeWarrior and the Palm OS Emulator, POSE), it's on to a simple Palm program. While many programming texts use samples that grow in complexity, this title is anchored by a single case study--a sales application. As the authors cover the basics of Palm development, from event handling basics, APIs for memory management, and form control programming, they provide the APIs you'll need to know. Then they show how their case study makes use of these features. (This approach is effective, though it assumes a bit of programming knowledge on the part of the reader.) Standout sections here inspect what makes Palm development special, including memory management techniques, plus there's a fascinating look at automated testing tools (called Gremlins), which can find bugs by executing thousands of simulated user actions. Later sections delve into what it takes to create HotSync capabilities for your Palm applications. These modules, called Conduits, clearly present a programming challenge, and the coverage here will benefit developers of all levels of experience on the Palm platform. The Palm platform has been a real success story, and Palm OS Programming: The Developer's Guide reveals why. It shows you how to think like a real Palm developer and gives you the specific APIs and programming techniques you need to know in order to write professional-quality Palm applications in C/C++. --Richard Dragan |
Other Readers Also Read | Top Sellers in This Category | Browse Similar Topics | | | Top Level Categories:Sub-Categories: | | | | |
Reader Reviews From Amazon (Ranked by 'Helpfulness') Average Customer Rating: based on 42 reviews. Good., 2007-12-01 Reviewer rating: I got it for my son and h seems to be really pleased with it. | Not Bad, 2007-03-02 Reviewer rating: This book has a decent overview and will get you started. Some of the organization, material, and graphics are well thought out. I like that it covers CodeWarrior but also cygwin tools. It pulls a lot of material together that could otherwise take time to hunt for. Though, still, those with the SDK may find that is all you need and may not touch this book. | Palm OS Programming The Developer's Guide, 2004-01-02 Reviewer rating: The information was not as detailed in some areas as I had hoped. It would be a handy reference guide except! The pages are separating from the binder and I expect that in a few months I will have many lose pages stuffed in the book, Especially in areas I reference often. A good reference book should withstand repeated usage, and this one will not.This book was bought new in mid November and has had just one months useage. | Excellent - Latest Edition will always be on my bookshelf, 2003-11-06 Reviewer rating: After dabling with a Palm for awhile, and browsing the 1st ed of this book, I decided to get serious about Palm programming. So I obtained the latest edition, 2nd edition and wondered why there isn't a 3rd edition; as the second edition does not cover higher than Palm OS 4.1. However, given that, I find now that I am reading this 2nd edition from cover to cover. It is truely excellent. Yes there are areas it would be nice to cover in more detail; but there are also specific books such as Palm Database Programming that go into these areas in more depth. I have lectured at college, and am planning to give a semester course in Palm Programming, and I intend to have each of my students buy this book as the major text. I shall always buy the latest most current edition of this for my bookshelf. Excellent work and praise for the two authors! Where is the awaited 3rd edition? | Excellent Palm programming book, 2003-10-09 Reviewer rating: Have you ever wanted to get into Palm programming, but were unsure about how to go about it? Well wait no more, O'Reilly (I'm sure you know about them) has a really
great book on Palm Programming called "Palm OS Programming - The
developer's guide". This is one of the best programming books I have ever read, and I read
them daily. The content is clear and even though it includes extensive
source code examples is not boring - a typical problem with programming
books. The book starts with the special requirements of programming for mobile
organizer devices, and proceeds to develep a reasonable sized application,
right through to writing a desktop conduit. By the time you have finished
the book, you should be ready to create your own Palm program. The only thing I would change about the book is that it does not go into
handling categories in database items (IE GUI and coding examples), I'm
sure these are available from PalmSource, but I would have liked to have
it all in the book. I've always liked O'Reilly books, but this is absolutely the best I have
read yet. |
Some information above was provided using data from Amazon.com. View at Amazon > |
| |
|
|
