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.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 43 Ratings

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?

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.

A disappointment - particulary for an O'Reilly! - 2009-09-21
Reviewer Rating:
Really not worth it, especially new. Despite O'Reilly's excellent reputation, this one volume is not particularly useful to either beginning Palm coders or experts. It discusses a number of possible programming languages and software, but all examples seem to be with their own specific setup, complete with their custom "stationery". (Yes, you can download it from their website.) The examples do not include many common tasks - like working with dates - and in some cases do not even function as written! Truly a disappointment.

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.

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