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Symbian OS Explained: Effective C++ Programming for Smartphones (Symbian Press) Review by J. C. Stichbury
Some clarification from the author
As the author of Symbian OS Explained, I'd like to clarify the purpose of the book and explain the rationale behind the example code.
Firstly, yes the book is intended to introduce the concepts of Symbian OS, to an audience who are familiar with the C++ programming language. But it's not an introductory book which walks you through your first "hello world" application, shows you how to use the tools or how to install the SDK. Instead it zooms in on the characteristics of the platform and explains them in detail. It's intended to give an intimate understanding so anyone can use Symbian OS to write code efficiently and effectively. The style of the book is deliberately light-weight so as not to be intimidating to a beginner whilst remaining entertaining and informative to those more experienced. I tried to base it on Scott Meyers "Effective C++" but don't claim to have in any way emulated that magnificent work.
The book deliberately doesn't have a single example which runs through the entire book. I chose to use code (or pseudo-code) snippets that were as short as possible to illustrate a point, rather than introduce accidental complexity by having to explain extraneous points about unrelated code along the way. I think most of the code examples are short and to the point - maybe they just appear longer at first because a new reader has to put in the effort to understand them. I defend the examples as being only as long as necessary to be useful. And, believe me, my copy editor and type setter wouldn't have let me get away with more code than was necessary!
As for what the examples are about, again, that's deliberate. They're not real-world because I wanted to abstract any complexity that arises from mapping a technology to a programming language.
One of the reviewers here quotes the API methods I used for a client-server example. In Symbian OS, a server performs work on its behalf so I chose that it offer clients the 12 Labours of Hercules. The client calls the method appropriate to the Labour they want performed. Sure, it's a step to remember your Greek mythology, but the example is sound. I'm a client, I want a particular task done, I use Hercules to do it. It's hardly a complex example and, if the number of downloads of the example code I've had is anything to go by, has helped a number of Symbian OS developers work through what is recognised to be one of the most difficult programming paradigms for the platform.
Don't take my word for it though, check out the sample chapter on the Symbian web site!