Category: Development Process

This page was last modified 00:10, 18 April 2008.

From Forum Nokia Wiki

Warnings:

• this article is a work in progress
• this article focuses on the S60 platform
• experts out there: please help us to expand this page, so beginners can greatly benefit from it

So, you want to develop mobile applications, and don't know where and how to start ? Well, don't worry as many of us have already been in that situation.

Where my application is going to run ?

First of all, you should know what is your target platform or devices. Basically, there are three available platforms for Nokia phones, Series 40 (S40), S60, and maemo. A platform can be regarded as a common set of functionalities that are based on a common operating system. For example, the following figure from Forum Nokia depicts the available platforms.

What programming languages could I use to develop my application?

Here is a short list:

• S40
  • Java ME
  • Flash Lite

• S60
  • Java ME
  • Flash Lite
  • C++
  • C (Open C)
  • Python
  • Web Runtime (WRT)
  • plus a number of other, usually exploratory runtimes, like Ruby, Lua, etc (no need to bother with these though if you are just stepping on to mobile development)
  • also Nokia has announced that Microsoft Silverlight support is coming

• maemo
  • C/C++
  • Python
  • Java
  • Ruby
  • Mono

Ok, but which language to choose?

How do I start programming in the S60 platform ?

The S60 platform is divided into “Editions”. An Edition means an evolved version of the S60 platform. At the time of writing this article, the current S60 platform is S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2. The “Feature Pack” means additional features built into the platform, but not evolved enough to justify a new Edition.

Please refer to this document for a quick overview of the S60 3rd Edition platform. The first step in programming for the S60 platform is to choose your programming language. Then, you will have to download and install the SDKs and tools that you will need.

C++ tools and SDKs

This page provides a general background on which C++ tools you will need.

There are some peculiarities in C++ when it comes to programming for Symbian OS. This page at the Symbian OS library lists some of the C++ idioms and conventions specific to Symbian OS.

Some other guidelines can be found here.

Java tools and SDKs

This page provides a basic overview on how to use Java ME.

Flash Lite tools

Here is a page on how to get started with Flash Lite development.

Open C tools

Python tools

• Overview of Python
• Installing PyS60
• Python S60 documentation
• Guide for creating a standalone application in 2nd edition
• Creating standalone application in 3rd edition
• List of PyS60 Extensions
• How to create PyS60 extension modules
• Code Examples for PyS60

Web Runtime (WRT) tools