This book covers the fundamental aspects of C++ on Symbian OS, using simple and straightforward explanations to help you write effective code for Symbian OS smartphones.

Key technologies covered include:

• client-server architecture
• descriptors and dynamic containers
• active objects, threads and processes
• leaves, cleanup stack and 2-phase construction
• thin templates, good API design, memory optimization, debug and test macros
• the ECOM plug-in framework

Using example code and descriptions of best practice to deconstruct Symbian OS, each section guides you to what you should and should not do, giving cleasr explanations and pointing out commonly-made mistakes along the way.

Symbian OS Explainedcan be read cover-to-cover or dipped into as a reference that will improve your code style when programming with Symbian OS.

Source code is available from www.symbian.com/books

Symbian OS Explained is part of the Symbian Press series. Written by Symbian OS software engineers, titles in the series are replete with expert knowledge that will allow the reader to develop better software, faster.

Symbian OS Explained can be read cover-to-cover or dipped into as a reference that will improve your code style when programming with Symbian OS.

* This book trades comprehensive coverage for an approach which gives developers insight on how to code for the Symbian OS.

* It is divided into self-contained chapters, each discussing specific and important features of Symbian OS.

* Jo Stichbury covers key areas of the core operating system in detail, to give the reader a deep understanding.

* The updated version of Symbian OS Explained focuses on the latest development, Symbian OS v9.

* In effect, the book is a "porting guide" for developers making the leap from earlier versions of the platform to Symbian OS v9, and also as a reference for those developers who have come to Symbian OS later and work exclusively with the v9 platform.

This book explains the key features of Symbian OS and will help you to write effective C++ code. It focuses on aspects of good C++ style that apply particularly to Symbian OS.

21 items are used to target particular aspects of the operating system and provide a simple and straightforward exploration of coding fundamentals. Using example code and descriptions of best practice to deconstruct Symbian OS, the items guide you to what you should and should not do (and why), pointing out commonly-made mistakes along the way.

Technologies covered include:

• client-server architecture
• descriptors and dynamic containers
• active objects, threads and processes
• leaves, cleanup stack and 2-phase construction
• thin templates, good API design, memory optimization, debug and test macros
• the ECOM plug-in framework

Symbian OS Explainedcan be read cover-to-cover or dipped into as a reference that will improve your code style when programming with Symbian OS.

Jo Stichburywas educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she held the Stothert Bye-Fellowship. She has an MA in Natural Sciences (Chemistry) and a PhD in the chemistry of organometallic Molybdenum complexes. After a brief spell in postdoctoral research at Imperial College, she joined Psion Software in 1997, when Symbian OS was still known fondly as EPOC32. She has worked with the operating system ever since, within the Vase, Connectivity and Security teams of Symbian, and also for Advansys, Sony Ericsson and Nokia.

As the contents of this book will reveal, Jo has a somewhat unhealthy interest in the Clangers and Greek mythology. She currently lives in Vancouver with her partner and two cats.

Foreword.

About This Book.

Author Biography.

Author’s Acknowledgments.

Symbian Press Acknowledgments.

1. Class name conventions on Symbian OS.

2. Leaves: Symbian OS Exceptions.

3. The Cleanup Stack.

4. Two-Phase Construction.

5. Descriptors: Symbian OS Strings.

6.  Good Descriptor Style.

7. Dynamic Arrays and Buffers.

8. Event-Driven Multitasking Using Active Objects.

9. Active Objects Under the Hood.

10. Symbian OS Threads and Processes.

11. The Client-Server Framework in Theory.

12. The Client-Server Framework in Practice.

13. Binary Types.

14. ECOM.

15. Panics.

16. Bug Detection Using ASSERTs.

17. Debug Macros and Test Classes.

18. Compatibility.

19. Thin Templates.

20. Expose a Comprehensive and Comprehensible API.

21. Good Code Style.

Appendix: Code Checklist.

Glossary.

Bibliography and Online Resources. 

Index.