Being a qualified newbie in Palm development, and a very experienced
software engineer with over 10 years experience in software development
across many platforms, excluding mainframe, I consider myself qualified
to weigh in with my two cents worth. Before VB, serious software
development for business was limited to engineers. There was a lot of
hacks out there slamming C into devices. But computer science is only
half science - the study of alorythms, a sturdy foundation of compiler
construction, and a plenty of Object Oriented programming was enough to
get a decent job. But the other half is art. By art I mean the ability
to look at a GUI and determine what is wrong with it. To be able to
match mental models to software applications. The ability to create
metaphores that please the user and excite them about work!
VB changed who could program and allowed more "normal" people whom are
not scientists to enhance the grey science part of software
engineering. Real innovative leaps were made by laymen solving problems
that THEY had experienced. VB created a layer of abstraction with its'
visual interface (drag and drop) and notion of properties which has been
extended into COM / DCOM and other Microsoft crap like windows DNA.
Palm development is still a toddler. It doesn't take much to see the
potential of this platform, but it does take a lot of time to REACH
it.... The tools are not mainstream and there is not REALLY GOOD
documentation for anything. Charles Peitzold wrote a very famous
windows programming book that became everyones Windows programming bible
because it was easy to understand and he made everything straight
forward. Many other great authors stand on his shoulders for his
success. But there is no bible like Charles wrote for palm. The best
seems to be Palm Programming by Rhodes and McKeehan, but it is not good
enough. Someone needs to kick it up a notch.
So there! Good tools and GREAT documentation make a platform
successful. There are already plenty of good ideas for this platform,
but programming here still sucks!
There is ONE major difference that in the end will make this a truly
great platform and that is the ladys and gents that make up this forum
and those like John Marshall, et. al. that contribute their knowledge on
a regular basis to the newsgroups and forums. Microsoft never had nice
poeple like this group does.
Matt Mason
p.s. Satellite Forms is just too damn expensive!
Nick Rossi wrote:
>
> Satelite forms is as easy-to-use a tool as anyone would want. It is relatively
>inexpensive for anyone serious about learning what
> is possible on the palm, and can be expanded with c extentions at will. Additional
>entry level tools for the palm would not be
> commercially viable and so any that pop up would not be stable due to the small base
>of potential users (unlike the basic pc which
> drove microsoft and IBM to suport the basic interpreter as a fundemental tool for
>the PC.)
>
> Lack of tools on the platform is not a limiting factor for anyone interested in
>adding the palm to their toolbox. A possible
> weakness here is a shortage of solid algriithmic fundementalists with solid acedemic
>background in software development. Developing
> software for yourself is a hobby. Developing software for others to use is a
>profession. People working in the middle will always
> be frustrated by the lack of focus by the industry on what they are interested in.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fawcett, Mitch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Friday, December 10, 1999 8:32 AM
> Subject: RE: Excellent new article
>
> I too think the articles in Dr. Dobbs journal are encouraging; but on the
> other hand, Dobb's is mostly for hardcore techies. I look forward to the day
> when we see how-to articles in more mainstream magazines. That won't happen
> until the development tools become more mainstream. I look back on what the
> Basic interpreter did for pc's. Does anybody out there think that some sort
> of interpreter with Basic-like syntax would be a major boon, at least in
> terms of making Palm programming more attractive to hobbiests and even
> professional programmers? I've played around with CBAS, and with all due
> respect, it's a start, but it's a long way off from being a serious
> development tool. Does anyone have any opinions about why such a critter
> doesn't exist commercially yet? Are there economic factors that I don't see?
>
> Please don't flame me with comments about Basic being an unworthy lower life
> form on the language food chain. That's my opinion too. I'm talking about
> something different. Programmers have to adopt a piece of hardware from the
> standpoint of which language they will use, and forcing them to learn and
> program in C is a roadblock for a lot of otherwise smart and talented
> people.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Glenn Bachmann [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Sent: Thursday, December 09, 1999 4:45 PM
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: Re: Excellent new article
> >
> > At 11:42 AM 12/9/99 -0800, you wrote:
> > >For those who haven't yet seen it, may I commend you to an excellent
> > >introductory Palm programming article written by Michael Yam in the
> > >latest (Jan. 2000) issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal.
> >
> > Mr. Yam's article is indeed excellent. Much to our surprise, Dr. Dobb's
> > has
> > really picked up the ball on Palm programming. I think they've run a
> > Palm-related article in almost every issue this year (including an article
> > on Shared Libraries by our very own Greg Winton!).
> >
> > I'm really encouraged - since the demise of Handheld Systems Journal,
> > there
> > hasn't been a lot of action in the area of magazine content for Palm
> > developers. For those of you that are hungry for tips and tricks (and
> > aren't we all), you may want to get a subscription to Dr. Dobbs. They seem
> > to have adopted the Palm as a target for regular content.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Glenn Bachmann
> > Bachmann Software and Services, LLC
> > http://www.bachmannsoftware.com
> > Software for Handheld & Wireless Computing, Windows and the Internet
> > Authors of "Palm Programming", published by Macmillan/Sams, and home of
> > Bachmann Print Manager, the only graphical printing solution for the Palm
> > Computing Platform
