Re: Palm / Pocket PC development?

From: Jim Cooper (jim.cooper_at_virgin.net)
Date: 08/26/04 

Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 10:31:08 +0100

> Can anyone recommend a solution that works with BOTH?

The two OSes are quite different in many ways. This puts significant
limitations on any tool that works with both - they tend to end up as
lowest common denominator efforts (an immediately obvious example is
that both OSes have UI controls that the other doesn't). In at least one
case (NS-BASIC), there are Palm and PPC versions that are not
compatible, and there are good reasons for them doing that.

Another big problem is that syncing/data trasfer works quite differently
on both platforms. You may be able to share sync logic, but that's about
it - the methods for getting data on and off devices during a sync are
wildly different.

Make sure any tool you choose is actually capable of doing what you need
on both platforms - this is not always that obvious.

FWIW, I wouldn't go this route for anything but the very simplest of
applications. I would pick a good tool on each platform and have two
code bases. For most PDA applications there is actually very little code
to share, as they tend not to have much business logic. To make an
application look like it was designed for each platform, I think this is
the best way.

My choices for tools are PocketStudio for PalmOS work
(http://www.winsoft.sk), and Visual Studio .NET and the CF for PPC work.
The PalmOS is easy to learn - **much** more so than any of the variety
of Windows APIs (and PS has wizards that will build complete apps in
minutes), and you will be able to get going with the CF in no time.

Cheers,
Jim Cooper

_______________________________________________

Jim Cooper jim@falafelsoft.com
Falafel Software http://www.falafelsoft.co.uk
_______________________________________________

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