Mark Wilcox's Forum Nokia Blog

Multi-language Programming, Python, Flash Lite, C++, Java, Widgets

2008-12-16T17:03:33+02:00

I've been working with some other Forum Nokia Champions and expert developers in the last few months to create some resources for Multi-language programming (mixing your favourite runtimes). The result is a series of papers for the Symbian Developer Network.

In them you can find out about:

1) The architecture for applications mixing languages

2) The strengths and weaknesses of various combinations of languages

3) How to combine Flash Lite with C++ or Java (with examples from KuneriLite and Jarpa)

4) How to combine Python with Flash Lite or C++ (with examples from Flyer and a tutorial on writing PyS60 extensions)

5) How to extend WRT widgets

One of the suggestions I made on my blog here before and also in the papers has already been done. One of the authors of the paper covering Python, Jussi Toivola (aka GameDude) has ported pygame to PyS60 Community Edition. Now you can write games with sound effects in Python, taking advantage of the native performance provided by the SDL.

Please read and enjoy! Many thanks are due to Bernd Wiegmann, Felipe Andrade, Ugur Kaner, Jukka Hamalainen, Mikko Ohtamaa & Jussi Toivola, as well as the wonderful folks at the SDN.

Mark

Python for Series 60 Community Edition!

2008-09-04T13:36:53+03:00

Ever wanted to add modules to the core PyS60 distribution rather than having to find them from all over the place?

Ever wanted to build a single executable for your Python application that didn't need the interpreter installed separately or as an embedded SIS file AND have no clashes with other interpreter versions or problems with uninstallation and dependencies?

Ever wanted to try out a new build system for Symbian OS, where the build scripts are written in Python (SCons for Symbian anyone)?

If you had these things what would you do with them? You could:

Write commercial PyS60 applications!
Port/Intergrate new modules more easily.
Fix bugs in PyS60 core or modules that affect your apps rather than work around them.
Much, much more...

Thankfully the fantastic folks at Red Innovation have brought us Python for Series 60 Community Edition that provides all of this. I can take no credit here, I've only tested that the build system works. At the moment it's still really only for enthusiasts and early adopters as the installation and setup is a bit complex to start working on it, but there are plans to simplify things in the future.

The project is hosted at Launchpad so that's the place to go with your questions and bug reports.

Personally, I'd love to see what people could do if we add Pygame support, since the main dependency, SDL, is already ported to S60. Unfortunately I have no idea when I'll have time to work on this. If anyone else wants to get started I'll be happy to support/mentor them if they need it though - just comment this blog or drop me an email via the discussion boards. I've already added a "blueprint" for this to Launchpad, but there's no detail yet.

Perhaps one day Nokia will be able to take patches and extensions from the community release back to the official release...

Anyway, enjoy this great new resource.

Mark

New Stuff for Symbian C++ Developers

2008-09-02T12:05:01+03:00

I thought I'd write a quick post to highlight some of the things I've been up to lately.

First, there's Multimedia on Symbian OS: Inside the Convergence Device, which I co-authored for Symbian Press. It should be available next month. Lots of great stuff for multimedia developers, or those wanting to add multimedia to their applications. It also does a really good job (well I would say that wouldn't I) of explaining the multimedia architecture, so you can understand how it all works underneath.

Then there's a pair of paper's I've written for the Symbian Developer Network. One explains how to port software from Linux to Symbian OS and the other explains how I ported an open source guitar tuner application (with example code).

I may well be talking about this and other porting work I've been doing at the Mobile Developer Days in Berlin next week. There will be lots of interesting things to learn about there, including plenty of presentations and tutorials from Trolltech about Qt on mobile devices. Forum Nokia are hosting tutorials on Flash Lite and Web Runtime. You can also learn about Python, sensors and much, much more. Don't miss it!

Mark