Daniel Rocha's Forum Nokia Blog - Commercial S60 applications in Python

2009-10-05T07:59:41Z

Great topic!
The main issues you listed are very well picked
kitchen renovation Melbourne

Commercial S60 applications in Python

2009-03-23T17:22:18Z

Very interesting article and very inspiring. I think that Python s60 will be the way i will learn python.

2009-02-21T21:36:09Z

I think that the last item is the main one

"Culture: Python developers are hackers, used to a lot of freedom in other platforms."

2008-12-02T22:14:38Z

Good points. We have been trying to bring PyS60 into mainstream commercial scene through SWF2Go which allows to use Flash Lite with PyS60 or Net60. Developer can also embed PyS60 into application's SIS using it.

One such sample application "Be My Lips", I already posted SWF2Go wiki some days ago. Check www.swf2go.com/wiki/

We are currently working on our own commecrial product based on Flash Lite + PyS60. Will be posting about it soon.

best,

// chall3ng3r //

Commercial

2008-12-02T08:55:45Z

This is something I've been thinking a great deal lately.

There's one thing you mention, but leave to background: the COMMERCIAL aspect. The problems you list are real and need solution, but are mostly technical issues concerning developer.

Another set of questions are about business: how to get money from user(s) in exchange of software/service.

..sorry, this new TINY blog reply box is quite unusable. Impossible to write any longer replies. Shame if that was the plan :(

Short summary of the rest: protect source code, sw registration system, anti-cracher python measures, add-on services...

Cheers,

--jouni slowly getting annoyed about the "improved" FN website

Automatic Symbian Signed waiver

2008-12-01T08:06:57Z

Hi,

Just thought I'd add that although using Express Signed and hoping is not a viable strategy, it should be fine for Python applications that only fail the low-memory tests because they get an automatic waiver for that anyway - it's specifically mentioned in the "complete guide" document.

Mark

Newbie question

2008-12-01T07:19:21Z

Hi, I'm new to python (and PyS60), I started documenting and studying this language because I want to develop a "weekly alarm" in Python (basically a clone of Handy Alarm). The default alarm clock in S60 (I have a nokia E65) is only daily, and it's sooo annoying setting up the alarm every day.
I discarded JavaME and C++ because they are too complex compared to python. Do you think I can manage to do such a simple application and create a sis file?? I would like that this application starts automatically after power on the phone. Is it doable in Python or would be a pain? thanks

2008-12-01T00:46:45Z

Hello Daniel,

You address a hot topic in PyS60 :D

Mikko's comments quotes that good deployment is quite feasible with PyS60 Community edition, they just need to make the process easy and simple for developers. Extension development - I wonder if Nokia has any contractors for this?

Jukka, thanks for listening and we are looking forward to further releases and improvements packaging and runtime deployment part. Also a major release before Xmas would be motivating :D

Python developers are hackers. They prefer easy way out :D

Br,
Croozeus

The future looks bright

2008-11-30T17:38:36Z

Hi Daniel,

The problems I mentioned in blog have been largely solved since the writing.

1. Express signing has not yet complained about any apps we have signed

2. PyS60 Community Edition starts to feel solid. We have rolled out few commercial apps now with it. We are planning to make some sort of "easy" release out of it - no SDK needed. But deployment still needs very much of expertise and cannot be done by anyone. You can much blame the amateurish design of symbiansigned.com here.

3. Further, PyS60 CE plans to coordinate some extension development

4. Symbian architecture is not very human friendly and this probably cannot be fixed easily - especially untraceable EXEC errors are hugely annoying. Maybe open sourcing Symbian helps a bit, since we can actuall know what's crashing there (internal developers don't havet this kind of problems?)

Also, Jukka has mentioned that the Nokia has cried to developer cry for difficult deployment. Python for S60 is easy to develop, pain to deploy. Kudos for Nokia to listening to community.

PyS60 based on Py2.2 is not very solid and I have observed that the developers usually shoot themselves to foot when they choose this "agile Python approach." Mysterious socket errors and application hangs on the device might even lead to the point that otherwise well behaving application cannot be released. But I expect this thing being solved when Nokia releases the next major PyS60 version.

Express Signed

2008-11-30T08:46:29Z

Via abusing Express Signed, you may risk the revocation of your Publisher ID. ES is not some "alternative way" for applications which would not meet the criterias, randomly picked submissions are going to be tested.

OPL

2008-11-29T16:51:47Z

OPL remains the only language for Symbian that managed to produce a large number of commercial applications from topic matter specialists rather than programming specialists. For some inexplicable reason, Nokia refuses to invest in OPL, though it would have been the simplest and cheapest way forward to create application loyalty (and thereby S60 loyalty).

2008-11-29T11:54:44Z

We're going to improve the packaging and runtime deployment part in the near future. Stay tuned.